Album Review: Adios by KMFDM

KMFDM, influential all-caps band, burr in the saddle of Republicans everywhere, has perhaps said goodbye.

At least their recent album, ADIOS, sounds like it. A shame, considering the verve and tug they can exert, violently chanting at the listener's peril. The title track, just hard-core enough for a peppy drive to high school, sings, "It's been too many times that I raised my voice at you.... Hypocritical swine I have had it this time." But if any band can fuel an album on their own burn-out, it's KMFDM. The middle of the record, however, gropes: a sicky song on aliens jumbles the rhythm begun with "ADIOS." Female vocals have served KMFDM well in the past, but not here. At times, even, the band stops grating, and their sound reminds one that Depeche Mode remains un-killed. KMFDM's lyrics, usually carried hard-core, have nothing to stand on during these sags, so that their controversial, if not childish tone can't be ignored. Towards the album's close, at least, the beat comes back, and the german band closes with "BEREIT", a tired cry to mother earth that smacks of Yeats and Heym.