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Industrial Revolution – Velodrom, Berlin – Kerrang! Magazine

Rammstein: homecoming show for the bombastic Germans

Velodrome, Berlin - Saturday, May 19

SUNKEN BELOW ground level, the only giveaway sign that something is rumbling underground is the venue's corrugated iron roof that appears on the edge of Berlin like a frozen pond and the faint doof doof of an industrial beat somewhere deep below. We're not in Kansas anymore Toto. A 10,000-capacity racetrack arena, Rammstein couldn't have chosen a more perfect venue to play two nights in their hometown to illustrate exactly why they're undoubtedly the most important rock band ever to have come out of Germany. And, no, The Scorpions don't count because they were horseshit.

It begins - as all good metal shows rightfully should - with a spectacular entrance as a large pulsing red womb hovers above the stage before giving birth to each band member who then takes his position for the opening attack of 'Mein Herz Brennt'. Utterly ludicrous of course, but totally appreciated. A few songs in, you can see why knee-jerk reactionaries have accused Rammstein of flirting with Nazism. Their entire aesthetic pilfers from Hitler's most effective performance and propagandist techniques - grand, theatrical displays of power, hard-hitting marching rhythms, simple sloganeering, the ability to whip followers up into a frenzy and an over-rising sense of male superiority. It is, however, just harmless flirtation and politically Rammstein actually stand at the other end of the spectrum, ensuring they have more in common with the colourful, part-choreographed nihilism of Marilyn Manson or Slipknot, than any misguided knuckleheads with hidden agendas. 'Links 2 3 4', with its jack-boot stomping intro and warlike chorus is written directly for those who can't get past the Übermensch imagery and who clearly have a problem with Germans displaying some rare humour. It's a massive song in defence of the band and it works.

Nevertheless, taken at face value seeing Rammstein in front of 10-thousand drunk Germans, each with a fist raised and many a bad ape drape in close proximity, is a slightly disturbing and definitely uplifting experience, such is the devotion to this band. As with new album,'Mutter', musically Rammstein aren't doing anything that the likes of Depeche Mode, Laibach, 'TheWall'-era Pink Floyd, early Ministry and Kraftwerk haven't already covered, but the one thing that the critics seem to have missed is the irony and the gloriously gratuitous theatrics involved. While the flying jizz and pendulous prosthetic penises are a thing of the past, tonight there are enough pyrotechnics and moments of Phineas Barnum-style rabble-rousing to send Kiss to their long overdue retirement. And what a refreshing change it is to not have to deal with some pious American big-leaguer telling us that we're the greatest before directing us to the merchandise stall on the way out.

Singer Till Lindemann, possessed with a voice perfect for B-movie voiceovers, is far too cool for banter when he could be strapping roman candles to his feet setting fire to himself and then singing an entire f**king song as his coat goes up in smoke. Which he does. More than once. Old favourite 'Du Hast' and the more recent 'Sonne' (that'll be the one that saw Rammstein dressed somewhat amusingly as pick axe-toting miner's on Kerrang!'s video giveaway) are stripped of unnecessary fat to leave big, meaty foot-stompers with all the subtlety of a punch in the face - surely their desired effect - which they then char-grill with vast walls of flames and explosions that seemingly appear at eyebrow-threatening closeness to the band members.

Bizarrely, Rammstein choose to end it all with a doomy run through The Ramones "Pet Cemetery', the one time that they truly stray away from the classically Teutonic rhythms that ensure the show stomps along in a hypnotic haze. They may German as two pounds of Bratwurst squeezed into a pair of lederhosen but that's where Rammstein's real appeal lies - the cold, blunt tones of their mother tongue couldn't have found a more suitable soundtrack in their sublime and regimented sound. Most of all though, they might just currently have the best stage show in the metal world. And that alone is reason enough to get into this unique band.

Ben Myers - Kerrang! Magazine Issue 855 June 2/2001

© 2005 Sue Lindemann