Artists I Get: KMFDM

Tweet

KMFDM - Last.fm

I was a fan of industrial music during the 1990s, and I spent many Thursday evenings at Industrial Night at a club in Dayton, Ohio called The Asylum. A couple of friends from college recommended the place, so we'd hang out there with some leather clad folks who enjoyed the industrial tunes. We weren't as cool as they were and were a bit reserved about meeting them because they looked like they'd tear us apart if we attempted any form of communication.

Since we didn't meet the good people of The Asylum, we decided to give them nicknames when we talked about the highlights of the club later that evening. There was The Missing Link, The Hitchhiker, Pepe, The Leather Brothers, Skinny Puppy, and The Penis Pusher. I have no idea what happened to those people, but their nicknames will live forever in my mind.

One of my favorite acts they would play at The Asylum was KMFDM.  KMFDM is not an acronym for 'Kill Mother F***ing Depeche Mode', instead it's a German acronym that roughly translates into "no pity for the majority".They're German and they play industrial music. Shocking.

What I like about KMFDM is that they were one of the finest acts in their genre. I know they still exist as a band today, but what I know of KMFDM is from their 1990s output, which I totally get as a fan.If you don't know what industrial music is then it is basically an umbrella terms for hard, aggressive electronic music. KMFDM, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, and Nine Inch Nails are just a few examples of bands that are part of this genre.

Is industrial music still a genre? For many years I have been under the impression that the glory days for the Wax Trax! and TVT industrial bands are nothing more than a faded 1990's goth club memory.That's a shame because the industrial scene of the 1980s and 1990s produced some hard-hitting tracks that should appeal to fans of metal and punk.

I haven't been following the electronic scene for the past decade. LCD Soundsystem was my closest musical relationship, and I'm not certain if that even counts.

What I get or what I like about KMFDM is their sound. The roots of their music is based on techno or electronic music, but they add a real punch of attitude and sound to create a danceable but killer catalog of music. The first song I am going to share is 'Light', which is a nice gateway into the world of KMFDM.


If you need something that packs a better punch, then listen to 'A Drug Against War'. Boom! This is thrash metal mixed with a little bit of techno and packed full of cool sound clips. "Bomb the living bejeepers out of those forces".


Another great KMFDM song is 'Juke Joint Jezebel'. The song has all of the industrial elements but adds a nice touch of pop to make a cool club hit.


KMFDM has some great music, and I'm still a fan.


TonyDoug Wright is The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll and is also the head writer and owner of Champion City Comics. Follow him @TonyDougWright on Twitter.