Rammstein Launches 2012 Arena Tour in April : November 15, 2011

Known for their highly provocative and energetic live show, Berlin-based rockers Rammstein will return to the United States for an arena tour in 2012. Best known in th [...]

Rammstein Mulls Full US Tour After New York Sell Out : October 22, 2010

For years Rammstein, the German industrial/goth band, has dreamed of performing at Madison Square Garden. However considering the last time the band played in the U.S. [...]

rammstein Biography

Rammstein is an industrial metal rock group from Berlin, Germany, also known as one of the country’s best rock act exports. In their homeland, they are known as one of the front runners of the Neue Deutsche Harte music genre, which translates in English as “new German hardness”, a combination of progressive, grunge, hard, heavy metal, industrial and groove rock with a few touches of electronic and techno music. Most of their singles are in German, with a few in Spanish, Latin, English and Russian, but despite this, they still managed to reach a vast audience as evidenced by their studio albums achieving platinum status not only in Germany and other European markets, but in the US as well (1997’s ‘Sehnsucht’).

The band is composed of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist and second vocalist Richard Z. Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul H. Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer and electronic percussionist Christoph Schneider and keyboardist Christian Lorenz. The name Rammstein was adapted from the Ramstein airshow disaster in 1988. Since their formation in 1994, the band has released six studio albums to date: ‘Herzeleid’ (“Heartache”) in 1995; ‘Sehnsucht’ (“Longing”) in 1997, which spawned one of the band’s biggest hits, ‘Du Hast’ (“You Have”); ‘Mutter’ (“Mother”) in 2001; ‘Reise, Reise’ (“Journey, Journey”) in 2004; ‘Rosenrot’ (“Rose-red”) the year after; and ‘Liebe ist Für Alle Da’ (“Love is There for Everyone”) in 2009.

Rammstein has always caused divided critique from music insiders because of their controversial lyrics and album arts, to which other countries have demanded a recall or banning of records, or a change in visual or lyrical elements citing political incorrectness or offensiveness; flair for rock theatricality and sexually and politically provocative imageries and antics especially during their live performances; and most of all, their grungy, aggressive, maddening, barbaric, brutal and war-like music that might remind some of the horrors of war, particularly the Second World War, since the band has been repeatedly accused of incorporating fascist elements into their music. In fact, The New York Times is quoted in 2005 by pointing out that Lindemann’s vocals could make “peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors,” and an April 2001 article of Jam Showbiz describes the band’s sound as “music to invade Poland to”. Although the band has denied expressing sympathy for the Neo-Nazi movement through their music, they do enjoy harboring controversy which borders on the extreme and obscene, after all, most of their records are inspired by factual German and European events of such themes, like the Ramstein airshow disaster, the Meiwes murder and cannibalism case, the Fritzl abduction and incestuous rape case, and the disastrous 2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill in Romania, which also spread into Hungarian and Yugoslavian water systems. "The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive," keyboardist Lorenz tells The Times.

To date, the band is still active and its line-up intact – all original with no departures and no replacements since day one. At present, Rammstein is on the road for the Made in Germany 1995-2011 Tour, in support of their eponymous compilation record to be released in December 2011. The two-leg European tour kicked off in Bratislava, Slovakia on November 6, with the first leg closing in Zurich, Switzerland on December 12. The second leg will open on February 3, 2012 in Hanover, Germany and will wrap up on March 8, 2012 in Antwerp, Belgium.