''Blitz'' is German

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

group

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

's sixteenth studio album, released on March 24, 2009, on KMFDM Records and

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...

. It also marks the first use of five letter song titles and a five letter album title since ''

WWIII World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

''. The album charted after its release, as did the song "People of the Lie". ''Blitz'' had songs written in three different languages, and was moderately well received by critics. Most of its songs were remixed for the band's next release, '' Krieg''.

Background

The symbol used for the first track, , is a variation of the astronomical symbol for the planet Uranus, . Sascha Konietzko, the band's founder, mentions the lyrics "Up Uranus" in his blog, and at the place of the symbol in lyrics, "up Uranus" is sung. "Bait and Switch" contains lyrics from "

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is an English Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection ''Hymns and Sacred Poems''. The carol, based on , tells of an angelic chorus singing praises to God. As it is known in the modern era, it f ...

". The lyrics for "Davai" are Russian, while the lyrics for "Potz Blitz!" are German. The track "Me & My Gun" is a song loosely about the Columbine shooters,

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold ...

Release

''Blitz'' was released on March 24, 2009. It was on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Dance/Electronic Albums Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...

Chart for four weeks, and peaked at No. 9. It reached No. 1 on the CMJ Loud Rock Select chart and No. 15 on the FMQB Metal Detector chart. "People of the Lie" reached No. 1 for three weeks on CMJ's Loud Rock Select Tracks chart.

Reception

''Blitz'' received mixed to positive reviews.

Track listing

Personnel

All information from 2009 liner notes.

Musicians

Lucia Cifarelli Lucia Cifarelli (born September 23, 1970) is an American musician, best known for her work with industrial band KMFDM. She was formerly the vocalist for the band Drill and also performed in KMFDM offshoots MDFMK, KGC, and Schwein. Career Cifar ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(1, 2, 4–6, 8, 10) *

Jules Hodgson Jules Hodgson, also credited as Joolz or J. Hogstorm, is an English musician, record producer and former member of KMFDM and The Spittin' Cobras (along with KMFDM bandmate Andy Selway). He is a former member of PIG and Lodestar. In 2006, Hodgso ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(1–4, 6–10),

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mus ...

(4), drum enhancement (9, 10), all instruments (5),

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

(1–10), mixing *

Sascha Konietzko Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fath ...

– vocals (1–7, 9–11),

analog synthesizer An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...

s (1–4, 6–10), drum programming (1–4, 6–10), sitar (4), loops (7), P-Funk bass (8), all instruments (11), production, mixing *

Tim Skold Tim Skold (born Thim Sköld) is a Swedish musician and record producer who produces solo work and has also collaborated with multiple musical groups including Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson and Motionless in White. Biography Early li ...

– bass (1, 9),

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

and

hi-hats A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

(1–4, 6, 9, 10), drum enhancement (1, 4, 8), drum sound design (2, 3, 6, 9, 10), Soviet synth (6, 8, 9), production (1–4, 6, 8–10)

Additional personnel

* Anna Koudriachova – countup (3) *

Andy Selway Andy Selway is an English drummer, well known for his work with KMFDM. Selway spent his early years in Luton, England, but moved to Kirton near Felixstowe, Suffolk, where he remained until his early 20s. From a musical family, he is the eldest ...

– digital synthesizers (8), drum programming (8) * Steve White – guitar (8) * Cheryl Wilson – vocals (8)

Production

* Brian Gardner – mastering *

Brute! Aidan Hughes is a commercial artist. He was born in 1956 in Merseyside, England, and was trained as an artist by his father, himself a landscape painter. In the 1980s, Hughes published a pulp-style magazine called ''BRUTE!''. ''Brute!'' has bec ...

– cover art * Justin Gammon – layout * Kirk Edward Mitchell – photography * Vibrent Management – post production coordination

References

External links

''Blitz''
at the official

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Blitz (Album) 2009 albums KMFDM albums Metropolis Records albums