✦✦✧✧ 40 years in, and KMFDM continue their decade-long slide away from abrasive industrial noise and toward catchy industrial synthpop. Still, it puts a smile on my face that they’re just as committed to this underappreciated genre. And somehow they seem more vital and committed to it than Ministry. Not everything here works, and trying to listen to it in one go is tough… but definitely give it a listen, even if you’ve got you need to skip around. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ The band and/or label have chosen to not provide the album via any of the streaming services, except for YouTube. I’m generally sympathetic and supportive of that kind of decision these days, although it makes our job a bit harder in the modern age. But ya know what? Half the reason of me doing First Listens is to help you, Dear Reader, decide where to devote your time, energies, and cold hard cash. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I prefer my Testament without blast beats, as it turns out. Don’t get me wrong: in terms of composition, you can still hear the Eric Peterson of it all. And the band is definitely shredding, including new drummer Chris Dovas. But the band feels to me like they’re trying to be too many things at once, and not all of their experiments pan out. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Very shreddy middle-of-the-road classic speed thrash. If you like Morbid Saint, you’re gonna love Morbid Saint! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ A thoroughly passable Slayer-adjacent album. Don’t expect too many revelations or surprises; even Death Angel vocalist Mark Osegueda sounds more Arayaish here than usual. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ I was going to say that I don’t know who this collection of lukewarm rockers is for, but I realized that I do know: it’s for Mick Mars, of course. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Shake them buns! See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Poppy Eurodisco industrial which still works well enough. It kinda reminds me of a more party-friendly Rammstein, or a more aggressive Yello, if that means anything to you. (Oh yeah.) If you’re not already a fan of KMFDM, this isn’t going to bring you into the fold. But if you do already dig KMFDM, I’m sure you’ll eat this up. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ This is the second Static-X album to be at least partially constituted from tracks written and recorded by Wayne Static before his death in 2014. As such, don’t be surprised by the strong industrial nu-metal nostalgia that permeates this music. All that said, this is much more entertaining than I thought it’d be. See the rest here
✦✦✧✧ Man, this is the nasty. The production here both elevates and hamstrings the music; I really wish I could understand what the hell they’re even playing, but boy do they seem to be energized about something. See the rest here
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