KMFDM : " Hell Yeah"

The legendary act who walks the line between electro and industrial returns like a drug against war, stronger than maybe not ever before, but certainly more powerful than most of the albums since Tohuvabohu. I am glad the guitar is receiving more focus on this album which makes songs like the opening track sound more like their classic work. The vocals work really well over the groove and the guitar accents the chorus. It's not until the more dancey Lucia track " Freak Flag" that we begin getting mixed messages from the band who was just telling us only the tough with survive. They begin wanting you to embrace individuality. This would not be a problem if their name didn't mean "no pity for the majority". This is the band that once instructed us to free our hate. A kinder gentler politically correct KMFDM is not what I want from them. I want them barking orders and espousing a more Darwinian ethics. Then lyrically things begin sounding even more like something from your Facebook feed on "Total State Machine" . Here they are preaching that the government hates you. And why have pity for the graves America dug for themselves if what I ponder. The chorus really pounds and had some dense guitar tones.

 Lucia is back with "Murder My Heart" which is more of a pop song with attitude. The groove gives it more of a strut.Her voice does sound good here and it's not a political song so I can deal with pop. "Rip The System" is another lament of the western world. They need to return to not pitying the majority. "Shock" has a better groove to it. Lucia coos her way into the song. "Fake News" claims that it going to make the sheep think for themselves which is more along the lines of what I want to hear from these guys. One of the album's best songs is the rowdy "RX 4 the Damned" where Lucia seems to have the biggest set of balls in the band. She screams out that the bridges she is going burn will light the way.The chorus to this song is the most explosive of the album.

Sascha gets his moment to shine on "Burning Brain" offering the album more redemption. The buzzsaw guitars sound very big and the production is totally dialed in for this album. "Only Lovers" sounds like Madonna having a darker more introspective moment. The album closes with one of the more hammering moments on "Glam , Glitz, Guts and Gore" . I'll give this album a 9.5 for me, really only because they stray from their mission statement lyrically which makes me a little iffy on a couple of songs, but when they are on they are are on and just as heavy as ever.