2024 has turned out to be a fantastic year for the KMFDM family tree. The Lord of Lard started it off earlier with the release of PIG’s Red Room (Reviewed by us here) followed by the recent resurrection and remastering of Sinsation followed by an EP called Feast of Agony due on September 27th (Review from us imminent). Then there’s current KMFDM songstress Lucia Cifarelli who is unleashing her latest solo album in October as well. Oh, and back to PIG who’ll be hitting stages this Fall with a certain En Esch once again lending his musical prowess to the live set as part of Raymond Watts’ touring band. Did we say En Esch?!?! Why yes, yes we did and that brings us today and En Esch’s new full-length Dance Hall Putsch!
Probably our most anticipated out of all those aforementioned releases (And also the one longest on our radar with the slew of singles released up to now), Dance Hall Putsch is a sonic juggernaut from start to finish that’s a genre-fluid aural odyssey encompassing all of what has made En Esch so, well, En Esch. “Get Lost”, which starts off this opus, features Vas Kallas of Hanzel und Gretyl and is so ’90’s Industrial it isn’t even funny. But not what you’d expect from En Esch in the slightest. We’re talking Godflesh-like Industrial sounds here with some chunky riffage laying out a MOOD before the vocalist’s sinister yet sexy vocal delivery begins to take listeners on one helluva unexpected sonic journey over the course of this one and the 11 tracks that follow.
“I’m So Sick” featuring Mea Fisher (AKA DJ Mea from Lords of Acid) was covered in these pages in May of 2023 and still sounds so fresh when bundled into the album and is a futuristic synth-heavy production that’s throbbing and chaotic but also covered in a shimmering sheen while “If You Don’t Know Me, You Cannot Judge Me” is something that might be found on any one of En Esch’s various other projects yet just feels perfect on Dance Hall Putsch.
Gabriel Lennox (Seraph Sin, Kuros) makes the first of a few appearances on here during “Eden” driven by hypnotic synths and then again right after on “Push” which also features His Swineship, The Lord Of Lard, who graces us with His presence here alongside Lords Of Acid’s Erica Dilanjian who softens the blow between the battling Watts and En Esch verses. “Wahrhaftige Täuschung” loosely translates into “True Deception” and is kind of a palette cleanser between all the Electro madness before Watts arrives AGAIN on “Wumms” which is a sleek and sexy number built on grooves and a little reminiscent of Chk Chk Chk (!!!) if they embraced Industrial music while “Do It” gets the Dub going on this pulsating beauty featuring Hope Nicholls (Snagglepuss, Pigface) that adds elements of Trip-Hop into its’ airy atmosphere
Another we featured way back when (November of last year to be precise), “Yum Yum Beauty & The Nasty Thief” features another frequent former collaborator with KMFDM/PIG’s Guenter Schulz thrown into the mix and holy hell does this track sound perfect deep into the context of Dance Hall Putsch. If you took the whole of Ultra, modernized it, and packaged it into one perfect song to represent all of it then this track would do you good in that department. Now, we’re going to be brutally honest for a moment: We hate “Epic” by Faith No More. While The Real Thing is the real deal through and through, the lead single was so overplayed on both the radio and on that channel that used to play only music videos all the time. Anyway, we’re also going to be brutally honest and say we love this version that’s Electro-tinged with Dub/Reggae influences making for a wholly new and different listening experience!
One of the many, MANY cool things about this album is not only who is featured but also how with this kind of interchangeability that makes for some cool outcomes. Like “The Sweetest Aggravation” with Gabriel Lennox back on board this bouncy number with sweeping synth sounds and Erica Dilanjian’s heavenly voice haunting throughout. Alas, all good things must come to an end and in the case of Dance Hall Putsch it appears in the form of “World Of Deceit” that’s surprisingly a tender tome filled with all manner of electronic manipulation as En Esch gets a croon on albeit in that uncanny menacing way.
Dance Hall Putsch arrives on September 27th through GIVE/TAKE with a plethora of pre-order options already available to peruse and potentially purchase by clicking here. For more from En Esch, including all the upcoming tour dates as part of PIG like the one that hits Cambridge’s Middle East on November 12th, follow the trail of socials across the interwebs by heading here, here, or here.