NXO25 – Origins of Fragment King
While predating the founding of the Nexialist Organization, Fragment King represents its concept as a transdisciplinary platform connecting architecture, music, and visual design through shared creative methods and theoretical inquiry.
Fragment King is the musical persona of Mark Kammerbauer — a synthesis of human and mechanical sound, lyrical defiance, and conceptual critique developed through decades of evolving production and performance.
Fragment
King is a fictitious persona created by Mark Kammerbauer for music
production and live performance. FK’s work can be understood through
three interwoven aspects: roots, methods, and aims.
The roots trace
back to the 1980s, influenced by early hip-hop, metal, and industrial
pioneers such as Public Enemy, Big Black, and Godflesh. Their hybrid
sound — a fusion of electronic and conventional instruments — reflected
both the political dimension of noise and the cultural anxiety
surrounding technology’s dehumanizing impact. Icons such as the
Terminator, Darth Vader, and H. R. Giger’s Alien embodied these fears in
visual form.
Early methods centered on emerging computer
technologies for sound production, combined with an interest in the
tectonic properties of composition — assembling rhythmic patterns and
sequences through a constructive, collage-like process. Live performance
introduced further transformations of sound, integrating conventional
instruments and emphasizing the human element within technological
production.
This balance between the human and the mechanical gave
rise to a lyrical aim — confronting fear with the power of sound: when
love is lost, when friends turn into foes, a
demonstration of the self becomes necessary. FK’s work channels this impulse: to
this point and no further. The resulting sound — situated between
primitive and complex, instinct and discourse, guitars and computers —
conveys both destruction and renewal.
The first Fragment King production, The Demo That Exploded established the project’s fusion of guitar aesthetics, digital rhythm, and industrial density — setting the foundation for all later recording work. Fragment King officially took form with The Demo That Exploded, recorded and released in 1997 as a cassette (edition of 25) and CD-R (edition of 15) — then a new and exclusive medium. The recordings were circulated among friends and labels, and several tracks were performed live at FK’s debut performances. The demo gained underground attention when copies were distributed in the southern German electronic and industrial music scene. Comments like “this guy has to do film music” circulated widely. Collaborations and friendships grew from this period, particularly with Klangstabil. The demo was followed by the release of Cities and Seasons on Deiker Records. Fragment King sought to combine the rawness of guitar-based music with digital beats, using the soundcard/MIDI environment as an instrument. Reference points included 1980s beatbox-driven rock and metal such as Big Black, Godflesh, and the 1990s wave of British electronics led by Aphex Twin and Autechre. The Demo was remixed by Bazooka in 2017.
FRAGMENT KING: Grey Album (2005)
An evolution of Fragment King’s hybrid sound, the Grey Album fused treated bass, digital rhythm, and voice into a dense, cinematic soundscape that defined the project’s mature phase. The Grey Album was recorded in 2005 using digital beats, processed bass guitar, and heavily treated vocals. Released by Invasion Wreck Chords and now sold out, the album captures Fragment King at full intensity after emerging from purely electronic origins. The record’s core concept remained the fusion of guitar texture with electronic rhythm — inspired by Big Black and Godflesh, but also by the cinematic scope of Autechre. The lyrics, personal and abstract, were processed into layered vocal atmospheres that merge with the instrumentals, forming a triptych of beats, chords, and voice. The album artwork, featuring photography by Mark Kammerbauer, underscores its aesthetic unity. Grey Album was widely praised for its sonic depth and conceptual coherence.
FRAGMENT KING: Halforganic Theory Compilation
All tracks were created during FK's electronic sequence-and-programming-driven era. This digital album includes all 24 tracks of the original 2001 Halforganic CD releases in chronological order according to their original production sessions. Forensium was a compilation CD featuring early FK tracks, released in the Halforganic Series as nex001 in early 2001. The Cellmaker's Sinister Jazz was an album featuring further uptempo and midtempo tracks released in the same series as nex002 later in 2001. The Prisoner was also released on the nex010 vinyl 12-inch Simple Things Are Often Monstrous. Also included are unreleased tracks. Each of these sessions had unique production characteristics that also show how FK's work progressed during this era.
FRAGMENT KING: Above Us Compilation
All selections written and produced by Fragment King / Mark Kammerbauer. All tracks were created during 2007 and 2010 within the Angel Position sessions in Weimar and Berlin. Bazooka mastered the album and exclusively remixed the track Nullifier. The Angel Position CD album was originally released by MHz. Executive producers: Boris May and Maurizion Blanco.
This is a special NXO25 – 25th Anniversary of the Nexialist Organization post.
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