Sturm & Drang Tour 2002 [live]

It's a little hard to believe that 16 years into their career, the respected industrial music veterans who make up KMFDM had never released a live album before this one. Fans of the genre will not be disappointed; the album chronicles a grueling tour during which KMFDM performed 31 shows over the course of 34 days in support of Attak, its most recent studio album. The band's lineup was augmented by several guest musicians, including band alumnus Raymond Watts (currently of PIG) and Lucia Cifarelli of Drill, and the sound is an unrelenting aggro-industrial assault that will leave longtime fans bleeding happily from the ears and will likely win new ones among adepts of nu-metal and the old Wax Trax! scene. Only four tracks come from Attak; others, such as the brilliantly abrasive "Flesh" and the somewhat less-brilliant but equally abrasive "Megalomaniac," date back to the mid-'90s. There's even a cover version -- a deranged take on Nancy Sinatra's classic "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'." All in all, this is one of those rare live albums that will not disappoint those who came to love the band through its studio releases.