Nihil
Nihil | ||||
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Bad Animals Studio, Seattle | ||||
Genre |
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Length | 49:03 | |||
Label | Wax Trax! | |||
Producer |
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KMFDM chronology | ||||
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Singles from Nihil | ||||
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Nihil is the seventh
The album's first single "Juke Joint Jezebel" is the band's most widely known song, with millions of copies sold over various releases. Widely praised by critics, Nihil is the band's best-selling album. After the original release went out of print, a remastered version was released in 2007.
Background
In late 1993, Sascha Konietzko and fellow multi-instrumentalist En Esch both left Chicago, moving to Seattle and New Orleans, respectively.[1][2] Lead guitarist Günter Schulz left the country, moving to Kelowna, British Columbia.[2] In early 1994, Konietzko started working on new material, and Schulz came to Seattle to begin adding guitars to the tracks.[2] Later that year, the group assembled in Los Angeles to rehearse for the upcoming Angstfest tour in support of Angst, which spanned April and May.[2] Konietzko, Schulz, Esch, and guitarist Mark Durante were joined by another guitarist, Mike Jensen,[2] for a live show that featured up to four guitarists playing at once.[3] Konietzko and Schulz, along with Dutch singer Dorona Alberti, returned to Seattle to begin recording vocals for Nihil.[2] Konietzko later said he was not happy with the sessions, explaining that nothing was coming together, and only two songs from the upcoming album, "Trust" and "Brute", had been completed to his satisfaction.[2]
Former KMFDM member
Production
Discussing the change in songwriting from Angst, Konietzko said: "I wasn't comfortable with the band scenario on that album, where everybody had input. It allowed for too many compromises. Angst seems not organic to me."[8] In another interview, he explained: "Contrary to the past, I wrote all the songs for Nihil," adding that doing things that way caused "minimal problems".[9]
Konietzko stated that the band overused guitars on their previous album, Angst,[10] saying it sounded "like guitarists jacking off".[6] On Nihil, the guitars were mixed in last.[10] Durante had recently purchased a triple-neck Fender steel guitar in Houston, and used it during recording sessions, but added a significant amount of distortion to it, making it sound like a "regular" guitar but giving it what he called a "sliding" sound.[7] Konietzko also brought in a trio of horn players to perform on "Disobedience", saying he had always wanted a horn section in a KMFDM song, but that he had never been able to afford it before.[2]
Konietzko originally wrote thirty songs over a period of eight or nine months for Nihil before settling on ten final tracks.
Release
Nihil was originally released on April 4, 1995. A digitally remastered re-release of Nihil was released on March 6, 2007, along with a similar re-release of KMFDM's 1996 album Xtort. The band toured twice in 1995 in support of the album, first doing the Beat by Beat tour shortly after the album's release, and then the In Your Face tour later in the year.[1] The album, which had "major buzz", had an initial shipment of 75,000 copies.[17]
The album's first track, "Ultra", was featured in the U.S. release of
Nihil was Wax Trax!'s best-selling album to date by the end of 1995,
Nihil is one of only two KMFDM studio albums (Opium being the other) that does not feature cover artwork by pop-artist Brute! Instead, the cover was designed by Rieflin's wife Francesca Sundsten.[2][6] The band would return to using Brute!'s work on the next album, Xtort.[26]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Washington Post | favorable[30] |
Nihil received very favorable reviews from music critics. Heidi MacDonald of
Keyboard praised the album, describing "milky organ pads" on "Disobedience" and "snarling guitars [wrapped] in spiky synth barbed wire" on "Juke Joint Jezebel", and saying of band leader Konietzko, "You won't find a more imaginative or effective keyboardist on the hard-core scene."[29] Chris Gill of Guitar Player, conversely, said "the most interesting parts are Durante's steel guitar lines, which howl like revving engines".[28] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune said that "Juke Joint Jezebel" "swaggers like a Bourbon Street hooker, with crunching guitars and a swooping, gospelish chorus" at the time of the album's release,[8] and in 2011, said the album put "a polished pop spin on industrial's characteristic harshness".[24] Gill had similar praise, saying "few have succeeded in making the combination [of techno rhythms and thrash guitars] sound as natural as this".[28]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Ultra" | Raymond Watts | 4:34 |
2. | "Juke Joint Jezebel" | Esch, Konietzko, Schulz, Watts | 5:40 |
3. | "Flesh" | Esch, Konietzko, Schulz, Watts | 5:02 |
4. | "Beast" | Konietzko, Schulz | 5:06 |
5. | "Terror" | Durante, Esch, Konietzko, Schulz, Shepard, Watts | 4:50 |
6. | "Search & Destroy" | Esch, Konietzko, Schulz | 3:26 |
7. | "Disobedience" | Durante, Esch, Konietzko, Schulz, Shepard, Watts | 4:43 |
8. | "Revolution" | Esch, Konietzko, Schulz | 4:27 |
9. | "Brute" | Esch, Konietzko, Schulz, Watts | 4:25 |
10. | "Trust" | Konietzko, Schulz | 3:43 |
11. | "Nihil" (hidden at the end of "Trust" on the Wax Trax!/TVT release) | Konietzko | 2:04 |
Total length: | 48:00 |
Personnel
All information from 1995 release booklet except where noted.[14]
Musicians
- Sascha Konietzko – synthesizers, vocals (1–7, 9–10), bass (6), drums (10), programming
- En Esch – vocals (1–3, 5–8), guitars (1, 3, 6), drums (6, 9), percussion (2, 3), harmonica (5)
- Günter Schulz – guitars, vocals (2, 6), bass (5), pre-production
- Mark Durante – guitars (1, 5, 7, 9)
- Raymond Watts – vocals (1–3, 5, 7, 9), bass (5), drum programming(5)
Additional personnel
- Dorona Alberti – vocals (4, 8, 10)
- Jim Christiansen – trombone (7)
- Jennifer Ginsberg – vocals (2)
- Jeff Olson – trumpet (7)
- Bill Rieflin – drums (1, 3, 7)
- Fritz Whitney – bari sax (7)
Production
- Sascha Konietzko – engineering, mixing, production
- Chris Shepard – engineering, production, mixing
- Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineering
- David Collins – mastering
- Francesca Sundsten – cover art
- Chris Z – type (1995 release)
- Justin Gammon – layout (2007 release)[2]
References
- ^ a b "KMFDM History on April 4, 1997 from archive.org". KMFDM.net. Archived from the original on April 8, 1997. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nihil (CD booklet). KMFDM. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Metropolis Records. 2007. pp. 2–3.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Strauss, Neil (May 26, 1994). "Review/Rock; Heavy Metal, With an Emphasis on Heavy". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
- ^ Don't Blow Your Top (CD booklet). KMFDM. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Metropolis Records. 2006.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Raymond Watts Interview". Convulsion Magazine. 1992. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Gopalan, Nisha (May 3, 1995). "KMFDM delves deeper into metal-industrial". Daily Bruin. The Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Yücel, Ilker (December 6, 2011). "Returning to Earth". Retrieved July 15, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Kot, Greg (May 26, 1995). "Industrial Arts: Kmfdm Crafts The Lighter, Brighter Side Of Machine Rock". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
- ^ Iwasaki, Scott (May 5, 1995). "No Political Rage, Just 'Life, Normal Stuff' for KMFDM". Deseret News. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Roberts, Jamie (April 19, 1995). Bob Gajarsky (ed.). "Interview: KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko". Consumable Online. Archived from the original on February 9, 2000. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ "Raymond Watts Interview". Sonic Envelope. October 20, 1995. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ Powell, Eric (1995). "KMFDM". Hypno Magazine. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ McDonald, Sam (October 20, 1995). "Moral Minority German-born Industrial Rock Group Kmfdm Has 'No Pity For The Majority'". Daily Press. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- ^ a b Nihil (CD booklet). KMFDM. Chicago, Illinois: Wax Trax! Records. 1995.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Angst (CD booklet). KMFDM. Chicago, Illinois: Wax Trax! Records. 1993.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ All Media Network. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
- ^ Rothschild, David (April 14, 1995). "New Rock Order Migrates From Wicker Park". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- CBS Interactive Inc.Retrieved September 2, 2010.
- ^ Rothschild, David (July 28, 1995). "Cutting-edge Music Rides Japanimation Wave". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- ^ Curtis, Larry D. (September 29, 1995). "KMFDM Will Let It Rip Monday at Saltair Pavilion". Deseret News. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- ^ Artner, Alan; Christiansen, Richard; Kamin, Blair; Kart, Larry; Kot, Greg; Reich, Howard; Smith, Sid; von Rhein, John; Wilmington, Michael (December 31, 1995). "The Keys To The City: People Who Opened Doors In Chicago And The Arts In '95". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
- ^ Wiederhorn, Jon (August 8, 1996). "KMFDM make industrial music the old-fashioned way. They trash their hardware". Rolling Stone. No. 740. p. 24. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- All Media Network. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- ^ a b c Kot, Greg (April 6, 2011). "Wax Trax's greatest hits". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2012.
- ^ Kroll, Katy (September 12, 2016). "KMFDM Reflect on 3-Decade Career & Hating Their Biggest Hit". Billboard. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
- ^ Xtort (CD booklet). KMFDM. Chicago, Illinois: Wax Trax! Records. 1996.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b c d MacDonald, Heidi (May 1995). Best New Music: KMFDM Nihil. Robert K. Haber. p. 15. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c Gill, Chris (June 1, 1995). "Nihil". Guitar Player. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ a b "Keyboard". Keyboard. 21. GPI Publications: 120. 1995.
- ^ Washington Post. Archived from the originalon November 5, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2010.