If you’re not having fun while listening to new KMFDM music then you’re doing it wrong. That said, the 22nd (!!!) full-length from the legendary Industrial outfit might be their most fun outing yet. Filled with the kinds of blistering anthems you’d come to expect from Kap’n K and the gang, HYENA still manages to both enthrall and excite, surprise and stimulate this far into KMFDM’s career.
“ALL 4 1” is pure, unfiltered KMFDM and follows a long line of riotous and righteous album openers as Andee Blacksugar’s impeccable shreds accent Andy Selway’s militaristic percussive blasts with Sascha Koneitzko and Lucia Cifarelli passionately harmonizing this new anthem (Listen closely and you might notice a throwback to “Bloodsport” in here as well). “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MONSTER” is an about face sonically, slowing it all down and just adhering to the GROOVE for a track that’s got horns, hip-hop, and Andrew “Ocelot” Lindsley at the helm while “BLACK HOLE” is a Cifarelli-centric futuristic hard rawker that just stomps.
The title track is gargantuan and easily one of KMFDM’s greatest and most infectious songs (Think “Juke Joint Jezebel” levels) to date as it brings everything that warrants KMFDM’s perpetual invitation to sit at the cool kids table. Infusing a nice strain of old school New Wave and Post-Punk with the way Blacksugar works the guitar here (Check out Andee’s Black Sugar Transmission records here for more guitar virtuosity!), “HYENA” is truly next level for the almost 40 year old outfit.
“ALL WRONG-BUT ALRIGHT” starts off with a drum n’ bass flow then morphs into a KMFDM standard with the razor sharp riffage from Blacksugar as Sissy Misfit trades verses with Sascha for an interesting and incendiary combination. Then there’s “BLINDFACE” which is Punk Rawk KMFDM with Cifarelli adopting her gnarliest delivery to date to spew some of the most in-your-face heaviness KMFDM has conceived since “A DRUG AGAINST WAR”. “DEJA VU” gets its dub on in grand fashion for a nifty palette cleanser before KMFDM goes Kountry (You read that right!) for the twang-filled hoedown that is “DELUDED DESPERATE DANGEROUS & DUMB”. And it works. Really well!
“IMMORTALLY YOURS” is an intriguing new Gothic opus with Cifarelli sounding like a sultry siren emitting haunting vocals that easily stand out as one of the best performances from the KMFDM vocalist. “LIQUOR FISH & CIGARETTES” is an electrifying heavy Electro romp that serves as a penultimate pounding force before a new version of “IN DUB WE TRUST” closes the record with Reggae artist Kumar Bent’s familiar pipes bringing one last bout of fun to HYENA.
HYENA lands on September 9th through Metropolis Records. Pre-orders are available now by heading here or here and for the latest on KMFDM, including info on where you can catch them soon LIVE, follow them across the information superhighway by clicking here, here, or here.