*** KMFDM

MEGALOMANIAC

(WAX TRAX)

Germany's KMFDM began their uneven career as an industrial band; since then they've gradually modified their sound from hard noise to the glam of gothic. Although they've frequently wandered way off course (plenty of shapeless CDs in the KMFDM catalogue) thanks to their knack of overplaying both the heavy foot and the quirky humor, there's none of that here -- just darkly repetitious mood beats, spooky distortions, and even some touches of pop-song melody.

On the misleadingly titled "Anarchy," for example, they sound almost as sweet as radio pop; on the CD's title track, the noise sweeps forward, grandly, as ceremonious as Enigma and as cute as Pet Shop Boys. Still, the bitter boom-and-zoom laughter that's always been their specialty gets plenty of room to spank you. The sonic density of tracks like "Down and Out," "Waste," "Stray Bullet," and "Leid und Elend" packs plenty of muscle power, heavy as a weightlifter, from first note to last. But none of it, thanks to those spooky voice distortions, feels the least bit leaden.

-- Michael Freedberg