A band who are huge in Germany but of whose work I have heard precisely nothing is Rammstein, who have suffered accusations of Nazism and white supremacy throughout their career, though they deny it totally, saying their music is not politically motivated. They generally sing in German, so like DAR yesterday it’s unlikely I’ll be able to comment on the lyrics, though I do have a translation of each song title and a general idea of what each is about, so that will help.
Reise, reise --- Rammstein --- 2004 (Motor Music)
The title can be interpreted a few different ways --- apparently words can mean several things in German --- but is said to translate as “journey”, and indeed it’s the title track we start off with, a dark, ominous slow keyboard laying down the backdrop, singer Till Lindeman sounding to my ears like Matt Johnson of The The, with a gritty, growly, almost muttered vocal full of anger and disillusionment. I see why they call it Industrial Metal: it’s sort of like Depeche Mode or The Pet Shop Boys decided to cut a metal record, but there’s a clear sort of operatic, cinematic element to the music too, added to by the strings arrangement on this track. An odd addition is the lead-out on of all things accordion, as we head into what has become something of an infamous song for them.
“Mein teil” (my part) takes as its subject matter the story of Armin Miewes, a cannibal who advertised for a willing partner to be killed and eaten by him --- and found one. He was subsequently charged with, and convicted of murder. It’s a punch-in-the-face, kick-in-the-balls metal song with snarling guitar and a raucous chorus, alternating with dark, bassy passages wherein Till snarls the vocal in almost a menacing mutter, taking the persona of Miewes. A screaming guitar presumably represents the death screams of the “victim” and the choir on this song adds a sense of unreality and surrealism to the song. Scary in its own way, probably moreso if I could understand the lyric. Claustrophobic, crushing and tense.
“Dalai Lama” needs no translating, a grindy, bleak and dark song, with snarling guitar and a sombre but raging vocal from Till. Great keyboard work from Christian Lorenz, and a sort of chant going on in the background with the return of the choir from the previous track. “Keine lust” (something along the lines of “no desire”) ups the tempo for the first time, marching along on the twin guitars of Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers, sort of a boogie feel to it. If these guys remind me of anyone it’s Tiamat, though again I’ve only heard two or three of their albums, but there are similarities, especially on “Amanethes”. Strange sound here, almost like a French Horn.
An acoustic start then to “Los” (translates as “go”) with a low, dark vocal and generally it’s quite a stripped-down melody, don’t even hear Lorenz’s keyboards yet, just guitar, bass and some perfunctory drumming. Now it all stops and the synth comes in but then fades back out, having taken the track completely for a few seconds. A short, restrained guitar solo from one of the guys while the other does a more squealing one, mostly in the background, With the first English lyric --- perhaps the only one on the album --- “Amerika” is a mock anthem poking fun at the greatest world power, using staples of global corporations such as Disney, Coca-Cola and Wonderbra. Great little keyboard flurry from Lorenz, and it’s a fun song which is bitter without being overly preachy. Powerful guitars too.
“Moskau” --- again, not too hard to translate --- is another fast-paced song with a great bassline and some whistling keys, rocking along nicely and featuring the vocals of Viktoria Fersch, a Russian singer who frankly sounds like one of those teenage J-pop singers. The choir returns to usher in “Morgenstern”, which even I know means “morning star”, a harder, sparser track than the previous with its almost singalong quality. The presence of the choir and orchestra adds a sense of gravitas to the song, but it’s still quite barebones mostly. A really nice solo piano then takes us into “Stein um stein”, which apparently means “stone by stone”, a much slower, doomier track with kind of echoing drumbeats that then ramps up on the back of the twin guitar attack, before falling back to the original tempo and melody,
Rather oddly, the album ends on not one, but two ballads, the first “Ohne dich” (“without you”) framed by a sumptuous synth and strings melody, while the closer “Amour” sounds initially more like something Vangelis would do. Nice restrained guitar line and Lorenz’s keyboards sound very new-wave, like something out of Ultravox or Tubeway Army. Interesting, and certainly shows great variety in this band, who I was expecting really just to be loud, fast and, er, loud.
TRACKLISTING
1. Reise, reise
2. Mein teil
3. Dalai Lama
4. Keine lust
5. Los
6. Amerika
7. Moskau
8. Morgenstern
9. Stein um stein
10. Ohne dich
11. Amour
Yeah, this was a lot better than I had expected. Plenty of variety, heavy in places but not like death or speed metal, just as heavy as it needed to be. Apparently Rammstein’s music has been described as “dance metal”: I don’t see it. There are some poppy/new-wave elements in the bass and in the synth certainly, but this is still metal with a capital M. Mind you, it’s my first (I think) taste of Industrial Metal, if that’s what this is, so I don’t know what the usual thing is to expect with this subgenre. But what I’ve heard I like.
I think I’ve had enough of the German language for now though, so the next band is going to have to sing in English. Hey, it’s the language of football, the language of Shakespeare, the language of rock and roll, why, the very language of God himself! If you don’t believe me, ask Alan B’Stard!
