KMFDM .:. Tohuvabohu

When someone talks about German industrial goth-dance bands, KMFDM will inevitably come up—whether because of talent, iconoclasm, or simply because of their ubiquity—who the hell else has made this much music for this long?—no one could say. Almost 25 years since their first album came out, Tohuvabohu really doesn’t sound that different. In fact, the most significant departure is the title, which abandons KMFDM’s standard five-letter moniker for the mysterious-sounding but grammatically-incorrect Hebrew expression for the creation of the universe.

Musically, however, the band’s current lineup strikes a tenuous balance between their characteristic industrial, as well as elements of funk, R & B, and metal. Whether it’s that half-growl, half-Elvis sneer in Sascha Konietzko’s deep, robotic vocals, or the weirdly sexy addition of diva-of-the-moment Lucia Cifarelli, the songs are mostly interchangeable but uniformly tight, lacking any standout single or career-making track, but that’s okay, mostly; they’ve made their contribution to greatness. Tohuvabohu succeeds in being solidly good, and maybe that's just as important.