KMFDM - Musical Style

Musical Style

KMFDM's earliest output was performance art, as Konietzko incorporated not only visuals such as burning beds and exploding televisions, but also non-musical devices used as instruments, e.g. vacuum cleaners. The 1980s albums featured heavy use of sampling and studio manipulations, and the primary instruments used were synthesizers and drum machines. Konietzko has cited T.Rex, David Bowie, and Frank Zappa as inspiration in the early stages of KMFDM. Before forming the band, he listened to punk music and "true industrial" bands such as Throbbing Gristle.

The band's music has been described as industrial, industrial rock, industrial metal, and techno-industrial. While recognized along with Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Skinny Puppy as pioneers in introducing industrial music to mainstream audiences, KMFDM describes its sound as "The Ultra-Heavy Beat". Konietzko once stated, "If I was to give myself a label it would be industrial-alternative-electronic-crossover-rock and danceabilly."

The band has made heavy use of guitars since its inception, and pioneered their use during the band's early days in Germany. Although not a metal fan, Konietzko said his "infatuation with ripping off metal licks" stemmed from his experiments with E-mu's Emax sampler in late 1986, adding that "What I always hated most about heavy metal was that the best riffs came only once and were never repeated. So the fascination, actually, was to sample a great riff, loop it, and play it over and over again." While the album Don't Blow Your Top was more sparse in content, due to the influence of producer Sherwood, it was the exception rather than the rule. Ministry founder and frontman Al Jourgensen, on tour with the band in 1989, described KMFDM as "a battalion of guitars marching through Europe."