Search - Kmfdm :: Blitz

Better than most, but not the best

Joe Majsterski | Houston, TX United States | 03/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Blitz is an album suffering from a split personality. It features an assortment of so-so, somewhat forgettable tunes that are a continuation of some of the more uninteresting aspects of 21st century KMFDM. It also features a handful of the best songs recorded by the band in at least a decade.



Starting off with the song entitled with a symbol, which seems to be the astronomical symbol for Uranus, KMFDM shows exactly how they're not quite hitting the target on this album. With some really interesting sounds and pieces that never quite gel, the first track sounds like three different songs that were hammered together in some Frankenstein's lab. It also foreshadows a recurring problem: great choruses and weak verses. The bummer is I really wanted to like this song more, but it had nothing to tie it all together. 5/10



Things get a bit better with Bait and Switch, which features some nicely skittering synth lines, and a decent trade-off between Lucia and Sascha on vocals. Her chorus lyrics remind me of Stars & Stripes, or New American Century. Still, this track doesn't pack much of a punch, despite the pretty decent groove it gets into. 7/10



Davai is one of the weakest tracks on the album, and it sounds like it came straight out of the Attak/WWIII era. It's not horrible, but it's not memorable either. The bridge leads in a more interesting section of industrialism, but it's not enough to save the track from a dull, plodding first half. 2/10



Never Say Never, again, has similar problems. Interesting pieces mixed with boring pieces, for a mediocre overall tune. Moderately cool chorus lines don't alter the fact that the verses are dull as hell. This song, along with the first track, would be much improved if it just had a hook. 4/10



Potz Blitz! is where the album starts to figure things out. It follows a formula similar to everything else up this point, but the formula is working better. The pieces are snapping into place, and that delightful sound of the giant, chugging machine begins to manifest. Menacing guitars and synths during the verses merge into oddly reflective and thoughtful chorus sections, and the vocoder treatment on Sascha's vocals gives this a unique feel. 7/10



So, we're got five rather tracks ranging from blah to decent up to this point... does it get any better? YES! All of a sudden, three of the most brilliant tracks KMFDM has produced in a looooong time come flying back to back to back, for an amazing mid-album apogee.



People of the Lie is one of the most interesting songs KMFDM has ever done, with a killer, staticky beat, sparse, yet tremendously effective synth and work, and some of Sascha's best work, in terms of songwriting, lyrics, and actual vocal performance. The whispery quality that he and Lucia achieve on the chorus is just awesome. KMFDM really needs to explore territory like this a LOT more, because it's a rich vein of musical gold. 10/10



Being Boiled, the cover of The Human League song, is another exciting foray into some new terrain for the band. The bizarre synth horns, the sweetly crunchy guitar, the pounding, pulsing, snapping beats, and the fact that Sascha actually sings, makes this a memorable, and very cool song. More please. 10/10



Strut, featuring a duet between Lucia and former KMFDM singer Cheryl Wilson, is perhaps the best track on the album. It feels like a much needed breath of fresh air for a band that, despite its claims to being tongue in cheek, comes across as stolid and humorless occasionally. The synths are varied and bouncy, and the jammin little guitar riffs sound like something Gunter Schultz would've played back in the 1990s, circa Nihil. 10/10



Bitches is another tune in the style of Sucks, Inane, and Intro, talking about how KMFDM is actually a big load of crap and you're a huge sucker for buying what they're selling. It works moderately well, with a great effect being achieved by the dead serious minor string chords at the beginning. It also features some nice acoustic guitar, something else KMFDM should play around with more. 6/10



Me & My Guns is a really annoying, thankfully brief tune that is the only real blemish on the back half of this album. Screeching vocals and pointless lyrics dominate, to no good effect. 1/10



Take'm Out is almost pure techno, a serious departure from the guitar-heavy sounds of almost all the KMFDM to come out since the reformation. The closest thing I can think of to compare to it would be Witness off of the album Adios, although this has minimal vocals and is fairly sample heavy. An interesting finish to an interesting album. 8/10



So, overall, this isn't a perfect album, but it features enough truly interesting and fresh work to make me pretty happy, and give me hope for the future of KMFDM."

Better than a big fat blast

Jeremy Aleksich | AKRON, OH | 03/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well I was lucky enough to get a promo of KMFDM's newest offering "Blitz" due out 3/24/09, so I wanted to be one of the 1st out there to review it. 1st off let me say if you're not a fan of the Post-99 line up of KMFDM this is probably not for you. The days of 4/4 beat Digital synthesizer 16 track recordings from the Wax Trax era are not what's intended on this album, although there are some songs that certainly remind me of those days. Again much like the last 2 albums this is a fusion of classic Sascha KMFDM style going back and forth mixed with Lucia's "Curve/Garbage" inspired tracks.



If I had to compare Blitz to the previous albums I would say it sounds closer to Hau Rock than the others. There is no WWIII cyber thrash on this disc nor is it quite as "feel good" as Tohuvabohu. Although I will say Lucia Songs like "Never Say Never" and "Strut" are very similar to "Looking for Strange" off of Tohuvabohu". This album though has an overall darkness and moroseness at times that separates it from the previous offerings. While the Lucia songs create a "more" feel good Cyber Chik Electronic vibe they are often followed up by darker songs, one in which Sascha and Lucia sing a track called "People of the Lie" that harkens back to Nivek Ogre's track "Full Worm Garden" off of "Adios".



Sascha Songs like "Potz Blitz" took me back to 90's Sonic Industrial Metal similar White Zombie, Filter and Butthole Surfers of yesteryear, while Bitches is a classic "Angst" days sounding track that appears to be Sascha sarcastically addressing fans, and haters that have blogged, and accused Sascha off selling out over the last decade. Hence the line "We are Bitches for your riches"



Davai is another Sascha track, and probably one of my favorites on the whole album. Not only is this a classic "Ministry style" Cyber Stomping track, but the Russian lyrics gives it that classic "foreign" sounding audio, noise, terror vibe. "Being Boiled" is another track that rings of Old School Industrial as well, this time passing resemblance to the Controlled Bleeding album "In Penetration" from the early 90's. Sascha sings this track in the same Gothy tone he sang the song "Tohuvabohu" on the last album, which also lends to sounding like Controlled Bleed, if only accidentally. Interestingly this song is a cover of an old Human League Song.



Lucia's tracks on Blitz certainly continue to make one think of Curve, and Garbage as always but with Sacha's Programming, and Jules's thrash Guitar riffs these songs simply blow Curve, and Garbage out of the water. (no offense Dean) Track 4 is "Never Say Never" and this song sounds like it literally could have been on Garbage's 2.0 album, but again the amount of changes, and tone of the guitar just makes it so much better.



"Strut" is simply amazing. Lucia sings this song like ballsy, cheesy 80's style similar to Human League or Berlin, and one would think this is the cover song. Of course just as one thinks this is going to be a dead on 80's style song, the classic KMFDM thrash guitar line rings in, which sounds suspiciously similar to "Juke Joint Jezebel". I suspect that this might have been intentionally done for the sake of fun. Lucia's Final track on Blitz is "Me and My Gun" This song sounds a lot like the MDFMK Album, and is just balls out bad azz breaks, and thrash. The album closes on track 11 with a Praga Khan esque Analog Techno trak called "Take'm out.



For me Blitz has been my favorite of the post 99 era KMFDM. It has a well rounded mix of styles, that amalgamates Techno, Thrash, Rock, Metal, and Alternative into a Cornucopia of sound. A lot of people will say this disc is too pop because of the "Lucia" songs, but I think that is a fleeting excuse that a lot of Industrial fans cling to out of being stuck in a musical vacuum where all they listen to is what other so called "Industrial Fans" think Industrial should be. In truth they are simply unaware of the huge following that female lead groups like "Curve" in the past, and now "Collide" have been doing for years. All of which are derivative from the sounds of Sheffield, England where much of the bases for Industrial music took place.



My advice is to put you pre-conceptions aside, and forget about what you think Industrial is. KMFDM has said for years they aren't "Industrial". Listen to this with an open mind, learn to appreciate different styles, and forms of Music. Like it or not whether it's Minimalistic Noise, Ragga, Drum, and Bass, or Punk, and Thrash Metal this what KMFDM was all about from the get go. If you look in retrospect "What do you Know Deutschland" bares as little resemblance to "Angst" as Angst does to "Blitz" today. In closing I give Blitz 4 ½ stars out of a possible 5 for me.



"

Eh.

Dima | Wisconsin, USA | 05/20/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This album is heavy with Lucia vocals. I'm not a big fan, so this really killed it for me. What happened to Käpt'n K? I'd prefer to hear his vocal work. It seems like the past few albums have been 'Lucia and Co.' I suppose I don't see the appeal. There were some good points to the album--I find the music awesome, but I'd not suggest buying it unless you really like Lucia's voice, or you NEED to have this album. Like I said, I prefer K's vocal work, but they're definately lacking in the recent past. I do suggest Skold vs. KMFDM, though. No Lucia!!"