![Cover of KMFDM [symbols]](https://www.debaser.it/resize.aspx?path=%2ffiles%2f2018%2f48134.jpg)
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Rating: Today I decided that I wanted to delve into a German industrial band with a curious and mysterious acronym, a group I would say incredibly prolific, having churned out a myriad of albums in over thirty years of career. Since I decided to choose one for the review, I thought it was a good idea to listen to them all in a breathtaking session. After careful consideration, the choice fell on Symbols, or at least that's how their 1997 album is identified, with a really cool and indicative cover. It features a rather threatening woman slapping a poor unsuspecting guy, probably a "symbol" of a not exactly peaceful album. Before getting to the point, I'd say it adds some flavor to include a bit of unsavory context: KFDM's music is sadly associated with the Columbine School massacre of 1999, as two reckless individuals - responsible for a bloody mass murder - were avid fans of theirs. Regardless of the fact that composing rebellious-subversive music is a somewhat flimsy reason to trigger the charge of inciting the shooting, but in this deviant society, everything becomes news, so I wouldn't exclude that people's pervasive morbid interest might have increased the attention towards the group.
Returning to this Symbols, it is a nice album, not perfect but definitely well-crafted. What immediately catches the ear is the techno-electronic style with which an industrial-stamped spirit manifests itself, not the sophisticated and purposeful electronics of a Trent Reznor, but rather something more akin to dance, the kind that makes you move your eyebrow to the beat. It is more simply defined as electronic body music, and the opening track is already a hat-tip, perhaps even the best episode: Megalomaniac opens with a very nineties electronic arpeggio, while lyrics in German introduce heavy riffs and a distorted bassline. Finally, the drum machine comes in, linear and powerful, and you're off to the dance floor. The track has a truly irresistible charm, thanks to a continuously building development, various sound strategies, and the pleasant vocal inserts. It’s not very original and somewhat lacking in cultural depth, but the final effect is more than excellent. The album, however, has another notable moment to offer, Anarchy, where the atmosphere becomes more serious and the beat slows down, taking on dark connotations, but the track is still pop-tinged and culminates in a memorable refrain. It leaves you wanting to listen to it again, and that's no small compliment. Other well-executed moments are Stray Bullet, very similar to Megalomaniac, and the following Leid Und Elend, also featuring a refrain with a decidedly captivating riff. Mercy even nods to funk, and I am grateful for that.
Not everything works as it should, other tracks don't seem to possess the same driving force, sounding more like fillers, but Symbols definitely makes up for it with the phenomenal concluding Waste, the hardest track on the album, a mad rush represented by rhythmic changes, martial cadences, and hammering guitar riffs. Worth mentioning is the excellent performance by the supporting singer Lucia Cifarelli. This Symbols album is very enjoyable, certainly one of the most accessible from the German band, and if you like it, you'll have plenty of material to listen to.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Megalomaniac (06:07)
Die wunder dieser welt werden dir geschenkt
Glück ist nicht käuflich sehnsucht bleibt unerreicht
Preisrätsel winken nimmersatt
Kein mitleid für die mehrheit x2
Nihilistic mystics
Apostolic Alcoholics
Messianic Manics
Cataclysmic and Prolific
In the age of super-boredom
Hype and mediocrity
Celebrate relentlessness
Menace to society
This is counter-culture from the underground
Eternal revolution this is our sound
KMFDM better than the best
Megalomaniacal and harder than the rest
Refuse is our inspiration
Terrorism our trade
Sabotage and piracy
Chaos our mental state
Mesmerizing festering
Intended for the faint of heart
Cultish and Anthemic
Until death us do part
This is counter-culture from the underground
Eternal revolution this is our sound
KMFDM better than the best
Megalomaniacal and harder than the rest
Wenn der untergrund bebt ist die ordnung erschüttert
Der verrat an der seele macht leben ungesund
Mit unschlagbaren reimen werden wir uns vertreiben
Die zeit der langen weile bis zum grossen bums
Like a fiendish tropic virus
Spitting bile at all you whores
Razor-sharp tongue-in-cheek
Poking in your open sores
A wolf in sheep's clothing
The ultimate disgrace
Wrapped up as a gift of god
Exploding in your face
This is counter-culture from the underground
Eternal revolution this is our sound
KMFDM better than the best
Megalomaniacal and harder than the rest
Refuse is our inspiration
Terrorism our trade
Sabotage and piracy
Chaos our mental state
In the age of super-boredom
Hype and mediocrity
Celebrate relentlessness
Menace to society
This is counter-culture from the underground
Eternal revolution this is our sound
KMFDM better than the best
Megalomaniacal and harder than the rest
Megalomaniacal x3
Better than the best and harder than the rest
02 Stray Bullet (05:31)
I am your holy totem
I am you sick taboo
Radical and radiant
I'm your nightmare coming true
I am your worst enemy
I am your dearest friend
Malignantly malevolent
I am of divine descent
I have come to rock your world
I have come to shake your faith
Anathematic anarchist
I have come to take my place
I am your unconsciousness
I am unrestrained excess
Metamorphic restlessness
I'm your unexpectedness
I am your apocalypse
I am your belief unwrought
Monolithic juggernaut
I'm the illegitimate son of god
Stray bullet
From the barrel of love
Stray bullet
From the heavens above
Stray bullet
Ready or not
I'm the illegitimate son of god
03 Leid und Elend (06:09)
Dein Boot Verlasst Den Hafen Unserer Stadt
Alleine Fahrst Du In Die Klare Nacht
Nur Noch Funf Minuten Wunsch' Ich Mir
Meine Wahre Sehnsucht Kommt Mit Dir
Ich Liebe Deinen Mond In Meiner Nacht
Ohne Deine Sonne Ist Kein Tag
Du Bist Doch Mein Stern Am Firmament
Ich Bin Der Stein Und Du Bist Mein Zement
Geteiltes Leid Ist Halbes Leid
Mein Herz Ist Dein Herz
Geteiltes Gluck Ist Halbes Gluck
Dein Schmerz Ist Mein Schmerz
Geteiltes Leid ...
Dein Leid, Mein Elend
Mein Leid, Dein Elend
Mein Elend, Dein Leid
Dein Elend, Mein Leid
Du Bist Meine Taste Am Klavier
Alles Was Du Wolltest Spiel' Ich Dir
Deiner Sussen Wunde Susser Saft
Macht Mich Sehr Betrunken Ohne Schnaps
------------
[English-Translation:]
Your Boat Leaves The Port Of Our City
You Travel Alone Into The Clear Night
I Wish For Only Five More Minutes
My True Yearning Comes With You
I Love Your Moon In My Night
There Is No Day Without Your Sun
You Are But The Star On My Firmament
I Am The Stone And You Are The Cement
Divided Sorrow Is Half The Sorrow
My Heart Is Your Heart
Divided Bliss Is Half The Bliss
Your Pain Is My Pain
Divided Sorrow ...
Your Sorrow, My Misery
My Sorrow, Your Misery
My Misery, Your Sorrow
Your Misery, My Sorrow
You Are My Key On The Piano
Everything You'd Want, I Play For You
Your Sweet Wound's Sweet Juice
Makes Me Very Drunk, Even Without Schnapps
04 Mercy (04:59)
I went through too many people
I went through heaven and hell
I went from Rome to Bagdad
Too many stories to tell
I lived through too many aeons
I've risen up and I fell the fall
I have been there and I have done that
I've see it all and all
My time is running like water
Deeper I dive and deeper
Last of nine lives of the cat
I saved my soul for the reaper
What do you mean by that
Mercy is all you get
Do what you won't regret
Freedom's your self-respect
05 Torture (07:04)
My motivations unresolved
Things are just never what they seem
Apathy's currencies deceit
Pitch bending radiated dreams
The jackal's wishing well forgotten
Dark cloud sunrise
The view of someone somewhere else is
Burnt in my eyes
How long - dug up remains
How low - the rotting fame
How low - to see right through
How long - the hole I knew
How low - the clear eyed stain
How long - to set aflame
How low - to be set up
How long - and taken out
The anti-like karma from the crack in a hand
Full painting on a mural in a foreign landfill
Mind controlled by the pulley of the strings
So remote the view from the puppetry swingset
My reservations have evolved
Scenes once negated ushered in
Mercy killings one to one defend
Visionary criminals descend
On knees all burning
A term of useless lifeless thought
What a paid ride
Alchemic jail-cell vivisection
Test-subject day job
How long - to pacify
How low - you still deny
How low - from up above
How long - the creeping crown
How low - the tripping sound
How long - to kick back down
How low - the holy cheat
How long - the leap of faith
These revelations undermined
Controlled belief in leads mankind
Each penny sold and mesmerized
We're stoned
Two-fold reversal beckoning
The binding crayon words inverted
Justice in travestia
We worship acid moans and curbside-holidays
Recycle shit we throw away in glossy packaged craze
Maybe in a day or so I'll stumble on that grassy knoll
To set the record straight
Announcing to myself : wake-up
We kill everything that's not tied down
We euthanize but keep alive the lowest form of prison life
So useful and experimental
Treatment of the sick and dying
What about the torture?
06 Spit Sperm (04:46)
I keep account of my hits and my misses
The bottle makes the final call
Fuel me with some of your kisses
Turn towards the weeping wall
Distilled within your discipline
Return to go and start again
Bleeding on your hallowed ground
I'm gonna lay this sodden soul right down in...
Spit sperm spit
Your TV is my teacher
Confessional and preacher
Forgive me lord for all this hate
I simply am inebriate
See the gun
Pick it up
All day long you'll have good luck
See the gun
Let it lie
You'll want that gun before you die
Spit sperm
This moral bankrupt stinking vat
Spit sperm
Of shit-fueled lies and empty highs
Spit sperm
Bled between these piss stained lines
Spit sperm
And hid behind my glazing eyes
08 Down and Out (06:39)
En Esch:
Welcome aboard the crazy trip
circle of fools say 'hi'
Sascha:
Watch your step or you might trip
we're glad you came on by
Abby:
The guys and I prepared a brew
you really ought to taste
En Esch:
It makes you strong and makes you &*#@%
don't let it go to waste
Sascha:
Care for some sweets to chase your drink?
I see you've quite a thirst
Abby:
No no no you can't yet go
First things must come first
En Esch:
Delicious not? You feel alive?
You need a little space?
Sascha:
So you're not feeling well?
What's wrong with your face?
Abby:
Holy smokes! We goofed again
The brew was not quite right
En Esch:
We'll take him back behind the pen
and try again tonight
Sascha:
Welcome aboard the crazy trip
circle of fools say 'hi'
Abby:
Watch your step or you might trip
All:
We're glad you came on by
Chorus:
Great that we pretend that we are all that
we enjoy ourselves
should we get some help?
we have always failed yet there is no doubt
can't go wrong from here
we are down and out
all of us are going down
09 Unfit (06:01)
You are the sweetest disease for me
I can't hear you say please to me
There's nothing you cannot say to me
Come on get down and pray with me
There's no feeling inside of me
You'll see nothing can hide in me
You'll find nothing can feed on me
Don't look, listen or believe in me
Get down
Shut up
Come on in
It's time to take your medicine
I'm unfit
I'm unfair
You can't feel
And I don't care
Get down
Shut up
Come on in
It's time to take your medicine
I'll wipe a stripe on you tonight
I'll tee you high and you will fly
10 Waste (03:38)
What I don't know I don't like
What I don't like I don't want
What I don't want I waste
I hypnotize with alibis and fingers made of lead
I sympathize with frozen eyes turned inwards in my head
I realize to my demise it's better left unsaid
That columns crash down endlessly and I will end up dead
I theorize I'm on the rise
But all I do is fall
I victimize my love of life
I've seen and done it all
Ready steady stop
Hurry up and wait
The tick-tick-ticking of the clock
Delineates your fate
What I don't see I don't know
What I don't know I don't want
What I don't want I don't need
What I don't need I don't feel
What I don't feel I don't say
What I don't say I don't do
What I don't do I don't like
What I don't like I waste
Ready steady go
Finish up your plate
Before you even realize
It's gonna be too late
I don't know what I see
I don't want what I know
I don't need what I want
I don't feel what I need
I don't say what I feel
I don't do what I say
I don't like what I do
I just like to waste
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