Till Lindemann, singer of the German hard rock group Rammstein, has canceled his concerts in Russia as the band condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine ahead of the release of its new single, "Zeit," meaing "Time."
Rammstein: the German heavy metal band is popular in RussiaImage: picture-alliance/dpa
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Both Rammstein and its front man, Till Lindemann, have quite a fan base in Russia. Lindemann has given several solo concerts in the country and had plans to perform in Novosibirsk and Moscow at the end of this year as part of his "Ich hasse Kinder" ("I Hate Kids") tour. He canceled them following the Russian attack on Ukraine, but he pledged to play a concert scheduled in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv if circumstances allow.
On its website, Rammstein took a clear stance against the war and in support of Ukrainians. In a statement in German, Ukrainian and Russian, the band said it's particularly saddened by the suffering of Ukrainians. "Each member of the band has different experiences with the two countries; all musicians have friends, colleagues, partners and fans in Ukraine and Russia."
The band said it is aware of the despair that many Russian fans feel in the face of their government's actions, and they want to "remind people of the humanity that Russian and Ukrainian citizens share."
Lindemann recently joined the many volunteers helping out at Berlin's main train station, where many Ukrainian refugees have arrived in recent days.
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.
Since the turn of the millennium, the German band has been hugely popular with Russian fans. To some, their hard metal sound is reminiscent of German war aesthetics while also evoking Soviet heroism, the power of the proletariat and masculinity.
Authorities, on the other hand, have been wary of the band since a 2019 concert in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium during which Rammstein guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers kissed on stage — an absolute no-go in Putin's Russia, which introduced what is known as the gay propaganda law in 2013 and has harassed and persecuted members of the LGBTQ+ community ever since.
Afterwards, a photo of the kiss was posted on social media along with the words: "Russia, we love you." Many fans were delighted while politicians made it clear the band must refrain from such performances in Russia in the future.
Rammstein's Paul Landers and Richard KruspeImage: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Soeder
Soviet war song and NFT
However, in the spring of 2021, the Kremlin celebrated Lindemann for recording "Lubimiy Gorod," a Soviet war song. In September that same year, he performed the song live at a military festival on Moscow's Red Square to standing ovations. The performance came just one week after Russian police spoke to the Rammstein singer, in the country for a music festival, reportedly in connection with a violation of coronavirus precautions. In the end, the festival was canceled.
Till Lindemann gave a controversial performance in Moscow in 2021Image: Sergei Karpukhin/TASS/dpa/picture alliance
Two weeks before that encounter, Lindemann got into trouble with the Hermitage in St. Petersburg over a music video that shows him at the world-renowned museum while singing "Lubimiy Gorod." While the museum had allowed filming the music video, it did not authorize Lindemann's plan to sell stills from the video as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that showed the interior of the museum.
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New single focuses on death
Rammstein's latest project is a new album, which has been in the works for quite some time. A single from the album was released on Thursday. The lyrics of "Zeit" (Time) express a wish that time would stand still because one is not ready to die, but death takes no heed. In the video, scenes are played backwards. There are soldiers and partisans, births take place, people die, and death is an omnipresent figure in a black hooded cape that is faceless, though not frightening.
"Zeit" doesn't hit the spot like many other Rammstein songs. The lyrics are more pensive, the song has very quiet passages. However, in this time and day, Rammstein may have come up with just the right song — after all, it will be heard in Ukraine and Russia, too.
