Started in 1984 as a style consortium of hip-hop, techno and metal, KMFDM was unjustly lumped in with Skinny Puppy and other purveyors of industrial mope. Then came the Columbine, Colo., massacre, and the band’s reported status as the teen-age killers’ inspiration. So it’s no wonder that KMFDM tried to hold on to some of its brand-name value when they rechristened the band MDFMK.
Their self-titled debut is a wonderfully deranged technological stew of styles that shines on the glam-boogie glory of “Torpedoes,” a track that attains the absolute pinnacle of whatever it is that the band does best. “Now” is a snarling rampage through the heretofore unexplored realm where Goldie, Cradle of Filth and Erasure coexist. Other songs genre-hop expertly from grindcore burnout to random-noise generation. Not bad for a “first” record.
Matt Conoway
