Review Summary: A great, hard-hitting album. You can see why this band is classified as "Dance Metal" with this album. Overall, a very fun listen. The review basically evaluates all the instruments individually.
Not many people will forget the tragedy that occurred August 28, 1988 - the day that the infamous Ramstein airshow accident occurred. On this day, three jets collided in midair while pulling off a “pierced heart” formation, one jet crashing directly into the spectators below. Around 70 were killed, and almost 350 needed medical treatment.
Not only did these six men from Germany remember the accident, they decided to make a band named after it. Rammstein was created in 1994 in Germany, and kicked off their career with the 1995 release
Herzeleid. Everything went uphill following that. They’ve become the most successful German-language band throughout the world, and have released five full-length albums and two live albums.
Sehnsucht is their second release.
What’s good about Rammstein is that the German lyrics really add onto the mood the band tries to capture. The music isn’t upbeat and happy. This is metal after all, and metal usually has a dark, creepy mood. Till’s vocals are fantastic on this album. His dark singing really goes well with the instrumentation put on by the rest of the band. When he really falters though is on the hidden track
Stripped. It is for obvious reasons though, as it’s an English song done by a vocalist whose native tongue is German, and his most notable mispronunciation is on the word “the” (which emerges as “duh” with his accent). Another song where Till is somewhat weak is in the ballad
Klaiver. Since the song is a ballad, it wouldn’t be good at all is Till were to “speak” the lyrics like he typically does. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of ballads, or maybe it’s because Till’s voice isn’t the greatest for ballad work, but the vocals on
Klavier aren’t fantastic.
While Till is great throughout the album, with the exception of those two songs, what really shines in
Sehsucht is the work put on by Richard and Paul. The driving, signature guitar work put on by these two is just awesome. Each riff is catchy and intense. Unlike the vocals however, they don’t capture the mood of each song. That’s up to Till, like stated before. Richard and Paul don’t capture the mood. Instead, they create it. Nearly every song starts out with one of the famous Rammstein riffs. Guitar work is at its finest in the single
Du Hast. Being a single, you’d expect the guitar work to be very good. Even though the riff is simple, it’s just awesome. It’s motivational, hard-hitting, and very well fitting. Other songs where Richard and Paul stand out are
Tier,
Sehnsucht, and
Būck Dich.
What makes Rammstein different from many other metal bands, other than their German lyrics, is their electronica introductions, which I believe are pulled off by the keyboardist Flake. The effects are superb in the song
Eifersucht, with the echoed synth played over the guitars in the chorus, with Till chanting the song title. The effect also supports the dark mood of the song, since the synth rises after each echo, and in the beginning it fades into the song. However, the special effects absolutely kill the song
Kūss Mich, with a weird kind of sound clip taken from Tom & Jerry or some kid’s show that uses that kind of silly humour. It’s off-tune, doesn’t blend with the mood, and I can’t even imagine what it could possibly represent. Other songs that stand out with their electronica effects are
Alter Mann,
Sehnsucht, and
Stripped.
The drumming on Sehnsucht is actually very good if given a good listen. They don’t get as much attention as the rest of the band, but they manage to keep a great beat and blend in perfectly with the music. It really stands outs in
Eifersucht, making extremely good use of the cymbals and snare, which both give the song a good industrial feel. What makes the drumming in this song so effective is the fact that the snare is echoed. It gives the music a good ambience. Drumming is also well done in
Klaiver and
Alter Mann.
The problem with the album is that bass is virtually unheard. The bass would add so much to the overall sound of the album, but instead, Rammstein misses that opportunity to improve their sound. Also, the hidden track
Stripped has somewhat weak lyrics and vocals, but Till can’t really help it, since he has a German accent. Overall,
Sehnsucht is a very addicting album, but definitely not for everybody – only metal fans. Enjoy.
Recommended Tracks
Sehnsucht
Du Hast
Buck Dich
Eifersucht
