It seems that when the name Rammstein is mentioned to any punter, the response seems to be almost universal: some combination of raised fist, headbanging and shouting “Du…Du Hast!” in a terrible attempt at a German accent.
But there is certainly much more to the innovative six-piece than one song that was whored on the radio – much like one of the many sex workers that star in the band’s video for new single Pussy. It’s the first release from Rammstein’s upcoming album Liebe Ist Für Alle Da. The idea for the video is very simple – heavy metal plus naked women equals success. Surely the men, most of whom are single, had a field day during filming.
“Of course it was really exciting,” bassist Oliver ‘Ollie’ Riedel says coyly. “We walked through a bordello in Berlin in broad daylight, looked in all the rooms and it was interesting to try and figure out which one of us was going to get which scene.”
As for the new album, Ollie proudly declares that the band has not strayed from the industrial pop that has defined over a decade of international commercial success – despite nearly always staying true to their roots and singing in German. The album is simply, “two guitars playing heavy riffs with the keyboard laying ambience. It’s very heavy music but each song is also a pop song,” says Ollie.
This formula is very unique to the band and has served them well. Unlike past records, though, Liebe Ist Für Alle Da is the final product of countless hours of rehearsal in the studio, rather than ideas developed by individual band members. “The special thing about the new album is that all the songs came out of a session situation, whereas on previous albums, the individuals would come together with different parts of songs,” Ollie recalls. “It was more of a collaborative effort this time.”
Everyone knows egos tend to get in the way of group success when a band has become too big for their boots, often leading to ugly, public downward spirals. However, Rammstein is not like every other band. Often describing themselves as a ‘six-way marriage’, the men have moved way beyond ego battles in their pursuit of success.
“In such a long period of being together, you run in to difficulties. By now our respective roles are very well defined and there are no power struggles in the band anymore,” says Ollie. “There might have been some earlier but we’ve all understood that everybody needs to be happy for the band to be good.”
Despite relentlessly touring the world for more than 15 years, the band still has ambitions of re-visiting Australian shores – with hopes of scoring a bill in summer of 2010. “We would really like to get on the Big Day Out tour again, but we don’t know yet if it’s going to happen,” says Ollie. “It would definitely be my dream scenario if Rammstein, Limp Bizkit and Korn toured together.”
The last time Rammstein played the Big Day Out, the pyromaniacs wowed festival crowds around the country with their explosive live show. Belting out anthemic melodies drenched in industrial metal instrumentation, they were surrounded by furious flames spewing from the stage. Despite releasing five full-length studio albums, Rammstein have always retained their focus on producing an entertaining live show, heightened by the use of fire and costumes.
The prepubescent obsession with naked flames has become the group’s calling card, truly cementing pyrotechnics and flamethrowers as intrinsic elements of a Rammstein live show. “Once we had started using fire, we couldn’t really stop,” says Ollie. “It began with [vocalist] Till Lindemann, who became bored between songs and verses, so he started to set fire to things.”
More than just a novelty, Ollie believes the music married with fire as a visual aid helps the band connect with their audiences. “We discovered that fire is an extraordinary messenger. It is really easy to get in touch with the audience when you are using fire and so it has become an integral part of our live performance.”
As for the character costumes the six members adorn when performing live, Ollie sees the dress-ups as an easy way to ensure an energetic performance. “Dressing up is a good way of getting into character quickly each and every night. It can be very hard to motivate yourself, but when we put on our stage gear we get the Rammstein vibe. It never fails.”
Rammstein have certainly remained a truly unique rock band and their lyricism is no exception. Some punters may have trouble reconciling the marriage of seemingly furious German lyrics, heavy industrial sounds and album titles like Liebe Ist Für Alle Da (roughly translated as Love Is There For Everybody ).
However, the always mature Ollie responds, “Our albums are named after songs on the record that usually best represent the spirit of the entire album. We thought this was the most fitting song to name the album after. If people are surprised when listening to an album called Love Is There For Everyone full of heavy music, we can deal with that.”
The band has also been criticised over the years for attempting to diffuse right-wing political tendencies through forumlaic rock music, clearly a unique problem for a heavy metal band that sings in German.
“When it happened first we were really saddened and shocked,” Ollie concedes. “It’s mainly a German phenomenon – at the time very few bands were playing heavy music with German lyrics. A number of journalists had difficulties with that and interpreted it politically like we were spreading right-wing ideology. Our motivation at the time was completely different. But it has become easier for us as journalists seem to have found a more relaxed stand towards this whole matter.”
Despite the controversies, power struggles and years of touring, Rammstein remain hard-working, positive and – hopefully with the release of the new album – commercially successful. One can only hope that despite Limp Bizkit being shunned and Korn showing no signs of visiting, the German juggernaut will find its way to our shores sometime next year.
Liebe Ist Für Alle Da is out 23 October through Universal. The extremely NSFW video for lead single Pussy can be found at – œEurope’s biggest amateur videochat community’ Visit-X. You have been warned.
CHECK OUT THE EXPLOSIVE PHOTO GALLERY OF RAMMSTEIN LIVE IN FRANCE.
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Aztec7846
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