The last time we heard from KMFDM, the legendary industrial powerhouse was saying
ADIOS after becoming the victim of a media witch hunt sparked by the Columbine massacre. Founding member Sascha Konietzko literally turned things around shortly thereafter signing to Universal Records as MDFMK along with KMFDM alumnus Tim Skold and Lucia Cifarelli formerly of the band Drill.
After one album and one tour, Konietzko says, "it became pretty apparent that the relationship between MDFMK and a major label wouldn't be too long." With no specific plans for the future, Konietzko decided to dismantle MDFMK just as quickly as he had put it together.
"I was just in a situation where I didn't know what to do and I was kind of contemplating not doing anything at all," he recalls. "All the KMFDM guys were like, 'So, what are we going to do now?' And I was like, 'Well, I don't know.' So, slowly it just kind of came back into this 'Well, let's do this' type of thing."
After inking a deal with Metropolis Records, KMFDM was officially reborn earlier this year with the release of the
BOOTS single, which includes a cover of the Nancy Sinatra hit "These Boots Are Made For Walkin,'" as well as two remixes and a new track, "Back in the U.S.S.A.," which opens with the sound of a soaring airplane before giving way to the muffled beats that dominate the song.
Dueling guitars provide the wall of sound.
KMFDM followed up with
ATTAK , a full-length release featuring Raymond "Pig" Watts, Bill Rieflin, Dorona Alberti, Joolz Hodgeson, and the MDFMK lineup. Opening with the same soaring airplane abruptly interrupted by the sound of a needle scratching across vinyl, the album leads right into the opening chords of "Attak/Reload."
Despite the militaristic themes and socio-political rantings found in the opening track and songs like "Skurk," "Urban Monkey Warfare," and "Sturm&Drang," most of
ATTAK , including the album title, was finished prior to last September's terrorist attacks. (The jet engine is also coincidental.)
With classic KMFDM qualities like bombastic beats, heavy guitars, and sultry female vocals interspersed with anthemic choruses, as well as forays into jungly drum & bass,
ATTAK is, if anything, a reflection of our times, musically and politically.
"In KMFDM, there's usually a number of people that write lyrics and perform vocals," says Konietzko. "So, typically every vocalist writes their own lyrics. And that leaves you with a spectrum from Raymond's kind of debauchery style to Lucia's very fresh and associative style to Tim Skold's ways and then, you know, my own thing. So, if I write a lyric then that's what I've got in my head and that's what you're going to hear.
I'm a socio-political person, not a sociopath," he continues with a laugh. "We're not trying to head in any direction at all. Basically, I was thinking, 'How did we approach all the previous KMFDM albums?' I decided to go with the concept that we applied on the
NIHIL album, which meant that Tim and I, for the most part, began a number of tracks and started fleshing them out more and more and then passing them around to the various collaborators, vocalists, etc. Each track, after going here, going there, came back to the studio and I would change things, revise things, and finally mix the whole album together. So, there was not really an intention of what it was going to be like, but how it was going to be made. Just kind of an experimental thing like KMFDM has always been."
Further proof that things are just as they've always been, KMFDM also recently re-released its long out-of-print debut,
OPIUM , only available at
www.kmfdm.com or during the recent Sturm&Drang Tour 2002.
