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KMFDM

Biography

KMFDM (1984-1999, 2002-present): a Industrial Metal band from Hamburg, Germany.

F

ounded by En-Ensch, Sascha Konietzko and Nainz Watts, KMFDM (which apparently means Keine Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid German for No Compassion for the Majority) would become one of the pioneers of the industrial metal movement, a movement that swepped Europe by the end of the 1980s and grew big in North America by the middle of the next decade giving rise to such acts as Front 242, Young Gods and Nitzer Ebb.

KMFDM made their debut with an anonymously titled German only released album in 1986 with the follow-up, What Do You Know Deutschland?, in 1988. They would then become a part of the expanding 'Wax Trax' label empire, a company who boasted the likes of Revolting Cocks and Ministryin its catalog. Don't Blow Your Top (1988) and UAIOE (1989) would soon follow. Their pounding beats and chugging guitars played in a nihilistic minimalist fashion got them a wider audience for the follow up succession of releases including Naive (1990), Money (1992), and Sucks (1993) featuring Svet Am and Mark Durante replacing Watts (and adding a new character). Angst (1993) and Nihil (1995) followed.

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After signing to 'TVT', the home of Nine Inch Nails, and now at the top of their popularity as the Industrial movement washed ashore into America they would release Xtort in 1996 to be followed by Symbols in 1997, but in a sudden twist of fate they bade farewell with the aptly titled Adios in 1999.

After the group disbanded, Schulz and Esch formed the band Slick Idiot, while Konietzko and Skold regrouped as MDFMK, adding singer Lucia Cifarelli to form a trio. MDFMK released one self-titled album with 'Republic/Universal Records', and toured North America.

Konietzko announced the return of KMFDM in early 2001, due to "public demand", with Skold, Cifarelli, and former collaborators Watts and Rieflin joining him in the studio to release Attak (2002).

Skold left after Attak to join Marilyn Manson. Over the next few years, Watts' bandmates from his other project Pig joined KMFDM. Jules Hodgson had previously contributed guitar work for 2002's Attak. Andy Selway joined on drums for WWIII (2003), while guitarist Steve White contributed to 2005's Hau Ruck after touring with the band.

Opium would be re-released in 2002 as 'KMFDM001' on the band's own new label, 'KMFDM Records'. A collection of songs recorded between 1984 and 1986 would be re-released in 2004.

2007's Tohuvabohu would remain on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums Chart for three weeks, peaking at 4, as well appearing on the Independent Albums Chart for one week at 29. Tohuvabohu would have a companion recording in the form of Brimborium (2008), a full length remix album that barely made it onto Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums Chart, for one week reaching 20.

In 2006, 'Metropolis Records' announced they would reissue KMFDM's entire Wax Trax!-era studio album back catalog, out of print since the early 2000s, in chronological order in groups of two from September 2006 to May 2007.

Following the Finnish school shootings of 2007 and 2008, media reports attempted to draw a connection between the shooters and KMFDM, noting that both shooters listed the band among their favorites.

KMFDM re-released all of their singles and hard-to-find tracks from before the 1999 breakup in a series of three double albums titled Extra Vol. 1, Extra Vol. 2, and Extra Vol. 3 through mid-2008. 'KMFDM Records' then released Skold vs. KMFDM (2009), a split album between Skold and Konietzko conducted over the Internet while on separate continents from June to October 2008. Blitz (2009), the follow-up album, showcased further collaboration with Skold, and its companion remix album, Krieg followed in 2010. The compilation albums, Würst and Greatest Shit would arrive later in 2010 as well.

WTF?! (2011), featured a list of guest musicians in the form of Rieflin, Koichi Fukuda, Free Dominguez, and William Wilson. The album's first single, Krank, charted in both Germany and the United States. Kunst (2013) and Our Time Will Come (2014), followed.

Hell Yeah (2017) and Paradise (2019) would follow. The first missing guitarists White and Hodgson who were unavailable, so Konietzko recruited Chris Harms (of-Lord of the Lost) to record the guitar parts. Harms, along with Lord of the Lost bandmates Pi (guitar) and Gared Dirge (keyboards), had been slated to perform as the live band for KMFDM's late 2017 tour. When the Lord of the Lost were unable to secure work visas to enter the U.S., so Andee Blacksugar was hired to handle guitar tasks instead. Konietzko, Cifarelli, Selway and Blacksugar would appear on the second.

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