Search the Community

http://i.imgur.com/pG1YTuY.png Skip this if you don't like random walls of text. KMFDM was originally a performance art project founded by Sascha Konietzko and Udo Sturm in 1984, who needed a name for their exhibition at the Grand Palais in France. Having ambitions that go beyond making random noises on synthesizers, playing vacuum cleaners, fire eating, yelling profanities throwing things at the audience, KMFDM made their musical debut in 1984 with the independently released Opium, which , I assume, is post-modern art. KMFDM have made several albums in the eighties, but their peak happened in the nineties when the band moved to America and began using guitars according to their intended purpose (it's a little more complicated than that, in reality). The release of Angst in 1993 solidified their sound as an Industrial Metal band, while the release of Nihil in 1995 launched them into almost-mainstream popularity. Their aggressive follow-up in 1996, Xtort, would be their best-selling record. They did some other shit that can be read on Wikipedia. Having sold around two million records worldwide, KMFDM are quite possibly the poster child of political, industrial metal. KMFDM have like 19 studio albums and probably three times as many other releases. KMFDM has spawned over a dozen associated acts and has had more members than can be counted on fingers and toes. Popular former members include En Esch, Raymond Watts and Tim Skold. A few years ago, I was an angry loner kid in high school and fell in love with KMFDM because it provided an outlet for my aggression which I had previously been turning inward. It allowed me to hold on for just a bit longer as my high school senioritis was in full swing. Enough to graduate without completely losing interest. KMFDM features catchy beats, repeated heavy metal riffs, lots of synths and both female and male voices, which was an important crutch for me. Most importantly they were still making money and still actively touring. Having been raised to believe I'd missed my chance at experiencing live music I could connect with, this was a pretty cool discovery. Some Songs: Listen, if you're just getting into KMFDM then I ardently suggest pretending all of their albums pre-Angst don't exist. I think they're shit. Here's a few personal favorites to start. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxWC5M8C6VI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwhOTNQcQq4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYq90TEdxIE