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by danielle stephens (Danielle) / jenn higgins (BleachedPink) - Apr 01, 2002
KMFDM - ATTAK Review #1 - Danielle Stephens I must admit, after my initial listen through of KMFDM's ATTAK, I thought, "Well, that was interesting. It's not exactly my bag, but hey, I can respect it." After, say, 3 times though, all of the songs still kind of sounded the same and they just kind of blurred into each other. But after listening to the CD ad nauseum for several days, it began to grow on me. Certain songs stood out and completely infected/got stuck in my head. "Attak/Reload," the opening track, really shows off the album's futuristic/technological sound. With its mix of male and female vocals, electronic noises and distortions, as well as heavy drums and guitars, the song shows its rock and electronic influences, both mixed nicely into one clean sound. "Yohoho," track 6, starts out with the singer's low, deep vocals and gives way to the female singer's high, sunny-sounding voice. It's a mix that doesn't seem to go together, but it works. Better yet, it works well and the end product sounds good. The song is strangely calm and sedated sounding compared to the rest of the album, but it's a nice break from the heavy, dark nature of the other songs. "Preach/Pervert," track 9, and my favorite song on the album, has been stuck in my head for days. The chorus, although dark as it sounds in the singer's deep voice, is catchy ("You will condemn/I'll convert/You will preach/I will pervert" ). The song heavily relies on electronic additions above the guitar and drums, which give it a really technology-influenced sound. I really have nothing to compare this album to, being that this is really my first experience with the genre of industrial music. But as an "outsider" to the genre, I can honestly say it is pretty good. I mean, it is not exactly life-changing and I won't be rushing out to buy every KMFDM or every other industrial acts CDs that I can find, but it's a refreshing break from the music that I normally envelope myself in and definitely worth a listen. Review #2 - Jen Higgins Three years after their farewell album, KMFDM is doin' it again, this time a little more chaotic and futuristic sounding. ATTAK starts out great, and grabs your attention with "Attak/reload." The distorted robot-like female vocals in the background go great with the schizophrenic guitars. Later on comes "Dirty," which features Sascha Konietzko's deep growly voice, and this is one of the songs on the album that might make most "old-skool" fans happy. Then of course, you can always find the typical "fight song" anthems where someone screams KMFDM in the chorus. It wouldn't be a KMFDM album otherwise. The only low point on the album is "Save Me." It sounds like a bad eighties ballad leftover from Skold's old hair metal band, Shotgun Messiah. "Yohoho" is very ambient and quiet. The vocals remind me of earlier KMFDM, but the music embodies a more futuristic tone. "Risen", one of the best songs on the album, is a militaristic sounding song with Sascha and Skold trading back and forth between vocals. "Sturm & Drang" just begs to be turned up all the way. The last song is "Sleep," my favorite song on the album - it is very tribal sounding, and soft, with loud bursts of chorus that fill out KMFDM's trademark epic sound. Unlike previous efforts from KMFDM, there is no real theme for ATTAK. Their previous albums have all had some sort of "sound" that tied the whole album together. Just to name a few examples, NIHIL was a very hard, almost angry album, Symbols has this sort of vintage-y, antique feel to it, and ADIOS has a heavy electronic feel to it. Everything about KMFDM has typically had a theme, from the artwork, to the 5 letter titles, and to the way they mix up the member roster for each album. For ATTAK, It sounds like the band threw some songs together and called it an album, it doesn't sound like they really had a main goal they were working towards. I guess if I had to give this album a theme, it would be "Tim Skold's guitars." There really is no element that ties this album together. The album is missing something, and the main thing that I am disappointed in is that there are no songs in German. It isn't KMFDM unless there is a song sung creepily in that dark, evil sounding language. Out of the whole album, there is only one chorus in German, see if you can find it. Now after listening to the album about 15 times on repeat as this is being written, it is really growing on me. I'm getting more familiar with the songs and beginning to hear some small elements that tie the whole album together. The theme permeating this album is a futuristic sound. Nothing really stands out at first as you listen to it, but as you become familiar with it, and you see that it is, in fact, pretty good. |