Rammstein

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• Genre: Industrial Metal
• Rammstein Website

About

Rammstein, the internationally known (and often misunderstood) industrial metallers, formed in 1997 with the intention of making music that was "authentically German." The band has released five albums, found themselves in the middle of several controversies and become famous due to a thoroughly over-the-top live show and music that is danceable yet still heavy metal. The band members themselves describe their music as "dance metal." With growling, "r"-rolling vocals that can only be described as Panzer-riffic, and pulsing, super-charged rhythms, Rammstein tends to frighten people. And you can see why: playing up the homosexual German dancer look of super obscure (and weird) industro-dance pioneers D.A.F., the band appear naked and oiled at almost every opportunity, chase each other around onstage with dildos and exude some strange, comedic uber masculinity. All of this is meant to provoke people and nothing more. Granted, such deeply embedded cues tend to go over the heads of many of the teenagers attracted to the aggressive quality of the music, which is unfortunate. Musically, Rammstein is nothing short of archetypal, with fist-raising vocals and cement-slab beats, while each song hinges on, and is propelled by, an almost obsessive attention to rhyming. Infamously described as "music to invade Poland to."

- Mike McGuirk