Customer Reviews

Nihil

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was my first KMFDM purchase after tasting a delectable treat of "Ultra" from the Manga Entertainment trailer video in the 10th grade. I just had to check this band out...

What I got was a total electro-thrash-noise symphony that you can dance your ass off to. I totally fell in love with KMFDM and bought their other albums after this. "Nihil" stands as KMFDM's hardest album, with more guitars, sampling, kling-klangs, noise, and screams than you can shake a stick at.

I lost my KMFDM virginity to the opening track, "Ultra." It stands as an orchestra of angst and screams, with hardcore electronic composition, ultra heavy beats, and sick, seeping lyrics. "Juke Joint Jezebel" is perhaps the most intelligent track on this record, with blazing female choruses and industrial percussions galore. "Flesh" and "Brute" are most excellent performances by Raymond Watts, with gutsy metal guitars by Gunther Schulz and Mark Durante. "Beast" is a spooky club-worthy track with violent lyrics, smart electronics, and one hell of a chorus. "Revolution" is a thrash-fest with the classic industrial beats, with a notable performance by my man En Esch. "Disobedience" is a brilliant crossover track that mixes the heavy industrial beats with metal and ska...must love those trumpets! The album is closed off with the speedy joy-gasm "Trust."

This KMFDM record stands out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the KMFDM albums. It is the most original, beautifully crafted piece of work that KMFDM had to offer to the industrial community. Do yourself a favor and buy this masterpiece. You surely won't regret it!

*sigh*
It is truly depressing to see this staple of industrial and 90's rock in such bad shape. Out of print for 7 years, and going for 30 bucks a pop...
But, inflated price aside, this album is the most important in the KMFDM catalouge. In the industrial catalouge. In the 90's music catalouge. Because it proved that electronic rock could be something other than "The Downward Spiral". It could actually ROCK as well as mope.
The entire album is amsterfully produced, with the guitar drifting in and out seamlessly. It manages to be poundingly heavy without a single organic instrument. And the vocals range from growls to moans to groans to shreiks to wails to serenades all in one song. The are more hooks in JJJ alone than China could hang all of its coats on. And every track is perfect. Ultra is a brilliant intro, JJJ is just soo catchy, Flesh is a downright thrsh-fest, Beast has great lyrics and a fun guitar solo/conversation, Terror uses perfect sampling, and it goes on, with such ingenuity...

Buy it.

Another CD to add to your collection, 'Nihil' has a dark tone to it, yet succeeds in many ways. The choruses are great, the lyrics are awesome, and the instruments are cool. Raymond 'Pig' Watts take over most of the album with such songs as 'Brute' and 'Juke-Joint Jezebel'. 'Juke-Joint Jezebel' is supposedly one of their most known songs, and is really great. 'Disobedience' is also great and surprisingly enough, there are Saxophones and Trombones in the song! But these instruments fit perfectly well with the song. 'Brute' is a song I'm pretty sure I've heard on the radio, and is so great. 'Terror' is about terrosits, and their wrong doings. This song has a great beat,too. 'Trust' is a great end song (which KMFDM is good at) with vocals by Sascha K. and Dorona Alberti. The song has a great rythym to it, and is fast paced, and get ready for the blaring sound of the beginning of the hidden track near the end. 'Nihil' is KMFDM's darkest, most tormented sounding album, and is one of their best yet.

KMFDM has had several incarnations, with the coming and going of various band members and contributors keeping its style from stagnating over the years. But for that classic "KMFDM sound" of ultra-heavy beats, monster guitar riffs and raging vocals, NIHIL is the band's truly standout album and should be required listening for any fan.

"Juke Joint Jezebel" is the best-loved song from NIHIL (and the first KMFDM song I ever heard... must be 6 years ago now). Other than that and perhaps "Brute," I wouldn't name any of these songs as my particular favorites, but as a whole the album is unbeatable - you won't find any filler here.

For people who are new to KMFDM and not sure which album to buy first: This is it!

This is probably KMFDM's best release as well as it's most accessible work to date. With it's buzzsaw guitars and bass heavy beats, Nihil opens doors to the metal crowd. Sure, Light had A Drug Against War, which is probably one of their heaviest and most insanely fast songs, but Nihil features better production and overall better songs with less annoying self-parody (thanks to Raymond Watts).

One of the most recognizable songs is the club hit 'Juke Joint Jezebel'. This is a good tune in it's own right, but there are much better songs here than JJJ. 'Flesh' is a brutally heavy song with some truly evil vocals. 'Beast' is another evil song with a very dancable beat. 'Brute' starts out with some metallic clanging, moving to some heavy bass then to a killer guitar riff with heavy tone. One of the best songs is the album opener, 'Ultra'... a fast paced tune with some great guitar work.

If you get the chance to buy this CD, don't pass it up. It is some of the best work by KMFDM.

Here it is...Nihil re-released, digitally remastered, new label, and same great songs...only now they sound louder and better. Remember, re-mastered is not the same as remixed. It's still the same songs only now they sound like they just came out this year. The qaulity is excellent and up to par with anything else you would find on a recent Metropolis record. Ok, now about the CD, ...great KMFDM CD, with Raymond Watts (PIG) on vocals. Includes the famous KMFDM hit "Juke Joint Jezebel", and the rest of the songs are mighty cool as well. Great album for fans of Foetus, 16 Volt, Sister Machine Gun, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, and early Marilyn Manson.

Here is a breif summury of the tracks:

1. ULTRA - powerful electro industrial anthem to kick the album into gear. It's a song about setting yourself apart from a conformist society and feeling the true passion of your freedom.

2. JUKE JOINT JEZEBEL - A huge KMFDM hit in the industrial dance clubs. The lyrics are open to interpretation, but IMO, it's about drugs.

3. FLESH - A metal song that seems to be about self forgiveness.

4. Beast - starts off with these acidic sounding organs that clashes into coldwave electronica and rock. Lyrics open to interpretation, IMO, a song about self revelation and being proud of your dark side.

5. TERROR - a verry industrial sounding rock song that uses a political metaphor.

6. SEARCH AND DESTROY - Another industrial metal anthem to non comformity.

7. DISOBEDIENCE - A melodic downbeat industrial song that boosts into some 80's hairband sounding guitars. Lyrics about being oblivious and blind to the a world that is socially inept.

8. REVOLUTION - Coldwave beats put to lyrics about self becoming after a near death situation.

9. BRUTE - Coldwave electronica about a drug and alcohol downward spiral that evoles into a mutation of deacadent self love.

10. TRUST - Another industrial metal anthem to non conformity and self revelation.

11. NIHIL - Instrumental track that would please fans of industrial noise music.

This is not as dark as some reviews say it is. Well at least its not as dark as some of the music I listen to, but it is definantly awsome. It kind of picks up where angst left off with the guitars, but on this cd Ramond Watts is in the mix. This is probably the most popular KMFDM cd. Especially with Hits like Juke Joint Jezebell.
Ultra 6/10 At first I thought this song was awsome but overtime it got boring
Juke Joint Jezebel 8/10 This is the song that gets most people into KMFDM. I think its a good song but I can think of about 25 other songs from them Id rather here. Dont get me wrong this one is fun, but when I think of KMFDM I think of songs like,Flesh, Glory, Dogma, Anarchy, Free your hate, apathy and stray bullet.
Flesh 10/10 speaking about flesh this is the first great song on this cd. Watts does an excellent job on the vocalls and the guitars just kick ass. This one should definantly be one of there more popular songs.
Beast 9/10 I really like this one. Its got fun lyrics and great music
Terror 10/10 Great beat and great lyrics. Really catchy. The first time I heard this one I couldnt get it out of my head all day
Search and Destroy 10/10 Another of my favorites. It is really fast and energetic. Great lyrics "will we close our eyes and fall for their lies, or will we make the conclusion that this lifes a dilousion.
Disobediance 9/10 When I bought this cd I never would have thought that I would like this song. But it grew on me and now its one of my favorite songs on here. If your not used to horns give this one time and it will make a fan out of you.
Revolution 8/10 Beautiful singing from Darona. She is my second favorite KMFDM female vocalist after of course the sexy Lucia.
Brute 10/10 Another hard song. once again watts is the man . The guitars ar really good.
Trust 8/10 this one reminds me of brute and beast in a way. Pretty good song to close out the cd.
This is one of the most important cds to buy. If you can find it under 15 dollars pick it up right away. Its out of print. I bought it at 25 and it was worth it, but the day after somebody was selling it for 10$. F$%k!

Of all the industrial bands that I have been listening to on a regular basis for the last several years now, KMFDM is the industrial band I have been into for the longest time. NIHIL is easily my favorite KMFDM album (w/Raymond Watts). The first song I have ever heard by KMFDM is the popular single "Juke Joint Jezebel" back in 1997. A few years later I finally bought the album NIHIL which included the song. I recently scquired a copy of the newly remastered version of NIHIL. This new version sounds a hundred times better than the original version.

The music on NIHIL sounds as fresh to me as the first time I had heard it in 1999. The only difference is that this album was given a proper remastering treatment. NIHIL is flawless to me. Songs like "Search & Destroy" and "Brute" are brutal and aggressive, the way I like my industrial music. The inclusion of a horn section on "Disobedience" is brilliant on Sascha's part. Industrial music is the last place you would hear a horn section on but it works here on the song. The last track on the cd is a bonus instrumental track simply called "Nihil" which wasn't on the original version. It is a nice way to close out one of my personal favorite KMFDM cds. I strongly recommend for any industrial fan who wants to check out early KMFDM to check out the newly remastered NIHIL. This is why I love this genre and KMFDM.

KMFDM plays more like a well-oiled machine with sonic precision that rivals hospital surgical equipment rather than a rock band. Nihil is a take-no-prisoners album. Literally. The opening song Ultra is just a warm-up for what you're about to get into. Nihil is an album that'll take some time to recover after the first listen. There's not a whole lot of albums I can say that about. Whether it's the corrosive metal fests like Terror, Search & Destroy, or Revolution, or the "evil disco" numbers like Juke Joint Jezebel, there's enough to keep even the pickiest metal fan interested. Whether it's Sascha K's or Raymond "<Pig>" Watts' brutal vocals, the heavily textured metal numbers, or the overall fast-pace of the album, this is one you'll guaranteed to play in your CD player a long time after the first listen. KMFDM has lots of high-tech distortion, brutal vocals, grinding guitars, and pounding rythms - and that's just in the first track alone. This was my first KMFDM purchase, and it's a great intro to what the band's like. I bought it after getting hooked on the song Ultra. The CD is very addicting. The best tracks are the first couple of ones, especially Ultra and Juke Joint Jezebel (I wish all albums started out with two really strong tracks, like this one) then it slows down, but picks right back up again. Ultra and JJJ are the best tracks on the album. Some other good ones, like Search & Destroy, Disobedience, Revolution, and Terror make the album worth listening to over and over. The nice thing about this album, is that since I've purchased it, I've listened to it several times and it has yet to get stale. I first got into KMFDM after purchasing MDFMK (I know I'm a little late). I'm now on a mad hunt for more KMFDM. I plan on purchasing Retro, Money, Angst, and whatever else I can find. Once you enter the world of KMFDM, there's no turning back. Can't wait to hear the new one that's coming up this year.

KMFDM are a good band if you don't take them too seriously and this may be their finest effort. I liken KMFDM's music to be a more "upbeat" and "fun" version of Industrial rock when compared to the likes of Ministry, Front Line Assembly or Nine Inch Nails. If you're a pretentious hard-core industrial fan who prefers the more "pure" sounds of bands like Skinny Puppy, you may not like this. It's interesting to see how many people are bad-mouthing bands such as KMFDM and NIN because they're not "real industrial" whatever that means. "Industrial" is just a tag put on these bands by media, record labels, radio and such and such and unfortunately Trent Reznor is a target for rivethead "elitists" because he's so popular. Sorry, I'm getting off the track here. Anyway, if I had to recommend any KMFDM cd this is the one. Enjoy.