If I lied to you about KMFDM, would you hurt me? Would you tear my soft, gelatinous eyes from their sockets and flick them into the urinal? Would you riddle me with bulletholes, drive over me with your automobile, shit on my face? It doesn't matter, I know better than to lie about KMFDM. They've been there for me in my aggression, my angst, and my hate, and now I'm there for them, and for you.

Adios, the swan song in the illustrious 13- year career of the original industrial gangstas, will raise your eyebrows in a quizzical and amusing expression. Why? Well, reason number one is that Adios is not a piece of shit, as are so many other band swan- songs. Instead, the record follows KMFDM's established course of progress: mate intense, angst- filled lyrics with hard dance grooves, mean guitar licks and noise... lots of noise. No lie.

Sure, Adios is not quite as raw and intense as some of their harshest past work, but it manages a respectable pace overall, only slowing down for tracks like "Syncophant" and "Today," before resuming the conflagration with such anal- rippers as "R.U.OK?" and "Rubicon." Adios manages to work some truly catchy beats and grooves in, which is truly surprising, considering most of the members have moved onto MDMFK. Imagine, angst- ridden industrial beat monsters with a strong work ethic! What'll happen next? Happy- go- lucky evangelists with normal sex lives?

In any case, the short story is this: Adios delivers, proving Sascha Konietzko and Co. may be moving on, but they have the pride to leave us with one more decent piece of KMFDM to abuse ourselves with.

-James P. Wisdom