This next album comes with an
insert where you can mail away for more albums, as well as an invitation to
write for a free catalogue of band merchandise by sending a Self-Addressed
Stamped Envelope (this used to be called a SASE) to them. How quaint.
However, the band also included a
website and an email, which was pretty forward thinking for 1995.
Disc 553 is…. Nihil
Artist: KMFDM
Year of Release: 1995
What’s up with the Cover? This is a rare KMFDM departure from their usual
artist, Aidan “Brute” Hughes. This cover
is instead by Francesca Sundsten, and depicts a frumpy looking woman, with a
fly over her head. She looks like some
kind of farm matron who has just caught you tipping her cows.
How I Came To Know It: As I noted when I reviewed my other KMFDM album
(“Angst” back at Disc 539), my friend Patrick put me on to these guys
recently, and Sheila bought both records for me for my birthday in June.
How It Stacks Up: I only have two KMFDM albums. I prefer “Angst” to this one, so “Nihil”
slips to second.
Rating: 2 stars, but almost 3
For the second time in only fourteen albums, the
Odyssey decides I should listen to more industrial ‘club’ metal from the
mid-nineties. KMFDM are the masters of
this sound, and “Nihil” is another example of how well they know their genre.
This is the music that would have made a rave in the
mid-nineties worth attending. Attention
modern rave holders; it is more fun to stay up all night if the music is danceable.
Please stop dub-stepping.
As with “Angst” the message on the album isn’t
terribly complicated, speaking vaguely of rebellion and sex. When read outside of the music the lyrics
seem a bit juvenile. Consider this from “Beast”:
“My youth is wasted – I’m evasive
and vague
I’m a headless beast – I’m a
subtle plague
I’m a cheatin’ liar – I am naked
terror
I hurt – I wound – I’m a fatal
error.”
Not terribly inspiring, but fortunately themes of rebellion
and sex are foundations of rock and roll and so it totally works in the context
of the song.
“Nihil” is music where you can get the revolution
out of your system without actually having one (there is even a song called “Revolution”
although I’m not sure exactly why based on the vague lyrics). Even the album title is a word that seems
pregnant with purpose, but actually fundamentally represents negation.
For all that negation, “Nihil” has lots of energy, even
if it isn’t going anywhere. The driving
guitar riffs and accompanying electronic back beat appeal to the subconscious
mind. If you are frustrated and need a release but you’re not sure exactly what
is bothering you, this music is a perfect salve. Get out on the dance floor and sweat it out
and let the words help draw the frustration out of you in the process.
Overall, I found “Angst” to be a better collection
of KMFDM’s work than this one, but “Nihil” did have its moments. “Juke
Joint Jezebel” has a fallen church choir feel to it and would be great to
dance to. It sounds familiar enough that
I think I probably did back in the day. I
also liked “Disobedience,” which had some elements of Faith No More in it, a
sort of staccato rap over top of powerful riffs
However, while it is overall pretty good, it didn’t
have enough going for it to be anything more.
In fact, after two complete listens today I took a break and walked to
work listening to a Flying Burrito Brothers album instead, which I preferred
overall.
Yet when I went to the gym later, I put “Nihil” back
on. I listened as I ran furiously on the
treadmill. Of course I got nowhere, but
it felt good afterward – kind of like this record.
Best tracks: Juke Joint Jezebel, Disobedience, Brute
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