Rammstein is a band suit for any metal/hard rock fan. Even fans of Techno can find stuff about Rammstein to like. Their eariler stuff anyways.. Herzeleid was their debut album. First debuting in Europe in 1995 and then re-relesing it in the states in 1998. A lot of controversy surrounded this album because of the fact that it was in German and sounded sort of brutal. Many non-German speakers took it for Nazi music.
Rammstein is:
Till Lindemann - Vocals
Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein - Guitar
Paul Landers - Guitar
Oliver Riedel - Bass
Christian "Flake" Lorenz - Keyboards
Christoph "Doom" Schneider - Drums
Many people refer to this album is Industrial Metal. It combines techno, heavy guitars, and dark lyrics with thundering beats to headbang to.
Starting the album off is "Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen?". They don't waste any time getting into the action with this song, it starts off with some techno soon backed by a thundering bass drum. Then it stops and explodes into heavy guitars, techno, drums, and bass for a couple seconds and then leads into the deep vocals. I don't know German, so I don't know a lot of the lyrics. And by deep, I mean that Till's voice is DEEP. The whole song basically remains very heavy and is a good opening to the album that will follow.
After the loud beginning track, "Der Meister" greets us with a heavy palm muting riff backed with thundering drums and bass. The verse goes back and forth between bass and vocals and heavy guitars. The chorus isn't my favorite part, it feels kind of cheesy playing the main riff and having an inspirational sounding keyboard riff instead of something heavy to keep the theme of the song. After the second chorus we come to a keyboard solo backed by bass and a bass drum. The solo then leads back into the chorus and the song then ends.
"Weisses Fleisch" is the first real gem on this album in my mind. It starts off with a slow keyboard rythem that speeds up faster and faster until you hear Till yell "Weisses FLEISCH!" and the whole band comes in with another thundering Industrial riff. The verse is like the first two songs with a thundering drum beat and Till singing in his deep bear voice. The chorus has a dark rythem guitar part with yet another drum beat and more Till. The middle of the song features a solo using a LOT of Pinch Harmonics and a palm muted riff in the background. The song then repeats itself and ends on the Chorus.
Next up is one of the many singles from this album "Asche zu Asche". It starts off with another industrial guitar riff and is soon backed by a thundering drum beat and a cool techno riff. The techno in the song actually reminds me of some of the tracks off the classic game Doom. It's kinda dark in a way. The techno is what really stands out to me in this song since the guitar is the same thing throughout the whole song. Toward the middle there's a small bass part that follows the main riff very closely. This leads back into the thundering chorus and then the song ends.
Another single from the album "Seemann" is actually my least favorite song on the whole thing. I love slow songs, but something about this song just seems annoying. The song starts with a keyboard riff and is soon backed by a very nice bass riff. Then Till actually sings for (I believe) the first time on the album. The only problem with that is that the singing is quite bad (opinion). The guitar in the chorus is very simple too.. Not the same thundering techno and Industrial stuff as the other songs. The song is basically the same thing all the way through.. Let's move on.
I believe this was another single. "Du Reichst so Gut" is my second favorite song off the album. After "Seemann" this song really picks everything up again. It starts right off with a thundering techno & drum beginning and leads right into a heavy palm muted riff that goes right along with the techno and creates an interesting song. The verse is bass and drum and Till talking in his ultra-super deep voice again. The chorus is pretty normal, then leading back into the main riff. The solo part in this song is very weird, and kinda cheesy. After the solo, we have the chorus again and then the end!
After the barrage of singles we have "Das Alte Leid". The song starts with Till (I guess) saying "Hallo, Hallo". Then a short drum beat which leads into a slow yet brutal sounding guitar riff that carries right on into a palm muted riff. The verse carries on into the chorus which is just the main riff and same drumming with some added keyboards. Then the verse again which leads into the middle where the song stops for a couple seconds.. Then we hear Till yell "ICH WILL FICKEN!" Most Rammstein fans and (Hopefully) all German speakers know what this means. Then we have the main riff again backed with some crazy techno. We come back into a palm muted part and back into the verse. The song ends with the main riff repeated over and over until it finally ends.
"Heirte Mich" is a very popular Rammstein song, but it didn't become a single for some reason. It starts off with a creepy little keyboard part with till speaking in dark vocals. Then we hear two thundering snare hits and get into some techno. Then we hear the snare again and come into the thundering main riff. Before I go any further, I believe this song was used in a trailer for American Psycho. Someone tell me if I'm right. Anyways.. We then have the verse with the dark keyboard again then we come into the catchy/heavy chorus. Then we come to the main riff again and back into the verse. After another chorus we have the CRAZY solo using all pinch harmonics at first then some palm muting and then just ripping it up. This leads back into the chorus and then back into the dark beginning part. The song ends with Till yelling the last word of the song.
Now for the title track. "Herzeleid" is an interesting song. Instead of singing a line during the verse, Till says a word and then the main riff plays followed by another word and the main riff and so on. Then we have a chorus part that sounds a little like the main riff, with some techno. Back into the verse and then back into the chorus. This time the chorus features Till yelling "Herrrrrzeleid!". It leads into a bridge part which stops for a few seconds for a short keyboard interlude and goes right into the verse agian. Then we have another soloish part which leads into the chorus. The song ends on the chorus.
A lot like "Du Reishct So Gut", the next song "Laichzeit" really pumps you up. It starts with a fast pased techno riff which leads into a guitar riff that goes right along with it. The verse is just techno and drums which leads back into the main riff. Back into a verse and then back into the main riff with Till saying "Laichzeit!". Then we have a heavy bridge part which plays for a bit and then leads back into the intro techno riff. Then we're brought back to the verse with a slightly different techno riff. After another chorus and bridge, we're brought to an airy keyboard part a bit like the one in "Der Meister". After this we have the chorus played until a quick palm muting part at the end. Then it ends!
Saving the best for last, we have their self-titled track "Rammstein". The song is about the horrible air show crash in Ramstein, Germany. It starts with a quiet techno part that builds up and up and then explodes into the heavy main riff which leads into the verse. The main riff is played throughout the verse and then we come to a bridge part. This plays and then goes right back into the verse. The verse plays out again and then leads into a short wah solo. The solo leads back into the main riff without drums and then back into the verse again. The song stops playing for a couple seconds.. And then we have the huge solo played over the main riff. This part of the song always brought a tear to my eye because it's so perfectly put together. The solo part is played all the way until the end of the song. Instead of fading out the song just ends making a perfect end to an excellent album.
I would definitely recommend this album to anyone who is into heavy metal, hard rock, or even techno. It's the perfect blend of all three.
Pros: Thundering beats, insane techno, dark vocals. Good length.
Cons: Seemann.. Some parts of the songs are a little bit cheesy.
Recommended Tracks: Weisses Fleisch, Asche zu Asche, Du Reichst So Gut, Heirate Mich, Herzeleid, Laichzeit, Rammstein
Track Ratings:
1.) Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammed Sehen?: 4.5/5
2.) Der Meister: 4/5
3.) Weisses Fleisch: 5/5
4.) Asche zu Asche: 4.5/5
5.) Seemann: 2/5
6.) Du Reichst So Gut: 5/5
7.) Das Alte Leid: 3.5/5
8.) Heirate Mich: 4/5
9.) Herzeleid: 4/5
10.) Laichzeit: 5/5
11.) Rammstein: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
