KMFDM



KMFDM is an Industrial rock/metal band, formed in Paris on February 29th, 1984. It was originally a performance art group started by Sascha Konietzko and Udo Sturm, but as Konietzko was more interested in studio recordings he began collaborating with Raymond Watts and En Esch (real name Nicklaus Schandelmaier).

They released eleven albums and split up in 1999, citing creative differences. Konietzko was joined by former contributor Tim Skold and vocalist Lucia Cifarelli as MDFMK, and released one self-titled album, before reforming as KMFDM in 2002 - since then they have released five albums, and remastered versions of their previous discography.

The band usually has a revolving lineup - but their latest lineup has been stable for the last four albums - which consists of Sascha Konietzko, Lucia Cifarelli, Jules Hodgson, Andy Selway and Steve White. Additionally, Konietzko is the only member to appear on every album.

Discography:

 * Opium (1984)
 * What Do You Know, Deutschland? (1986)
 * Don't Blow Your Top (1988)
 * UAIOE (1989)
 * Naïve (1990)
 * Money (1992)
 * Angst (1993)
 * Nihil (1995)
 * Xtort (1996)
 * Symbols (1997)
 * Adios (1999)
 * Attak (2002)
 * WWIII (2003)
 * Hau Ruck (2005)
 * Tohuvabohu (2007)
 * Skold vs. KMFDM (2009)
 * Blitz (2009)
 * Greatest Shit (2010) (also released as Würst with edited cover art)
 * WTF?! (2011)

KMFDM provides examples of:

 * A Good Name for a Rock Band: Their name is an acronym of Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, the nonsensical German phrase meaning 'no majority for the pity' - though it's often translated roughly as 'no mercy for the masses'. And then there's all the fan-suggested names...
 * Added Alliterative Appeal: "Juke Joint Jezebel"
 * Altum Videtur: The choruses of "Tohuvabohu"
 * Awesome McCoolname: Sascha "Käpt'n K" Konietzko
 * Berserk Button: Do NOT mention Nazis or Columbine around Sascha.
 * Bilingual Bonus: Among other languages, some songs are in German ("Leid und Elend"), Italian ("Panzerfaust"), Latin (the chorus of "Tohuvabohu"), Russian ("Davai"), Spanish (their cover of "Los Niños Del Parque"), et cetera. Sascha himself speaks English, Russian, and German fluently.
 * Careful with That Axe: Lucia has a few of these moments. In fact, she mentions that she destroyed an expensive microphone from screaming her head off on the official website.
 * Catch Phrase: "KMFDM Sucks!" has become popular with the fans.
 * Cool Shades: Sascha's.
 * Greatest Hits Album: Greatest Shit/Würst is a collection of remixed versions of some of KMFDM's best known tracks.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!/That Voice: A rare musical example. Hey, it's Nivek Ogre. And Bill Rieflin. And Tim Skold...you get the idea.
 * I Am the Band: Sascha and En Esch are this, as well as the Faces Of The Band, as noted above.
 * Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Starting with UAIOE and breaking the chain with Hau Ruck (originally named FUBAR, which would have kept the five-letter album title tradition going). Tohuvabohu came close to resuming the tradition with five syllables in the title. Their most recent album Blitz returned to the tradition.
 * Ironic Nursery Tune: "The Death And Burial of C.R." from WTF?! is the nursery rhyme "Who Killed Cock Robin?" set to really fucking creepy music.
 * Kangaroo Court: "Rebels In Control" mentions this in a later part of the song resembling a news broadcast, which says that "the world's political leaders have been detained and will be tried by kangaroo courts for their committed crimes against humanity". The segment ends with Lucia screaming 'Make the rules up as we go!'
 * List Song: "Inane". Also a Song of Song Titles as it includes the name of every album and single they had released at the time.
 * Loudness War: Particularly their latest three albums.
 * New Sound Album: UAIOE marked the band's transition from straightforward Industrial to Industrial Metal.
 * Self-Parody: "Light", "Megalomaniac", "Sucks", "Inane", "Intro", "Bitches"...
 * Slasher Smile: The cover of UAIOE
 * Stupid Statement Dance Mix: "We Must Awaken", possibly "What Do You Know?".
 * Symbol Swearing: The Symbols album.
 * The symbols are used in the track "Down And Out" as a Sound Effect Bleep.
 * Take That Me: As mentioned earlier, "KMFDM sucks" is common among the fans thanks to the song "Sucks" off of the Angst album; it's typically chanted live to announce the audience wants an encore or on YouTube videos. Like "Primus sucks", it usually upsets some fans that aren't aware of the joke.
 * Title Drop: The band drops their name into songs occasionally.
 * Examples: "Megalomaniac", "D.I.Y.", "Sucks", "A Drug Against War", "Inane", "Back in the USSA", et cetera.
 * Word Salad Lyrics: "Megalomaniac" and the title track of Tohuvabohu.
 * Xtreme Kool Letterz: The songs "Krank" and "Rebels in Kontrol", as well as the albums Xtort and Attak.