By 1997, KMFDM had become a dependable, prolific source for tightly produced, mostly top-notch heavy industrial music. To their great credit, the band never betrayed its countercultural ideals, becoming an independent empire without making any concessions to the mainstream. However, some of the band's ideas were getting a bit repetitive after nine albums. This self-titled effort (also known as Symbols, like Led Zeppelin's fourth album) was released during the "next big thing" hype of electronica, and finds the band peeling away some of its heavy guitars in favor of a more dance-oriented sound (which is where the band really started, anyway). And the programming skills here, admirably, have kept up with the times; some of this stuff sounds like it could have been produced by Prodigy. Luckily, KMFDM freshens its sound a bit with each album by bringing new contributing musicians into their collective; Tim Skold and ex-Skinny PuppyOgre (with his unmistakably spooky growl) "sing" on a few tracks, while veteran industrial drummer William Reiflin adds live drums here and there. In all, this is as good as many of KMFDM's '90s albums, and is a fine place for newcomers to start. The clean, detailed production is of top quality, and many of the tunes -- like "Megalomaniac" and "Anarchy" -- are exceptional. But for those who have been following the band, Symbols offers few surprises. ~ Andy Hinds, All Music Guide
The tenth KMFDM album is titled with a string of five unpronounceable (Explosionskullbombspiralfist), non-alphabetic symbols (see cover art), but usually cataloged as Symbols.[1] It has also been referred to as KMFDM (suggesting it to be a self-titled album).[2] Another title used on the KMFDM website, circa 2001 was Anger.[3]Sascha Konietzko, the frontman of KMFDM, avoids giving an explanation of the meanings of the symbols, but other band members have claimed they are meant to be similar to the unpronounceable symbols used to indicate profanity in the word balloons of comics. Interestingly, the titular symbols appear in the lyrics of "Down and Out"; the corresponding point in the song is covered with a censor-like beep, reinforcing the notion of the title as being comic book profanity. Recorded in Seattle, Washington, Symbols marked the introduction of Tim Skold. While his contribution to this album was merely as a guest, he would eventually become a full-fledged member and remain so for several years. A digitally remastered reissue of Symbols was released on May 8, 2007, along with Adios.
