Nihil is the seventh studio album by German industrial band KMFDM, released on April 4, 1995, by Wax Trax! Records. The album marked the return of former band member Raymond Watts and the first appearance of session drummer Bill Rieflin, and was mostly written by frontman Sascha Konietzko.
The album's first single "Juke Joint Jezebel" is the band's most widely known song, with millions of copies sold over various releases. Widely praised by critics, Nihil is the band's best-selling album. After the original release went out of print, a remastered version was released in 2007.
Background
In late 1993, Sascha Konietzko and fellow multi-instrumentalist En Esch both left Chicago, moving to Seattle and New Orleans, respectively. Lead guitarist Günter Schulz left the country, moving to Kelowna, British Columbia. Konietzko and Schulz, along with Dutch singer Dorona Alberti, returned to Seattle to begin recording vocals for Nihil. before starting his own band, Pig, called Konietzko and asked if he would be interested in working on a small musical collaboration. and drummer Bill Rieflin.
Production
Discussing the change in songwriting from Angst, Konietzko said: "I wasn't comfortable with the band scenario on that album, where everybody had input. It allowed for too many compromises. Angst seems not organic to me."
Konietzko stated that the band overused guitars on their previous album, Angst, saying it sounded "like guitarists jacking off". On Nihil, the guitars were mixed in last. Konietzko described the album as being entirely foreplay, without any resolution, and said it was the band's best album to date, a statement he believed he would be standing by for years. Konietzko produced the album with sound engineer Chris Shepard,