To say that we live in tumultuous times is a glib understatement, but it’s what we’ll say in the interest of expedience. There is no better band to witness, chronicle and comment on these times than KMFDM, who themselves have provided a record of the Cold War and its nefarious implications, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the war on Terror, the explosion of the internet, the acceleration of globalization and the advent of social media. There is no singular or group of musicians better prepared to engage the underground with an account of the times in which we live.
Simultaneously, when a band who is thought of as the parent of an entire genre has been at the top of the pedestal for so long, there are two possible trajectories for their career arc. The first and more common is that the band runs out of creative juice and rests comfortably on the laurels of the legacy they’ve spent their lifeblood establishing. There is no shame in this. Less frequently but with greater impact is the band who looks over their shoulder at the pursuit, grits their teeth and throws the afterburners on to keep pushing the limits.
There can be no greater synthesis of both of these ideas than KMFDM’s new record “Paradise,” which speaks in plain, unadorned language about the real world state of affairs and challenges the status quo of industrial by looking at Combichrist, Fear of Domination and a hundred other contemporaries and saying “congratulations, you’re where we were for ‘WWIII.’ Here’s where the bar is now.”
The first and most powerful display of the band’s progression into a novel, metamorphosed version of themselves is “K.M.F,” a gleefully profane banger where the progenitors of the ‘ultra-heavy beat’ double down on the bass and rumble the speakers with a turbo hip-hop beat turned metal. In this way, “K.M.F” (the title itself a play on one of the internet’s more popular perversions of KMFDM’s acronym,) represents one of the strengths of “Paradise” as a whole, which lies in the parallels between this album, where crushing beats lay the bedrock for spontaneous, melodious riffs and the early days of rap, where a DJ laid it down for an MC to create. The phenomenon is unique to the genre and represents a shift in how we may be asked to think about industrial music going forward.
Don’t misread that - guitarist Andee Blacksugar has plenty to do, but there can be little doubt that KMFDM is taking advantage of the explosion in electronic music to bend us toward simpler, sparser beats that reflect the genre’s refined sensibility, more than the common ‘might makes right’ approach to songwriting. We saw glimpses of KMFDM treading this road beginning all the back on “Blitz,” but these fresh parables of righteous indignation and enlightened awareness are wholly couched within a collection of beats that can only be described as eminently danceable. “WDYWB,” as an example, is a purely digital experience, and provides a welcome change of pace from the stereotypical din.
There are bright spots throughout the album, especially provided that one keeps enough of an open mind to accept that not every song is to going to blister with the pace or brutality of some of the band’s best-known singles. “Piggy” (not a cover of the NIN song of the same name,) is an off-kilter hop that asks you walk along on the journey while Blacksugar provides accompaniment. In some ways, the songcraft here is similar to the Jane’s Addiction album “The Great Escape Artist,” where Dave Navarro elected to work within an electronic framework rather than try to shine apart from it.
For purists, the album remains stocked with hallmarks of days past for KMFDM, not the least of which is “Binge, Boil and Blow,” featuring a return of KMFDM extended family member Ray Watts. His voice remains deep and distinct for new fans and particularly resonant for those of us who have been around for a minute. Nevermind the fact that the song reminds us all of how accomplished Sascha Konietzko is as a writer in this idiom. This song and the title track are callbacks to the great days of KMFDM’s past, reminding us that “Paradise” may be a reflection of now, but this band has been with us for a lifetime. They crunch the right rhythms and gnash their teeth with the proper vigor – this is the legacy of KMFDM rendered in 2019.
The album starts to close with “Automoton” and “Megalo,” which both blend the old and new with aplomb. These are both new songs, but Sascha makes sure we hear the barest hints of “Rip the System” and the highlights of “Nihil” in the mix. While the sound seemingly trespasses into experimental territory, there is a skilled hand at the wheel here, making sure that the fans are getting the KMFDM they love in new ways.
No album is perfect, especially one that plays with a new version of an established formula, and “Paradise” is no exception to that. There are moments, like “Oh My Goth” that lack the same vitriolic sense of urgency that is so pervasive in the early going. That’s easily forgivable when “Paradise” provides us with so much innovation in a genre that is actively exploring its identity in a novel electronic soundscape.
KMFDM is not now, and will likely never be, content to rest on their laurels and allow their hall of fame catalogue to speak for them. “Paradise” represents the band’s ability to create, innovate and generate in the new millennium, while still maintaining the sense of social responsibility that has energized them for so long. This is a worthy addition to an established collection.
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