The German shock-rockers have launched their world tour with a bang, with frontman Til Lindemann donning an explosive vest at a Vienna concert. Rammstein are headlining top festivals from Moscow to Buenos Aires.
Image: Universal/G. Karp
Advertisement
Rammstein, the dark gods of hard rock
Powerful shows have been the German shock-rockers' trademark for 25 years. They've headlined all the major music festivals, from Moscow to Buenos Aires.
Image: Universal/G. Karp
Music made of nightmares
Knowing no taboos, Rammstein have managed to infuse their performances with humanity's darkest nightmares. It's all about violence and murderous fantasies, cannibalism and various unthinkable acts of horror. They delight in crossing the line, and their provocations are celebrated by a legion of fans. Rammstein is one-of-a-kind — and the band members are worldwide stars.
Image: Universal/G. Karp
Eastern punk heritage
Come from East Berlin and Schwerin, the members first performed in seminal acts within the East German underground punk scene. Guitarist Paul Landers and keyboardist Flake Lorenz played in Feeling B; singer Till Lindemann was with First Arsch, bassist Oliver Riedel with The Inchtabokatables, guitarist Richard Kruspe in Orgasm Death Gimmick, and drummer Christoph Schneider in Die Firma.
Image: Universal
Appearances are deceiving
They actually look like nice guys. This photo was taken in 1995 when the band was one year old. "Herzeleid" (Heartbreak), the first LP, had gruesome texts on issues like child abuse in "Weisses Fleisch" (White Flesh), and necrophilia in "Heirate mich" (Marry Me). All that to harsh guitar riffs, merciless percussion and an edgy electro sound. It reached No. 6 in the German album charts.
Image: Pressefoto
God knows I'm no angel
"Engel" (Angel) in 1997 was the breakthrough. Given much airtime on the MTV and Viva music channels, it was inspired by Quentin Tarantino's film "From Dusk Till Dawn." The second album, "Sehnsucht" (Longing), went platinum both in Germany and in the US. Rammstein's contribution to the soundtrack of David Lynch's film "Lost Highway" kickstarted their career in the US.
Image: Paul Brown
A plea for tolerance in a Hawaiian shirt
Aren't they sweet? The surf boys pose on the Californian beach with pretty bikini-clad girls and sing about the foreigner that is unwelcome. The happy images collide with the hard, rapid industrial beat. When "Mein Land" (My Country, 2011) comes to an end, the candy-colored beach party is over, and it's back to familiar Rammstein imagery with fire and scowling faces.
Image: Universal
Inter-generational collaboration
In a crossover phase, German folk music star Heino covered well-known rock and pop songs, including Rammstein's "Sonne" (Sun). In 2013, the group invited Heino to join them onstage at Wacken Open Air. Facing 75,000 metal fans and flanked by flames and smoke, Heino sang together with Rammstein — looking slightly startled. The periodical "Metal-Hammer" tweeted: "Did Heino know where he'd landed?"
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Heroes onscreen
The film of the Rammstein concert in New York's Madison Square Garden, and the documentary "Rammstein in Amerika," premiered in movie theaters on September 24, 2015. The DVD climbed to No. 1 in the DVD charts in 13 countries. Rammstein has conquered four of the world's five biggest music markets: the US, Great Britain, France and Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/Eventpress
Cultivated pyromaniac
Rammstein lead singer Till Lindemann likes to shock with his outre makeup. But under the wild man exterior, Till's a sensitive, contemplative soul who published a collection of poetry titled "Messer" (Knife) in 2002. Meanwhile, the 56-year-old got his buff physique from high-performance swimming. And what about his love of fire? Lindemann took a course in pyrotechnics in 1996.
Image: Paul Brown
10 years of waiting
Rammstein's 7th studio album (untitled) was released on May 17, 2019. It was an eagerly awaited release, coming 10 years after the previous one. It garnered plenty of media attention ahead of its release, in part due to the music video for the single "Deutschland," which portrayed concentration camp prisoners. It became Germany's best-selling album of 2019.
There are tons of unsuspected anecdotes surrounding Rammstein. Although they've been revealed many times already, it's still fun to mention that singer Till Lindemann once learned the trade of furniture crafting and basket weaving - and that he nearly competed at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow on the East German swimming team. Or that the six musicians have their roots in the underground punk scene of former East Germany and have played in bands with obscure names. And that the band members are all civilized people with families and grandchildren.
Rammstein shocks and provokes
Anyone who takes a close look and listen will have noticed that the whole concept of the band was - and remains - oriented on shocking and provoking the rest of the world.
No band can do that quite like Rammstein, with ice-cold, hard-as-nails beats, whipping guitar riffs and a martial stage show embellished by ongoing explosions and pyrotechnics.
Even Till Lindemann's vocals are provocative, sounding as "German" as the harsh, clipped, guttural speech with the rolling "r" we are thoroughly familiar with in film and tone documents from the Third Reich.
It's never been easy to suspect good things behind Rammstein's performances. But incidentally, Rammstein is not right-wing at all, as clearly demonstrated in the 2001 song "Links, zwo, drei, vier" (Left, Two, Three, Four). In a later interview with the newspaper "Die Welt," guitarist Richard Kruspe said they're much too clever to be rightists.
The nether regions of the mind
Till Lindemann's lyrics often concern psychology - specifically, the abysses of the human experience, including incest, pedophilia and necrophilia. When he sings about someone who unearths his dead wife once a year to have sex with her, that's not exactly innocuous stuff.
Behind Lindemann's ugly masks, there's a nice personImage: Felix Broede/Warnermusic
Sadomasochism and submission are to be found in the band's lyrics, as is the longing for death or love. Quiet tones in their repertory are rare but can be found. Fans still get goose bumps over the Rammstein classic "Seemann" (Sailor) from the band's first album "Herzeleid" (Heartache, 1995), with Lindemann's vocals almost tenderly conveying the dark, romantic lyrics. Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica covered the song in 2003.
A team from the word go
Loud or soft, shocker or ballad, the six musicians of Rammstein have stayed true to themselves in more than 20 years of band history. And they seem inseparable. Guitarist Richard Kruspe says they achieve that by talking a lot: "We certainly spend 70 percent of our time together conversing." Guitarist Paul Landers is also content, saying, "We play all over the world, we're always sold out. It's a lot of fun. I can't think of anything better."
Ready for another round of fun, Rammstein begins its world tour on June 2 in the Italian city of Monza, wrapping it all up on September 10 as the headline act at the Maximus Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
