Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Album Review: Rammstein - RAMMSTEIN



It's been ten years since the last studio record by everyone's favourite Teutonic pyromaniacs. Not that they've been absent: they've embarked on several tours and have released a few live documents but fans have had to wait a whole decade for a follow up to LIEBE IS FÜR ALLE DA



Fans will be happy to know that the band hasn't tried to reinvent itself in that interim: the album doesn't suvert that tried and true recipe of surgically precise riffs, martial beats, dramatic vocals and mechanical soundscapes. However they have refined that recipe, making this album the most accessible Rammstein LP ever, and dare we say, the best.

The songs are catchier than they've ever been with the delightfully cheesy synth dance track Ausländer being the most obvious example of this new approach. Every track is full of hooks, whether it's the vocals, the guitars or more often the synthesisers. Even Till Lindemann's trademark guttural, declamatory vocals are less abrasive.

The production is also the most organic it's ever been, despite the customary prominence of keyboards and electronics. Every song on the album is a crafted to perfection, not an ounce of fat is to by where. The epic opener Deutschland to the creepy church chants of Zeig Dich, the appropriately titled Radio... But the highlight must be Weit Weg, an almost progressive mid-tempo piece which sounds like the unholy child of Deep Purple and Tangerine Dream.

Rammstein has never relied on magazines or radio to fill up arenas around the world, yet this could be the album that finally breaks them into the mainstream, language barrier be damned. All the elements that stood in the way have been polished off or are now part of the popular music scene. Earlier albums used to be the next best thing to seeing them live. Finally, this one stands on its own.

Genre: Industrial Metal
Release Date: May 17th, 2019
Label: Universal
Rating:8/10





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