KMFDM: (SYMBOLS)

SCORE: 95/100

KMFDM manage to create industrial handbooks over and over again, this album being one of many opuses to take from.

'(symbols)' feels like it should more likely than not be considered to be KMFDM's most iconic project, with 'Megalomaniac' showcasing the band's knack for incredibly striking introductory songs - this one being one of their most highly recognized tracks. The hugely industrial synth-driven sound makes this album sound like something straight out of a grimy vampire club; and this sound is something that only KMFDM could pull off this well.

The album flows together into what feels like one action-packed soundscape, and it's one of their project that has the most depth and synth-driven tracks within it. There's a huge sense of musical prowess for the genres that the band operates within through '(symbols)', and the album is executed incredibly well.

KMFDM manage to make songs about guns and anarchy sound sexy, with the industrial synths and dark rock sounds being alluring and increasingly hard to ignore. This album is much more than just 'Megalomaniac', and the fact that they even managed to continue in the same direction and with the same amount of quality after starting off so headstrong is deeply impressive.

1997 seems like a shocking year for this album to have been released in given how futuristic it still manages to sound to this day, and KMFDM masterfully crafted each track into something that will hook you in immediately.

The switch from song to song is consistently seamless within this album - something no other KMFDM album I have heard thus far has quite like this album managed to. Every song comes together strikingly well and the style of this album is less intense than some of their other works while still being highly intense and lively throughout.

'(symbols)' has some of the band's more "tame" material, with songs like 'Mercy' taking a slower approach when compared to some of the harder songs of albums like 'Kunst' and 'WWIII'. In terms of atmosphere, '(symbols)' is one of their darkest works, the album has a darker edge rather than a loud one, and it makes usage of synthesizers and layering to create an album that runs as deep as possible.

This album managed to come over 10 years into their already long-running career, and yet it manages to sound so impressively fresh you would think this was one of their first full efforts as a band. The fact they had been working so consistently since the 80s gave them even more leverage for this album and the sounds produced within it, and they used this leverage to a massive advantage for the end result of this project.


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