The Rammstein team is considered the founder of the Neue Deutsche Härte genre. It was created through a combination of several musical styles - alternative metal, groove metal, techno and industrial.
The band plays industrial metal music. And it personifies "heaviness" not only in music, but also in texts.
The musicians are not afraid to touch on such slippery topics as same-sex love, incest, domestic violence and pedophilia. Rammstein is shocking, provocative and piercingly frank.
The history of the creation of the Rammstein group
All members of the band were connected with music before they decided to unite. Guitarist Paul Landers, drummer Christoph Schneider and keyboardist Christian Lorenz (Flake) played in the punk rock band Feeling B.
Bassist Oliver Riedel was a member of The Inchtabokatables. Known for his powerful vocals, Till Lindemann was the drummer for First Arsch.
However, only the solo guitarist Richard Kruspe is a musician with the appropriate education.
In 1994, he had the idea to create a band that sounded like KISS. And also invite Till as a vocalist (his voice was perfectly combined with heavy music). Later they had a rhythm section in the form of Riedel and Schneider. And then Landers and Lorenz joined in.
Paul, Flake and Alyosha Rompe as part of Feeling B
There are several versions of how the name for the group was chosen. According to the musicians, the name Rammstein has nothing to do with the Ramstein airbase. There, on August 28, 1988, there was a terrible plane crash.
Nevertheless, the song of the same name from their first album is dedicated to this tragedy. According to another version, Jacques Tati, author of the book "Rammstein: It Will Hurt", claims that the band chose the name by analogy with the Rolling Stones. Rammstein means "ram stone" in German.
Creativity of the Rammstein group
For all the time of its existence, the group has released 7 studio albums (11 songs each). As well as 28 singles (video clips were shot for 27), a collection of hits Made in Germany, 4 live DVDs (Live aus Berlin, Völkerball, Rammstein in Amerika, Rammstein: Paris) and 4 video albums. The author of the texts is Till Lindemann.
The first album was recorded in Sweden under the direction of producer Jakob Hellner. Its name Herzeleid means "Heart Pain" in German.
Two songs from this album (Rammstein and Heirate Mich) became the soundtrack for David Lynch's Lost Highway.
At the same time, the first videos for the songs Du Riechst So Gut and Seemann were shot. The first song was inspired by Patrick Suskind's novel Perfumer. In the clip, the six members of the band stand in front of a white background and are nude to the waist. In 1998, the second clip was filmed, the plot of which was about werewolves.
The Seemann song was composed by Oliver Riedel, who came up with an interesting bass instrumentation. In the video, the band members, portraying sailors, are dragging a ship across the desert.
The second Sehnsucht album was released two years after the first and was immediately certified platinum. The single from this album Du Hast is still the most popular song. Many translate the name as "You hate". But "hate" in German is written with two s - hassen.
Song Du Hast Mich Gefragt
In the lyrics of the song, hast is used in the meaning of the auxiliary verb haben, due to which the past tense is formed. Du Hast Mich Gefragt is a complete phrase and should be translated "You asked me". The chorus is the standard oath of the newlyweds during the wedding.
The Engel single includes a clip parodying the dance of Salma Hayek (From Dusk Till Dawn).
The video was filmed at the Prinzenbar in Hamburg. Three of the band members played the club's patrons, while the rest played the musicians. The drums were Paul Landers, the vocalist was Oliver Riedel.
The third album Mutter was released in April 2001. It was at this time that the crisis that had arisen in the team since the time of the second album reached its climax.
Rammstein on the verge of breaking up
As it turned out later, it was the inflated ambitions of Richard Kruspe, who wanted to control everyone. There was a long break in the work of the group, it began to seem to many that the Rammstein group was on the verge of disintegration.
However, the conflict was successfully resolved after Richard was allowed to create a solo project called Emigrate. As a result, the members of Rammstein got more freedom and the band continued to make music.
Peter Tatgren spoke of the Mutter album as a "good point of reference" for aspiring metal producers.
A song from this album Feuer Frei! included in the soundtrack of the film xXx. And the members of the Rammstein group played themselves in this film.
In 2004, Reise's fourth album, Reise, was released. The cover of the disc was designed in the style of a "black box" with the inscription "Do not open!". Of course, as soon as the album came out, none of the "fans" heeded the warning.
It was in this album that one of the heaviest songs Mein Teil appeared. During its writing, the musicians were inspired by the story of the "Rottenburg cannibal" Armin Meiwes.
Upon learning of the song, Meiwes felt he was being "used" and nearly sued the band. At concerts, during the performance of the song, Till appeared in the form of a butcher with a bloody mouth and an apron. He was chasing Flake to boil him in a giant pot.
Rosenrot's fifth album came out a year after Reise, Reise and received a lot of negative reviews. Some critics and "fans" felt that the album lacked new musical ideas. And also the guitar riffs are monotonous and boring, there is a lot of lyricism.
Lyrically the band's ballads
Others consider Rosenrot to be "the most harmonious album in the band's history". It has lyrical ballads (Stirb Nicht Vor Mir, Wo Bist Du, Feuer und Wasser) and dark songs (Zerstören, Spring, Benzin). And such diversity is a definite advantage.
A clip was filmed for the composition Mann Gegen Mann (about the spiritual throwing of a person “with the wrong orientation”). In it, all the musicians, except for Till, starred completely naked.
The sixth album was released in 2009 and was called Liebe Ist Für Alle Da The album was banned from sale in Germany. The video for the song Pussy is considered the most scandalous in the history of the group. Since it shows scenes of a pornographic nature in which the members of the group were involved.
However, later it became known that they were understudies. The clip is officially posted on one of the pornographic sites and is prohibited from distribution on the Internet.
There is an unfortunate story associated with him. A guy from Belarus who in 2014 reposted the Pussy video to the VKontakte page. And he almost got 2 to 4 years in prison for it.
Rammstein's seventh album was released on May 17, 2019. There were rumors that this collection would "put an end" to Rammstein's work. And the group will go to rest, but later this information was refuted.
In general, the album was rated positively. The first single Deutschland is dedicated to the history of Germany, its emergence and development. As well as the current problems she has to contend with.
The clip was warmly received by fans, and critics even called it an excellent short film. And the government considered that with this clip the group "crossed the boundaries of what was permitted." The clip was called "shameful and inappropriate".
The songs Radio (about the everyday life of the inhabitants of the GDR) and Ausländer (about the white colonists who sailed to conquer Africa) were also awarded prizes.
Other activities of the Rammstein group
Currently, some members of the group are engaged in solo projects. Richard Kruspe is still exercising leadership ability as part of Emigrate, which has released three studio albums.
Till Lindemann in collaboration with Peter Tätgren created the Lindemann project, releasing the album Skills in Pills. All songs in this album are performed in English.
Their subject matter is just as provocative, and their videos are as outrageous as Rammstein's (if not more). Interestingly, while recording the composition Mathematik, Lindemann tried himself as a rapper.
In addition, the vocalist of Rammstein is known for his literary talent. Under his authorship, collections of poems Messer and In stillen Nächten were published. In addition, Lindemann is a co-owner of the Spanish company New Rock, which produces shoes.
Keyboardist Christian Lorenz, having decided to try his hand at writing, also released two books. But not poetry, but prose about his life. And also about the everyday life of the Rammstein group - Heute Hat Die Welt Geburtstag and Tastenficker. This is an invaluable material that gives the "fans" the opportunity to look behind the scenes and learn more about the idols.
The Rammstein Group in 2021
The leader of the Rammstein band, Till Lindemann, performed the song in Russian. He presented a cover of the track "Favorite City". The presented track became the musical accompaniment of Timur Bekmambetov's film "Devyatayev".
