Tohuvabohu is a big album for KMFDM in many ways. It marks their 23rd year as a musical project. It marks their 4th album since reforming in 2002. And it marks their 16th overall album, a feat which few bands ever achieve. As a result of the this, Tohuvabohu is different from their other more recent releases in many ways, and as a result of these differences the album is superior.

Something which has been used increasingly on KMFDM albums is a variety of language scattered throughout the songs. While they have always made use of German among their primarily English lyrics, their last album, Hau Ruck, also included the use of French (in the excellent Mini Mini Mini) Tohuvabohu conitnues this trend, except that they have carried it even further this time. While there are only English and German used for entire songs, they also make use of Spanish, Hebrew, Lingwala, and Latin. This lends some excellent variety to the album, and helps to leaven up some of the slightly slower tracks. I must especially give credit to KMFDM for fully confirming my long held belief that Latin could be used to great effect in modern music, and I hope they use it again in the future in longer lengths.

Now, on to the music itself. Hau Ruck featured a lot of heavy guitars and a more heavy metal feel overall, which was done to fairly good effect. While these same guitars are present on Tohuvabohu, they are used less frequently and I feel to greater effect. The music itself leans more towards a sound reminiscent of that in the music from the 1980s, and certainly a greater emphasis on danceability and, for want of a better word, groove, is evident here. To compare many of the tracks on this album to but one earlier KMFDM song, I would equate them to Ready to Blow from Hau Ruck.

While by and large I feel this album is an improvement upon earlier releases and in general a solid album, I do have a few complaints, similar to complaints I've had with most other KMFDM releases. I feel that there are a few weak tracks which could have been left off, and I think there are moments in otherwise excellent tracks which start to drag noticeably. On Tohuvabohu, I think tracks like Saft und Kraft and Spit or Swallow are inferior. While okay tracks, better tracks, like the excellent cover Los Niños del Parque.

Overall, I feel that Tohuvabohu is a very solid album, and is a worthy successor to KMFDM's long series of excellent releases. Despite some flaws, it should satisfy previous fans, and their continued experiments with diversity are most definitely a breath of fresh air. I hope that they will continue to expand their linguistic repetoire, and I look forward to their next release.

Score:
Hompage: KMFDM.net
Reviewer: Paul Gifford