More about: Rammstein

Beginning their journey in 1995 with their debut Herzeleid, Rammstein set a new standard in the metal scene with their oddly bold, eccentric, and outright weird ideas. Through avant-garde music videos, hyper-sexualised lyrics and math-core riffs, Rammstein kept metal fans on their toes as they tore apart the restrictions within the metal scene. Summoning millions of fans to their beck and call, Zeit sees Rammstein celebrate their legacy and hints to a concluding chapter. 

It might sound cheesy, but there really is no other band that do it quite like Rammstein, their vision being completely undefeated. Despite all their albums and tracks being in German, they have a tremendous global following (with the odd tussle with press), due to just how explicit and out of the box their music is.

Opening their latest with cutting-edge, ‘Armee der Tristen', Rammstein open Zeit with a menacing introduction of haunting synths and aggressive ad-libs (a staple accessory across any Rammstein track). ‘Armee der Tristen’ boisterously stomps you straight to the point and has you instantly thirsty for more. 

Following is album title ‘Zeit’ which translates into 'Time' in English. A lot tamer than its predecessor, the slow and melodic pace of this track brilliantly exudes the dread that time can often inflict on us. Despite its predictable chorus, this track really doesn’t disappoint, and doesn’t go a listen without raising the hairs on your forearms.

Standing as the band's eight studio album, there’s something extremely distinctive about this album cover. Pictured on Berlin’s stone cold and minimalist monument Trudelturm, Rammstein exude a cold, isolated energy. There’s something so brilliantly final about this image, that really makes you feel like Rammstein are concluding their chapter out with a bang.

“Ticktack, ticktack, du wirst alt,” Till Lindemann repeats across personal favourite ‘Zick Zack’. The music video for this is a quintessential Rammstein masterpiece, mocking plastic surgery culture and Instagram Face. Rammstein gimmick as they pose as rock stars on stage to a crowd of old age pensioners whilst their failed surgeries drip off their bodies like burning candle wax. ““Ticktack, ticktack, du wirst alt,” translates as “tick tock, tick tock, you’re getting old”, perhaps a reference to the band's own mortality. Might Rammstein be putting their instruments to rest after spending three whole decades spreading the wackiest, most unconventional material across metal? 

One of the best things about a Rammstein album is that behind all of the gimmicky sex references, there’s always a message of insight about a social, cultural or political structure. Another personal favourite is ‘Angst’, on which the group toy with consumerism and how we’ve grown so accustomed to it, we forget to second guess. Musically, ‘Angst’ is Rammstein through and through, and at this stage in their career, their eighth album in, it really should be praised at just how effortless Rammstein are able to make consistency look. 

Not ones for disappointing their fans much, across Zeit, Rammstein have really pulled through with a worldie of hit singles between personal favourites, ‘Armee der Tristen’, ‘Zeit', ‘Zick Zack’, ‘Angst' and ‘Dicke Titten’. With every playback of this album, I’m reminded by the immersive visuals that I was so fortunate to witness at their playback in April. 

A follow-up to their 2019 self-titled album, Zeit bites back with some intense hits, all while dropping small hints that the end could be nigh. I honestly want to say, if this album is to suggest the end of Rammstein’s journey, then what a monumental accumulation of work it is. From their renowned 1995 debut studio album ‘Herzeleid,’ to ‘Zeit,’ Rammstein have left countless watermarks across the rock industry and have reshaped just how far the metal scene can stretch when it comes to the weird and dejected. A really great album. 

Zeit is out now.

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More about: Rammstein