Rammstein

Fact Sheet

Musical genre:	Metal, Rock
Country	Germany
Years active	1993-
Official site	http://www.rammstein.com/

Rammstein is a German heavy metal band formed in 1993. Their music also incorporates elements of industrial and electronic music, similar in many ways to Laibach.

The name is not to be confused with the town of Ramstein, but the group was named after its most famous feature, Ramstein Air Base, the site of the Ramstein airshow disaster. The name was intended to promote awareness of the tragedy at the air base. Rammstein tends to use numerous different pyrotechnics during concerts which eventually lead fans to create the motto "Other bands play, Rammstein burns!"

Band members:

Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein (Guitar)
Paul Landers (Guitar)
Till Lindemann (Vocals)
Oliver Riedel (bass)
Christoph "Doom" Schneider (Drums)
Christian "Flake" Lorenz (Keyboards)

Because of the dark and militaristic imagery employed by the band, they have been accused of fascist sympathies, especially because of the Stripped clip, that included scenes of the propaganda video by Leni Riefenstahl; the members of the band are, in fact, anything but. Rammstein wants nothing to do with politics. Despite their brutalist image, they show some sense of humour in their lyrics. Rein raus, for example, is clearly tongue-in-cheek.Zwitter (hermaphrodite) is a bizarre take on narcissism. A rough translation:

While others had girls in their eyes
I could self-fertilize

Rammstein has made several appearances in various movies. In 1997, they played "Engel" for the movie Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation, and "Rammstein" and "Heirate Mich" appeared in David Lynch's Lost Highway. Their song "Du Hast" was featured in The Matrix (uncredited) in 1999 and How High in 2001. In 2002 their song "Halleluja" became part of the soundtrack for Resident Evil; later that same year, they appeared in the movie XXX singing "Feuer Frei". Their video clips frequently take a cinematic approach, with visual 'quotes' from movies including Reservoir Dogs and From Dusk Till Dawn.

Their fourth full-length studio album was recorded in Spain in March. The first single for the new album has been released to the media, it is called "Mein Teil" ("My Part," slang for "My Penis") and will be released July 26 (in Germany, Switzerland and Austria) and August 30 internationally. The new album, due to be released in 2 November 2004, is unofficially called Reise Reise. There is some controversy over the translation (like in Du hast and other titles). If "Reise" is used as a verb, it would be "Travel Travel," if a noun, "Voyage Voyage" or "Journey Journey".

Tell us what you think in the Rammstein forum ...