XTORT [Bonus Track] [Remaster]

Performer: KMFDM
Artist: Chris Connelly; William Rieflin; FM Einheit; En Esch
Engineer: Chris Shepard; Claudine Pointer; Chris Shepard; Sascha Konietzko; Ron Lowe
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: KMFDM: Sascha Konietzko (vocals, various instruments, synthesizer, bass, drums, samples, loops, programming); Chris Connelly, Dorona Alberti, Nicole Blackman, Cheryl Wilson, Jennifer Ginsberg (vocals); Bruce Bendinger, Jr. Blackmail (spoken vocals); Mark Durante (slide guitar, guitar); Gunter Schulz (guitar, piano, bass); En Esch (guitar, background vocals); Steve Finckle (saxophone); Jack Kramer, Mike Cichowicz (trumpet); Bob Samborski (trombone); Bruce Breckenfeld (Hammond B-3 organ); William Rieflin (drums); F.M. Einheit (percussion, sound effects); Ron Lowe (drill, vacuum cleaner); John Van Eaton (sound effects). Producers: Sascha Konietzko, Gunter Schulz, Chris Shepard. Composers: Sascha Konietzko; Schulz Ensemble. Lyricists: Sascha Konietzko; Schulz Ensemble. KMFDM: Chris Connelly (vocals); Jr. Blackmail (spoken vocals); Steve Finkel (saxophone); Jack Kramer, Mike Chicowicz (trumpet); Bob Samborski (trombone); G�nter Schulz, Sascha Konietzko (bass instrument); Ron Lowe, F.M. Einheit, John Van Eaton (sound effects); Cheryl Wilson, Bruce Bendinger, Dorona Alberti, Jennifer Ginsberg, En Esch, Mark Durante, Nicole Blackman, William Rieflin. Personnel: Sascha Konietzko (vocals, synthesizer, drums, programming); Bruce Bendinger, Nicole Blackman (vocals); G�nter Schulz (guitar, piano); En Esch, Mark Durante (guitar); Steve Finkel (saxophone); Jack Kramer, Mike Chicowicz (trumpet); Bruce Breckenfeld (organ); William Rieflin (drums); Cheryl Wilson, Dorona Alberti, Jennifer Ginsberg (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Chris Shepard; Sascha Konietzko. Audio Remasterer: Brian Gardner . Recording information: Chicago At Chicago Recording Company; Hole In The Wall, Chicago, IL. Editor: Sascha Konietzko. XTORT doesn't sound markedly different than KMFDM's other releases -- there are still the bruising mechanical drum beats and numbingly drilling guitars, combined with barked vocals. What's noticeable about XTORT -- their first album since industrial broke into the Top 40 with Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral -- is how the band made no concessions to the pop/rock mainstream whatsoever. They are still the same grimy, dank heavy dance band they were in the '80s. For some listeners, that means they're keeping the flame burning and, to a certain extent, they'd be right -- KMFDM sounds as good as they ever have, and several tracks rank among their best. But, over a decade into their career, it would be nice to hear the band branch out and start to experiment a little bit more. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine XTORT doesn't sound markedly different than KMFDM's other releases -- there are still the bruising mechanical drum beats and numbingly drilling guitars, combined with barked vocals. What's noticeable about XTORT -- their first album since industrial broke into the Top 40 with Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral -- is how the band made no concessions to the pop/rock mainstream whatsoever. They are still the same grimy, dank heavy dance band they were in the '80s. For some listeners, that means they're keeping the flame burning and, to a certain extent, they'd be right -- KMFDM sound as good as they ever have, and several tracks rank among their best. But, over a decade into their career, it would be nice to hear the band branch out and start to experiment a little bit more. [The 2007 reissue includes one bonus track, "Fairy."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (7/11-25/96, p.90) - 3 Stars - Good - "...insidiously arty and intellectually sassy music..." Entertainment Weekly (7/12/96, pp.58-59) - "...XTORT grooves with menacing force, spattering horns, female backing vocals, strings, and spoken words across an apocalyptic sound grid. At the same time, it's the heaviest and most danceable disc in their 12-year career." - Rating: A- Alternative Press (11/99, p.23) - Included in AP's 10 "Essential Industrial-Rock ALbums" - "...features a rogues' gallery of guests who assist leader Sascha Konietzko in appropriating styles for his own synth-and-six-stringed empire..." RIP (9/96, p.72) - 4 (out of 5) - "...On XTORT, the usual combination of turbulent dance beats, grating heavy metal riffs and shouted vocals gives way to the most accomplished set of songs to come from the KMFDM clique thus far..."

The German industrial dance act KMFDM were one of the first bands to recognize the link between the mechanical ferocity of industrial music and the unrelenting rhythms of the dance floor. Although they formed in Germany in 1984, they soon made a name for themselves in the United States as one of the premier bands on the seminal Chicago industrial label Wax Trax. While their popularity faltered a bit in the wake of more cartoonish American versions of KMFDM's aesthetic, the band's influence on industrial music can not be underestimated.

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