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Symbols (album)

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Released
  
September 23, 1997

Symbols (1997)
  
Adios (1999)

Release date
  
23 September 1997

Label
  
Wax Trax! Records

Length
  
56:34

Artist
  
KMFDM

Producer
  
Chris Shepard

Symbols (album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb4

Genres
  
Industrial rock, Industrial metal, Electro-industrial

Similar
  
KMFDM albums, Industrial rock albums

Kmfdm symbols 1997


The tenth album by German industrial group KMFDM is titled with a string of five unpronounceable, non-alphabetic symbols (see cover art), but usually cataloged as Symbols. It was released on September 23, 1997, on Wax Trax!/TVT Records. A digitally remastered reissue of Symbols was released in 2007 on Metropolis Records.

Contents

Kmfdm megalomaniac


Background

Recorded in Seattle, Washington, Symbols marked the introduction of Tim Skold. While his contribution to this album was as a guest, he would become a full-fledged member for Adios and Attak. Sascha Konietzko, the frontman of KMFDM, said the title had no special meaning, and was just an idea for a title the group had very early on, before a single album had been released. En Esch said the idea for the album title came from the symbols used for curses in comic books. The symbols appear in the printed lyrics of "Down and Out"; the corresponding point in the song is covered with a censor-like beep in the song, and is replaced with "(SYMBOLS)" on the official KMFDM lyrics archive.

Release

Symbols was released on September 23, 1997. "Megalomaniac", "Anarchy", and "Leid und Elend" were included on the soundtrack of the video game Test Drive 5. "Megalomaniac" was also featured in the film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and was the first single from its soundtrack. "Anarchy" appeared on the European version of the soundtrack to the 1998 film Lost in Space.

Reception

Andy Hinds of Allmusic gave a mixed review, calling some of the band's ideas repetitive while praising the programming. He also commented that the band keeps its sound fresh by bringing in new contributing artists for each new album, and noted the presence of Tim Skold and Nivek Ogre. He called the production top quality and the album "a fine place for newcomers to start," but said that Symbols offers people that have been following the band few surprises. Kevin Williams of the Chicago Sun-Times called "Megalomaniac" an "incredible, irresistible opener" and said the album "could result in a KMFDM takeover of electronica."

Controversy

"Stray Bullet" received significant media attention after the Columbine High School Massacre because the song's lyrics were posted on the website of Eric Harris. The song was also in the background of one of the videos posted by Pekka-Eric Auvinen on YouTube prior to the Jokela school shooting.

Personnel

  • Sascha Konietzko – sequences/programming/loops, vocals (1–6, 8, 10), drums (7, 8)
  • En Esch – vocals (1–6, 8, 10), percussion (2, 7, 8), slide guitar (2), cymbals (4, 6), tambourine (4), guitar (6, 9), sequences/programming/loops (7–10), scratch piano (10)
  • Günter Schulz – guitar, programming (2), loops (4, 9), backing vocals (6, 10), percussion (7, 8)
  • Abby Travis – vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10), bass guitar (6, 9)
  • Michel Bassin – guitar (4, 7-9), percussion (7)
  • William Rieflin – drums (6, 10), loops (7, 10), percussion (7), sequences (10)
  • Raymond Watts – vocals (6, 9)
  • Amy Denio – saxophones (8)
  • Nivek Ogre – vocals (5)
  • Tim Skold – vocals (7)

    • Songs

    1Megalomaniac6:08
    2Stray Bullet5:32
    3Leid und Elend6:10

    References

    Symbols (album) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA