POP MUSIC REVIEW : KMFDM Set Doesn’t Live Up to Expectations

KMFDM’s industrial rock is as disciplined, regimented and relentless as that of, say, Judas Priest. But instead of heavy metal’s blustery bravado and super-hero posturing, the German band uses these musical strokes to paint a pathetic creature--someone full of confusion and self-loathing. In the process, they suggest a Western culture on the brink of chaos.

It’s an often effective blend on the new album, “Nihil,” but KMFDM’s concert at the American Legion Hall on Wednesday was a different story.

Even though KMFDM has solid credentials as an influential pioneer, it’s been outdone at its own game by Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, whose levels of theatrical impact and confrontation make KMFDM’s show seem wan. The concert didn’t even capitalize on a cult band’s privilege to be challenging and experimental without worrying about accessibility.

New singer Raymond Watts is an incongruous figure, his organic, Jim Morrison stance utterly at odds with the mechanistic barrage. The one song sung by the ominous, shaved-headed En Esch packed more punch than Watts offered the whole show. And the sound lacked the physical presence needed to sustain the repetitious pummeling. The audience’s energy and interest palpably faded as the set proceeded.

One redeeming feature: Singer-dancer called Jezebel dressed and moved like a floozy, but at least she got to sing a bit, asserting a rare female presence in this bastion of macho.