Christian "Flake" Lorenz (pronounced "Flak'-uh Lor-ents"; born 6 November 1966), sometimes called "Doktor Lorenz") is a German musician, notable as the keyboardist for the German Tanz-Metall ("Dance Metal") band Rammstein. He is also known for his role in the band Feeling B.

Birth name Christian Lorenz
Born November 16, 1966 (1966-11-16) (age 41), Berlin, Germany
Genre(s) Tanz-Metall
Occupation(s) Keyboardist
Instrument(s) Keyboards
Years active 1983–present
Associated acts Rammstein, Feeling B

Early years

His family background is vague. Lorenz has a brother who is three years older. He was brought up and still lives in the former Prenzlauer Berg area of Berlin (now a part of the borough of Pankow), where he still passes his old school building on the way to band rehearsals.

Lorenz is an educated pianist, but he doesn't consider himself very good. Flake says he chose to play the piano because a childhood friend of his played from the age of three. His parents sent him to a music school. Flake "began by painting the keys on a window ledge" and "practiced one-half year on the window ledge". His parents bought him a piano for one hundred East German marks for his 15th birthday.

Flake became "addicted" to rock and roll as a boy. He stopped his lessons in order to play with his father's jazz records. "When I joined my first band," Flake has said, "I noticed that I couldn't play modern music. I still can't!" At the age of sixteen, he apprenticed as a toolmaker, an apparently short-lived career.

Feeling B

In 1983, at age seventeen, he began to play in the band Feeling B with Paul H. Landers and Aljoscha Rompe, a Swiss living in East Berlin. He stayed with the band for about ten years. Feeling B started out firmly grounded in the underground punk scene. Over time, Feeling B's popularity grew greatly and at the end of the German Democratic Republic, it was one of the most respected and influential Eastern German bands despite their underground status.

Flake squatted/lived in an apartment with Paul during their early years. When they weren't playing gigs, Landers and Flake would sell jackets made from cut-up bed sheets and dusters on the black market. Two jackets a month meant as much money as an average salaried worker. "It was quite easy to make a living; not to work and stay out of trouble," says Landers, "You only got problems if you were caught."

The group disbanded in the mid-1990s. On special occasions, the band members would get together for individual concerts at punk festivals, until Rompe died in November 2000.

There is a book available about Feeling B.

Rammstein

Flake plays on Wilder Wein during Live aus Berlin.

In 1994, Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, Oliver "Olli" Riedel and Christoph "Doom" Schneider entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro beat contest that allowed them to professionally record a four track demo. Paul H. Landers formally joined the band, then finally Flake. He was initially reluctant to join his five bandmates and had to be pestered into becoming a member of Rammstein. He thought they would be too boring. Eventually he agreed to join, and the group began work their first album, Herzeleid (Heartache). In the band's performances and videos, Flake is often cast as the outsider of the group, possibly due to his relatively unusual presence as a keyboard player in a heavy metal group. This varies from playing the part of a scientific genius, aloof from the rest of the group, to playing a gimp role, to being left alone at the end of the "Keine Lust" video, and being bullied by the rest of the band, particularly Lindemann. These distinctive roles in the band's theatrical presentation have led to him becoming a very popular member of the group among fans. Flake is probably best known for his part in the controversial live performance of the song "Bück dich" ("Bend down" or "Bend over"), where he and vocalist Till Lindemann would engage in simulated sodomy with a liquor-squirting dildo. On September 23, 1998 in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA) Lindemann and Flake Lorenz were arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior. A statement from Sergeant Thomas Radula of the Worcester Police Department stated that Lindemann was simulating sex with Flake onstage "using a phallic object that shot water over the crowd". They were held and released the following day on $25 bail. After months of legal debate, they were eventually fined $100. His role in "Bück dich" is not the only live act he is known for. Up until 2002, Flake would surf the audience in a boat during the performance of "Seemann" ("Seaman"). Ollie took his place in 2002. According to Flake, the change occurred because he was injured too often. Also, during a 2001 concert in St. Petersburg, Flake was tipped out of the boat by the crowd and almost completely undressed. When performing "Mein Teil" ("My part"), Flake is "cooked" with a flame-thrower by Till in a giant cauldron. Flake used to do a dance during "Weißes Fleisch" ("White flesh"). In the video for "Keine Lust" ("No desire" or "Don't feel like it"), Flake is seen in an electric wheelchair. He is seen about to jump off of the top of a burning building (trying and failing to land safely on a trampoline) in the video for "Benzin" ("Gasoline" or "Petrol"). In the video for Ich Will (I want) song, Flake is tied to a bomb that explodes in the end of video. Flake was also the lead vocalist for Rammstein's cover version of "Pet Sematary", originally by The Ramones. During a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 30, 2005, Till Lindemann suffered a knee injury when Flake accidentally ran into him with the Segway he rides during the performance of "Amerika" ("America"). This caused concerts scheduled in Asia to be cancelled. In 2005, Flake suffered from an infection that caused concerts in South America to be cancelled.

Personal life

Brown is his natural hair colour, but he has dyed it various times. His eyes are blue.

Flake's current marital status is unknown, but he has been divorced once and has three children, one of them a girl named Annie, date of birth is unknown.

There is very little information available about his personal life outside of his musical career because he chooses to keep most of it private. He has described the riskier parts being in Rammstein as being like a cold shower. It doesn't feel too good right then and there, but afterwards you get a good feeling. Flake, an atheist, is opposed to organized religion. He is quoted to have said, "I disapprove of religions which are made into rigid institutions. I also think that religious fanaticism and missionary work are dangerous".

Flake has a certain skepticism towards American culture, which he has reportedly called decadent. He likes the net (but is no longer able to access it from home), Poland, and Polish food. He despises McDonald's.

He likes to listen to Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Ärzte, Element of Crime, Coldplay, Placebo, Johnny Cash, PJ Harvey, System of a Down, Ministry, The Prodigy and once remarked that he would've liked to have been the sixth Rolling Stone.

Flake is an amateur painter and likes classic cars. He has a Mercedes and is involved in vintage car hire business.[3]

Lorenz used to write frequently in the Fanarea logbook on the official website fanclub, which closed September 2004.

On 5 October 2005, Flake appeared briefly on Deutsche Welle. When asked how he felt about the reunification of Germany, he said he prefers/misses the way things were then. "Even if the GDR survived, I still would've stayed a musician. The increased size of the world also brought the danger of being compared to all of the international acts. The bands which were in the east were the only ones there, and if you were successful there, you were successful. I miss the simplicity. You went into a bar, ordered a beer, and you got a beer!... They didn't ask if you wanted... with a head or without a head, foam top or bottom... It really gets on my nerves having all of these choices I really don't want".

Nicknames

Christian Lorenz commonly goes by the nicknames "Flake" (pronounced as "Flak'-uh" in German; the corresponding German pronunciation would be like the German word "Flocke" (flake) ) and "Doktor". "Doktor" came about because at one point he wanted to be a surgeon, but he was unable to study to become one because of his refusal to join the East German military. In a December 16, 2000 interview, he states it is his proper name.

Christoph "Doom" Schneider (born May 11, 1966) is a German musician. He is a drummer in the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.

Born May 11, 1966 (1966-05-11) (age 42), Berlin, Germany
Genre(s) Tanz-Metall
Occupation(s) Drummer
Instrument(s) Drums
Years active 1990–present
Associated acts Rammstein, Feeling B

Early life

Schneider was born in Berlin, East Germany, and now has six siblings. His interest in playing music started at school, where he played the trumpet. His brother gave him a drum made of aluminum cans when Christoph was 14, sparking an interest in drums and a dream of being a musician.[1] Schneider left high school at age 16 and went to work as a telecommunications assistant. In 1984, he served his national service with the East German Army; He and Till are the only two to have served in the army out of all of the Rammstein members

Career

In 1985, Schneider quit his telecommunication job to pursue his musical ambitions by studying music at university, but failed to get into university twice.His father disapproved of Schneider's learning to play the drums, preferring the trumpet.Schneider tried consistently from 1985 until 1990 to get into bands as a drummer, finally being successful with Die Firma. In 1994, he joined Till Lindemann, Richard Kruspe and Oliver Riedel in forming an early version of Rammstein. They entered the Berlin Senate Metrobeat contest, winning the chance to record a professional demo with four tracks.A previous band of Schneider's, Feeling B, provided two other members of Rammstein, Paul Landers and keyboardist Christian Lorenz.

Personal life

Schneider values his privacy, so little is known about his private life. He is known to be in his second marriage, to Regina Gizatulina.

He has one child but the gender, name, date of birth, and who the mother is, is unknown.

He is nicknamed after his favourite computer game, Doom.

Schneider has also claimed in an interview he was influenced by the drummer of AC/DC, Phil Rudd.

Drums

• • Tama Starclassic Performer EFX
  • 18x22 Bass Drum (x2)
  • 10x8 Tom
  • 12x9 Tom
  • 16x14 Floor Tom
  • 18x16 Floor Tom
  • 14x5.5 Snare
  • 10x5 or 10x4 Snare

Cymbals

• • Meinl:
  • 14" Soundcaster Custom Medium Hi-hat
  • 18" Byzance China
  • 16" Byzance Medium Thin Crash
  • 18" Soundcaster Custom Medium Crash
  • 16" Byzance Medium Crash
  • 18" Soundcaster Custom Powerful Crash
  • 22" Soundcaster Custom Mega Bell Ride
  • 14" Soundcaster Custom Powerful Hi-hat
  • 17" Mb10 China

Skins

• • Evans, now owned by D'Addario
    

Sticks

• • Pro-Mark 2S

Electronics During his Herzeleid ("Heartache") period:

• • 5 ddrum triggers
  • 1 PD-7 2 zone Roland pad
  • 1 Drum tech 2 zone Pole pad
  • 1 Alesis D4 module , then he added a ddrum3 module
  • 1 unidentified sound and kit controller
  • Sequencer (unconfirmed)

During Sehnsucht ("Longing") period:

• • 1 Ddrum3 module
  • 1 Alesis D4 module
  • 2 ddrum3 Cast Presicion Pads
  • 1 PD-5 Roland pad
  • 1 dual zone Drum Tech Pole Pad
  • 5 ddrum triggers
  • 1 ddrum RCI kit selector
  • Sequencer (unconfirmed)

During Mutter ("Mother") period:

• • 1 Roland PD-5 pad
  • 1 2 zone Rod pad
  • 2 Simmons pads then he changed to a pair of PD-31 Roland pads
  • 5 ddrum triggers
  • 1 ddrum3 module
  • 1 ddrum kit selector

During Reise Reise ("Arise Arise") period:

• • 2 ddrum4 mesh pads
  • 1 ddrum3 module

Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (born April 11, 1971) is a German musician, notable for being the bass-guitarist for the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.

Early years

Riedel was born on 11 April 1971 in Schwerin as an only child. Growing up, Oliver had relatively good relationships with both of his parents. He attributes this to the small gap in between their ages. As a child, Oliver wasn't a good student, but he made his way through school with the assistance of his mother. Oliver was quite shy, especially during his teenage years, and while his friends partied at discos he would often be found just "hanging around".

Musical career

In 1990, at the age of nineteen, Oliver began playing in a folk-fiddle/punk-rock band called The Inchtabokatables. In 1994, Riedel, Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, and Christoph "Doom" Schneider entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro beat contest that allowed them to record a four track demo professionally. Paul H. Landers and Christian "Flake" Lorenz would later join the band they named Rammstein.

The six released their first album, Herzeleid (Heartache) in September, 1995. Their second album, Sehnsucht (Longing) was released in 1997, which would later become platinum. In April 2001, the album Mutter (Mother) was released and a European tour followed, ending on 13 July 2002. It has been reported that at this time the members of Rammstein were seriously discussing whether to continue or not in their present form. It was decided that they should all take some time off and then reconsider whether to continue.

In 2003, Rammstein started work on the fourth album, which was to prove a turning point in Rammstein's sound and maturity. September 2004 saw the fruits of this work in the release of Reise, Reise ("Reise,Reise").

Personal life

He has two children, one of them a girl named Emma, date of birth unknown, and is separated from her mother. The gender, name, date of birth, and who the mother of the second child is unknown. His current marital status is unknown.

He likes photography and sports, especially skateboarding and surfing. In the making of the video for "Keine Lust," he mentions wanting to go snowboarding while wearing a fat suit. It has been said he is the most computer-literate member of the band.

His character is more mature and subtle during live performances. He tends to keep crew cut and skin-bald hair styles along with some styles of goatees.

Gear

Oliver keeps his gear simple, in keeping with Rammstein's music. His known gear is:

* Sandberg Bass (Plasmabass custom built, and Terrabass signature bass)
* Glockenklang Heart-Rock Amp
* Two 8x10 Cabs

Oliver also uses selected overdrive/ fuzz pedals for songs such as Mein Teil

Quotes and interview

On the separation rumours

"We never wanted to, but after Mutter we had some difficult times because the third album is the most difficult one and we had a lot of pressure on us. We also had our differences between the group members and everyone's expectations were different. We took a year to rest, and after that we realized that we wanted to be together and to go on."

On his early family life

Interviewer: Did you have a lot of problems with your parents?

Ollie: Not a lot at all. My parents are quite young, which is good. Because the age difference isn't that big, we had it good with each other. My father and mother also liked the same music as me. We were almost more like friends than family.

Interviewer: But of course you did tease your brothers and sisters...

Ollie: No, because I don't have any, too bad. But if I would have had them, I would definitely have teased them!

Paul H. Landers (born December 9, 1964) is a German musician, notable as the rhythm-guitarist for the German Tanz-Metall ("Dance Metal") band Rammstein.

Personal life

Landers was born in Berlin, Germany. His real name was Heiko Paul Hiersche, which he hated. He lived in Moscow for a short time as a young child. Landers speaks fluent Russian but he can't read or write it. He moved out of his parents' house at the age of 16 due to fights with his stepfather and subsequently switched his first names, also in honour of his biological father. He soon left out Heiko, making his name Paul Hiersche. When he married Nikki Landers in 1984 (at the age of 20), he took his wife's surname, thus making his name Paul Landers.

Paul and Nikki had a son, Emil, born c. 1984-87. They later divorced in 1987, but he kept her last name. He also has a second child, a daughter, whose name and date of birth are unknown, with a different woman.

After his divorce with Nikki Landers, he lived with his Feeling B band mate Christian "Flake" Lorenz for a number of years. Paul has since had a daughter. An interview with "The Gauntlet" conducted on the 31st October, 2007 confirms that Paul is married.

Career

In 1983, Landers formed the East German punk band, Feeling B, together with Flake Lorenz and Aljoscha Rompe, in which Christoph Schneider would later also play. In 1986, Landers formed First Arsch with Till Lindemann and Richard Kruspe. He also played in a number of other bands including Die Firma and Die Magdalene Keibel Combo.

Lindemann, Kruspe, Schneider and bassist Oliver "Ollie" Riedel entered and won the Berlin Senate Metro Beat Contest in 1994 that enabled them to have a four-track demo professionally recorded. Landers and Flake soon followed suit to join the band which became known as rammstein.

Equipment

Landers is a self-taught guitarist. He can also play the piano and violin, which he learned to as a child.

Paul plays two Music Man Van Halen guitars and according to the Live Aus Berlin DVD Trivia Game; in his guitar-rack there is a Tech 21 PSA-1 preamp, of which he only uses one preset; he goes from the preamp to the mixer and into a Mesa/Boogie Strategy 500 power amp and two Marshall 4x12" cabinets. When playing in C tuning, Paul uses a Custom Les Paul Studio. During the Völkerball performance of the song "Rammstein", Paul is seen using another Custom Les Paul Studio which was drop D tuned for the song. He also uses EMG 60 and EMG 81 pickups.

Richard Zven Kruspe (born 24 June 1967) is a German musician, most notable as the founder and lead-guitarist for the German ("Dance Metal") bands Rammstein and Emigrate. He also used to be named "Bernstein", after his South African ex-wife Caron Bernstein. They were together for five years until separating in 2004 and filing for divorce to be finalized in 2006, and now his name is back to the original Kruspe again.

Born June 24, 1967 (1967-06-24) (age 41). Wittenberge, East Germany
Genre(s) Tanz-Metall, Industrial Metal, Neue Deutsche Härte
Instrument(s) Guitar, Bass Guitar, vocals
Years active 1991–present
Associated acts Rammstein, Emigrate, Orgasm Death Gimmicks, First Arsch

Early life

Kruspe was born in Wittenberge, East Germany. He has two older sisters and an older brother. His parents divorced when he was young. His mother remarried, but he did not get along with his stepfather. They moved to the village of Weisen when he was young. As a child, Kruspe was a fan of Kiss. According to him, KISS "represented capitalism in its purest sense, and every child was KISS-infected because they were so big. Kids wrote KISS on their notebooks, and if the teachers saw it, they could get kicked out of school just for having it written on their books." When he was twelve, he had a KISS poster in his room, but his stepfather tore it down and destroyed it, and Kruspe stayed up all night putting it back together. Kruspe was a wrestler when he was a teenager, but he hasn't wrestled for many years. He wrestled his twin brother in the video for Mein Teil.

At the age of sixteen, Kruspe and some friends visited Czechoslovakia, where he bought a guitar. He had originally planned to sell it, because they were very expensive and thought he could make a nice profit. However, once he returned to East Germany, a girl at a campground he was staying at asked him to play. He told her that he couldn't play, but she kept insisting, and Richard got mad and started strumming the strings. "The harder I played," Richard said, "the more excited she got. Something clicked in my head and I realized girls like guys who play guitars." This got him interested in playing the guitar, and as a result, he began playing every day and night for the next two years.

At the age of nineteen, bored with the apathetic music scene in his hometown, he moved to East Berlin and lived on Lychener Straße and "made music all day." For two years, Richard lived in an apartment with a drum kit and guitar, and he made music by himself because he did not know anybody there. "It was a lonely time" according to Richard, but he used it to explore music.

Around 1991, Kruspe started the band Orgasm Death Gimmicks. Also in 1992, Kruspe made his first trip to the U.S. with Till Lindemann and Oliver "Ollie" Riedel. He realized that he didn't want to make American music and concentrated on creating a unique German sound.

Birth of Rammstein

Rammstein was started by Richard Kruspe. In 1989 he escaped from on East Germany over the border between Austria and Hungary. He eventually ended up in West Berlin and started a band in 1991 (Orgasm Death Gimmicks). At that time he was very influenced by American music. After the wall came down, he moved back home to Schwerin where Till Lindemann worked as a basket weaver and played drums in the band First Arsch.

At this time, Richard lived with Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (of the band The Inchtabokatables) and Christoph "Doom" Schneider (of Die Firma). Richard realized that the music he had previously made was not right for him. He envisioned something with machines and hard guitars together. The three started working together on a new project.

Richard soon found it hard to write music and lyrics at the same time. He got Till to join them as he had often heard him singing while working. A contest for new bands was announced and the prize was studio time. The four of them recorded the first Rammstein demo and won. Paul H. Landers knew them all and wanted to know what they were doing. After listening, he agreed to join. At this point, all they needed for the machine-sound was a keyboarder. They tried to get Christian "Flake" Lorenz to join, as he had played with Paul before in the band Feeling B. Flake was not entirely thrilled with the idea at first and didn't want to join for a long time. But, he eventually agreed.

About the time the band was formed, they all had relationship problems which provided the foundation for their debut album Herzeleid (Heartache) in 1995. Since then, they have reached gold and platinum status for their music and have become Germany's number one music export.

Birth of Emigrate

Richard began work on a solo project around this time, called Emigrate and work continues on it to this day. He had said he wanted to record an album in 2005. No other Rammstein band members are involved. They recently released three songs: "My World", "Wake Up" and "Babe", all available for download by subscribers of the band newsletter. For the song "My world" they released a video with the scenes of Resident Evil. In 2007, Emigrate's debut album was released.

Equipment

Richard's signature guitar is based upon the signature Kirk Hammett guitars he uses but with the electronics in a simplified form. The guitar features neck through construction , a 25.5 inch scale neck, alder body wings, a maple neck, Floyd Rose tremolo with a locking nut, 24 frets, dual EMG 81 pickups , a master volume control and pickup selecter, with a custom Titanium finish.

Kruspe has a signature ESP guitar called the RZK-1.There is a cheaper version available for purchase as well called the LTD RZK-600. He previously played, and still does play, the Kirk Hammett signature guitar called the KH-2 as well as a custom ESP Guitar based on the Kirk Hammett KH-2 Signature guitar. He is the first German guitarist with a signature guitar series from ESP. Richard uses a black ESP Eclipse I CTM at the Rammstein performance in Nimes, France on July 23rd 2005.

Personal life

On 10 October 1989, prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was riding through the subway. When he came above ground, he found himself in the middle of a political demonstration. He was hit on the head and arrested just for being there, and thrown in jail for six days. Once out of jail, he decided to leave East Germany. In those days, one couldn't just leave East Germany, so he entered West Germany through Czechoslovakia. When the wall came down, he moved back east.

Kruspe married South African (American) actress Caron Bernstein in 1999. The ceremony was Jewish and Richard composed the music for it. Richard took on the name Richard Kruspe-Bernstein during their marriage. They separated in 2004. Richard's name is now back to its original "Kruspe" as the divorce was finalized.

He speaks fluent English and sings in English for Emigrate.

Personal life

On 10 October 1989, prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was riding through the subway. When he came above ground, he found himself in the middle of a political demonstration. He was hit on the head and arrested just for being there, and thrown in jail for six days. Once out of jail, he decided to leave East Germany. In those days, one couldn't just leave East Germany, so he entered West Germany through Czechoslovakia. When the wall came down, he moved back east.

Kruspe married South African (American) actress Caron Bernstein in 1999. The ceremony was Jewish and Richard composed the music for it. Richard took on the name Richard Kruspe-Bernstein during their marriage. They separated in 2004. Richard's name is now back to its original "Kruspe" as the divorce was finalized.

He speaks fluent English and sings in English for Emigrate.

Khira Li Lindemann

Born in 1992, Khira Li Lindemann is the daughter of Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe. She has the last name of "Lindemann" because her mother was previously married to Rammstein lead singer Till Lindemann. Khira's mother kept the last name "Lindemann" when she divorced Till and later, her and Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe got together and had Khira but never married and later split. This, gave Khira the last name of "Lindemann." Sometime in 2001 he moved from Berlin to New York where he now resides to live closer to his ex-wife Caron.

Till Lindemann (born January 4, 1963) is a German musician and poet who is most notable as being the frontman and lead-vocalist for the German tanz-metall ("dance metal") band Rammstein.

Born January 4, 1963 (1963-01-04) (age 45),Leipzig, Saxony, East Germany
Genre(s) Tanz-metall, Industrial metal, Neue Deutsche Härte
Instrument(s) Vocals, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Harmonica
Years active 1985–present
Associated acts Rammstein, First Arsch, Feeling B

Personal characteristics

Lindemann has a powerful on stage presence and a resonant bass voice. One of his signature mannerisms is to partially squat and pound his fist onto his thigh to the beat of the riff. Also, his vocals are easily recognizable due to his tendency to roll his Rs, and growl his achs. Lindemann is also a qualified pyrotechnician. After an accident at the Treptow arena in Berlin on September 27, 1996, where a burning stage prop fell into the audience, Rammstein began employing a professional pyrotechnical crew and Lindemann has learned from and also trained with them. Each band member is specially instructed on the pieces of pyrotechnical equipment they use on stage. Of Lindemann, band mate Christoph Schneider says, “Till gets burned all the time, but he likes the pain.” He has also engaged in other masochistic acts on stage, such as whipping himself and bludgeoning his head with a microphone until it bleeds, both of which can be seen on the "Live Aus Berlin" DVD.

Personal background

Till Lindemann from Live aus Berlin era.

Lindemann was born in Leipzig, but he grew up in the village of Wendisch-Rambow in SchwerinEast Germany). His father, Werner Lindemann, was a poet, and his mother, Brigitte "Gitta" Lindemann, is an artist and writer who has co-written at least one book with her husband. Lindemann has one sister, six years younger than himself. At age 11 he went to a sports school at the Rostock Sport Club, and from 1977 to 1980 attended a boarding school.While at the sports school, his parents divorced in 1975, when he was age 12.
In the year 1978 Lindemann was a participant in the European Junior Swimming Championships in Florence. But he left the sports school in 1979. According to Lindemann, "I never liked the sport school actually, it was very intense. But as a child you don't object".

Till's children

In 1985, when Lindemann was 22, his first daughter, Nele, was born. Lindemann and Nele's mother married after she was born, but they separated and he has raised Nele alone. Lindemann says, "I used to play drums in a punk band and we had our studio in the house where I lived. Seven years I had been a father raising his daughter, but nowadays I'm sharing the upbringing with her mother, because I'm gone for six months of the year with the band".

Musical career

Lindemann started to play drums for First Arsch, often confused as "First Art" but in literal translation means "First Arse": a play on words perhaps meant to distract the authorities. It was a Schwerin-based punk band. They made one album titled Saddle Up.

Till Lindemann also played one song with a German punkband called Feeling B. A song called Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend ("Song of the restless youth") is credited on the album called Hea Hoa Hoa Hea Hea Hoa (1990) saying Till, Paul H. Landers and Christian "Flake" Lorenz all played on the song Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend. Feeling B was the former band of Paul H. Landers and Christian "Flake" Lorenz.

Later in the 1990s, Lindemann began to write lyrics, possibly based on phrases and words from poems that he was beginning to write. He says he "used to drum in a punk band that consisted of bass and drums. We used to work with guest-guitarists, usually Paul and Richard. We did a short tour where I changed instruments with the bassist in the encore, that was such a success, that Richard insisted on starting a project in which I would sing. Other people joined the band but only when I left Schwerin for Berlin did it take serious form".

In 1994, they entered and won a contest in Berlin that allowed them to record a four track demo professionally. Lindemann moved to Berlin. Paul H. Landers formally joined the band, followed by the last member to join, Christian "Flake" Lorenz.

Subsequently, in November 2002 Lindemann's own project, the poetry book Messer, was published. It consists of 54 poems compiled by Gert Hof, who is author of the book Rammstein and has been the band's pyrodesigner for the last seven years.[2] This book was due to be re-printed in 2005 due to a campaign by a fansite.

As guest artist

* Lindemann appears on the track Helden on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide.
* Ayreon frontman Arjen Anthony Lucassen has stated on his website that he would love to have Lindemann appear on a future Ayreon album, but he'd "have to write the parts in German" or create an "evil character".
* Lindemann also sings on "Wut Will Nicht Sterben" by Die Puhdys.

Movie appearances

* In 2003, Till made an appearance as a villain, in a made for television movie for children titled Amundsen, der Pinguin. His character tries to steal a penguin who knows the location of treasure.
* Till plays an animal rights activist in a movie called Vinzent.
* Till made brief appearances in the movies xXx as himself along with the rest of Rammstein (2002) and Pola X (1999).

He has appeared on many soundtracks such as: xXx, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Lost Highway, The Matrix, Lilya 4-ever.

Quotes

* Loneliness sometimes gives me a quantity of creativeness - you're drinking another glass of wine and you're feeling even worse. Art doesn't work without pain; art also exists for compensating pain.

* When I was an adolescent, I was obsessed with having many commercial things, cars, clothes, stupid things. Now that I have all that, I include/understand that the superfluous things can turn to you into a very stupid idiot-type. In East Germany there were very few things, but there was also a feeling of solidarity that no longer exists. Now we are up to the neck in. consumption, the ego, the individualism. Now before friendship, it is merchandise.

* The rolling R's didn't arise deliberately. It originated from itself because in that deep pitch you automatically sing that way. I'm no musician in the actual meaning. I don't know anything about instruments. But I'm supporting our music with my voice and lyrics well. It's a question of illustration, timbre and phonetics. We don't want to - for Heaven's sake - create a fascist-like style.

* Love is like a flower; even the most beautiful kind dies.

* You've got a kind of inner store. When things aren't going well, you just go inside and get a glass of travel preserves for your soul, open it and fill up on it.

Origin Berlin, Germany
Genre(s) Industrial metal, Neue Deutsche Härte, Tanz-Metall
Years active 1994 – Present
Label(s) Motor Music, Republic Records, Slash Records, Universal Music Group
Associated acts Emigrate, Feeling B, First Arsch

Members
*Till Lindemann
*Richard Z. Kruspe
*Paul H. Landers
*Oliver "Ollie" Riedel
*Christoph "Doom" Schneider
*Christian "Flake" Lorenz

Rammstein (pronounced [ˈʀamʃtaɪ̯n]) is a German Industrial metal band, founded in Germany, and consisting of Till Lindemann (lead vocals), Richard Z. Kruspe (lead guitar and backing vocals), Paul H. Landers (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Oliver "Ollie" Riedel (bass guitar), Christoph "Doom" Schneider (drums and percussion) and Christian "Flake" Lorenz (keyboards). The band is widely accepted as part of the NDH-scene, alongside bands such as Oomph! and Die Krupps. Their sound has been dubbed as Tanz-Metall (lit. "Dance Metal").Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. Formed in 1994, they have sold over 22 million records worldwide.Rammstein's entire catalogue is published by Universal Music Group.

Although the majority of their songs are written in German, Rammstein has had massive success across the world. It has been confirmed that the band has reunited from their vacation and has begun writing their sixth studio album, which will be released in late 2008/early 2009.
Name

Rammstein takes its name indirectly from the West German town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, the site of the flight show disaster on August 28, 1988. The band's signature song, the eponymous Rammstein, is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. The extra "m" in the band's name makes it translate literally as "ramming stone" to convey the Teutonic sound of their music. In a short period before the band became well known, they performed using the name "Rammstein-Flugschau" (literally meaning Rammstein-Airshow.)

Rammstein brings on the flame-throwers during Feuer frei! - Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden, 2004-11-18.

Formation

Rammstein was founded by guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe. After escaping to West Berlin in 1989 and starting the band, Orgasm Death Gimmicks. At that time, he was heavily influenced by American music, especially that of KISS. After the Berlin Wall came down, he moved back home to Schwerin where Till Lindemann worked as a basket weaver and played drums in the band First Arsch (First Arse). At this time, Richard lived with Oliver Riedel, of the band The Inchtabokatables, and Christoph "Doom" Schneider (of Die Firma). Richard realized that the music he had previously created did not properly suit him. He envisioned something that would combine machines as well as the sound of hard guitars. The three started working together on a new project. Richard soon found it extremely difficult to write both music and lyrics at the same time, so he persuaded Lindemann to join Rammstein. Richard first discovered Till when he overheard him singing while he was working.

Early Years (Pre-Herzeleid Era - 1994)

A contest was held in Berlin for amateur bands in 1994, the winner of which would receive the opportunity to record a four track demo CD in a professional studio. Kruspe, Schneider, Riedel, and Lindemann entered and won the contest, which sparked the attention of Paul Landers, who wanted in on the project upon hearing their demo. To complete their sound, Rammstein then attempted to recruit Christian "Flake" Lorenz, who had played with Paul Landers previously in Feeling B. At first, Lorenz was hesitant, but eventually agreed to join the band.

Herzeleid (1995 - 1997)

Rammstein began to record their first studio album entitled Herzeleid in March 1995 with producer Jacob Hellner.They released their first single Du riechst so gut on August 17th and later released the album on September 24th 1995. Later that same year, they toured with Clawfinger in Warsaw and Prague. Rammstein headlined a tour of their own through Germany from December 2nd to December 22nd consisting of 17 shows which helped to boost the band's popularity. They then went on several tours throughout early 1996, releasing their second single entitled Seemann on January 8th 1996.

On March 27th, Rammstein performed on MTV's Hanging Out in London; their first performance in the UK. Rammstein's first major boost in popularity outside of Germany came when director David Lynch chose two Rammstein songs for his new movie entitled Lost Highway, namely 'Heirate Mich' and 'Rammstein'. The soundtrack for the movie was released in the US in the fall of 1996 and later in Europe April 1997.

Rammstein then went on to tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland from September to October 1996, doing an anniversary concert on 27th September called '100 years of Rammstein'. Guests to the concert included Moby, Bobo and The Berlin Session Orchestra, Berlin director Gert Hof was responsible for the light show.

Sehnsucht/Live aus Berlin (late 1996 - 2000)

Rammstein started recording Sehnsucht in November 1996 at the Temple Studios in Malta.The album was again produced by Jacob Hellner. The first single off the album, entitled Engel was released on April 1 1997 and later reached gold on May 23. This prompted the release of a fan edition of the single, appropriately named Engel Fan Edition. This contained two previously unreleased songs Feuerräder and Wilder Wein. Release of the 2nd single off the album "Sehnsucht", Du Hast which hit the German single charts August 1997 at number 5.

Rammstein then continued touring in the summer whilst Sehnsucht was released on August 22nd 1997. The album reached number 1 after only two weeks in the charts. Simultaneously, Herzeleid and both the singles off Sehnsucht (Du Hast and Engel) were in the Top 20 of the German charts. Rammstein continued to headline sold out shows throughout Europe in September, October and November 1997 before releasing their cover of the Kraftwerk song, Das Modell. The single included another unreleased song entitled Kokain. On December 5th 1997, Rammstein embarked on their first tour of the United States, with support from KMFDM. On August 22nd and 23rd 1998, Rammstein played to over 17,000 fans at the Wuhlheide in Berlin; the biggest show the band have ever played there up to that date. Supporting acts were Danzig, Nina Hagen, Joachim Witt and Alaska. The show was professionally videotaped, intended to be released on their upcoming live DVD, Live aus Berlin. Rammstein embarked on a live tour with Korn, Ice Cube, Orgy and Limp Bizkit called the Family Values tour in September through to late October 1998. To further continue their success in the US, Sehnsucht received Gold record status on November 2nd. The Band were nominated at the MTV European Music Awards for Best Rock Act and performed Du Hast live on November 12th of that year.

Rammstein had further success in 1999, starting off the year in February with a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 42nd-annual Grammy Awards. A year after it was filmed, the Live aus Berlin concert was released on CD on 30th August 1999, with a limited edition double CD also available. Two weeks after it was released, Live aus Berlin went to number one in the German Album Charts. On September 13th and November 26th 1999 the video and DVD versions of the concert were released respectively.

Mutter (2000 - 2002)

Rammstein's album Mutter recording took place in the south of France between May 2000 and June 2000, and was later mixed in Stockholm in October of that year. During the Christmas holidays 2000, Rammstein released an MP3 of Links 2 3 4 as a taster for their new album. 2001 was a busy year for Rammstein, starting out in January and February with the band playing the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. January also heralded the shooting of the video for their upcoming single Sonne, recorded in Potsdam at Babelsberger Filmstudios from 13th to the 15th. The video was released on 29th January 2001. The single for Sonne was released on February 12th 2001 in Europe, featuring an Instrumental version of the song, two remixes by Clawfinger, and Adios off the upcoming album. Mutter was released on April 2nd 2001, sparking another Rammstein tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On May 14th, the second single off the album Links 2 3 4 was released, along with a video of the single on May 18th. After a tour throughout Europe in June, the band then toured USA, Canada and Mexico from June 2001 to August 2001. Ich Will, the third single from the album was released on September 10th 2001 and a Tour edition of the Mutter album was released, featuring alternative artwork and live versions of "Ich Will", "Links 2-3-4", "Sonne", and "Spieluhr". Between January 8th and January 12th 2002, Rammstein travelled to Prague to participate in a minor scene from the movie 'xXx'. The band is seen in the opening scene of the action movie performing a concert with their song Feuer frei!. Feuer frei! was released across Europe as first single from the Triple X Soundtrack on 14th October 2002. Rammstein released two remixes of the song, Furthermore, the single's tracklisting included "Du Hast" and "Bück Dich" cover versions by Battery. The single cover was an artwork by New York artist Robert Longo. The video for the single was cut by Rob Cohen, which is partly the Rammstein performance at the beginning of the movie and partly snippets from the movie itself.

Reise, Reise (2003 - 2005)

Rammstein recorded Reise, Reise at the El Cortijo studio in southern Spain between November 2003 and December 2003, it was later mixed at Toytown studio in Stockholm, Sweden in April and May of 2004. The first single off of the album was Mein Teil, released on 26th July 2004. The shooting for the video is shot in the Arena, in the Treptow district of Berlin. Outdoor shooting takes place at the Deutsche Oper (Opera House) U-Bahn station on Bismarckstrasse. The director is Zoran Bihac, who was also behind the "Links 2-3-4" video. The "Amerika" video is filmed on the 6th and 7th of August 2004 in the ruins of the former chemical factory in Rüdersdorf near Berlin, Germany under the direction of Jörn Heitmann (who also directed the "Ich will" video, among others). The spacesuits for the moon scenes were borrowed from Hollywood and 240 tons of ash was needed to create the moon landscape. The video premiered on 20th August 2004.

The second single from Reise, Reise was Amerika, released on September 13th 2004. With the album released on September 27th, it went straight to top 10 charts throughout Europe. According to the Billboard charts, Rammstein were now the most successful German-language band of all time. Rammstein then toured Germany through November and some of December 2004, releasing the single Ohne Dich on 22nd November.

In February 2005, Rammstein tour Europe again. Ending on February 28, 2005, Rammstein will have played 21 concerts in front of more than 200,000 spectators in 10 countries. Keine Lust was the fourth single released from Reise, Reise on 28th February 2005. From May 27th 2005 to July 30th 2005, Rammstein play festivals all around Europe and in Russia. Footage from these concerts eventually end up on Rammstein's live DVD Völkerball, released later in November 2006.

Rosenrot/Völkerball (2005 - 2006)

In August 2005, Rammstein revealed the name of their latest studio album, Rosenrot. Their first single from the new album, Benzin, was released on October 5th 2005, with its video premiere on 16th September 2005. The album Rosenrot is released worldwide on October 28th 2005. Directly following the release, the album continues the success-story of forerunner Reise, Reise and takes the top 10 charts in 20 different countries. December 16th 2005 spelled the release of the title track on the album Rosenrot. The video for Mann Gegen Mann was released on 6th February 2006, with the single being released on March 3rd. On February 19th 2006, Rammstein had the honour of having an asteroid named after them, 110393 Rammstein. Some believe their name was chosen because of the music video for "Amerika," which displayed the six members of the band floating above the moon sporting NASA's astronaut suits. On November 17th the first Rammstein Live DVD since Live aus Berlin from 1998 is released. Völkerball shows concert-performances by the band in England, France, Japan and Russia. The Special Edition is extended by a second DVD, which contains the documentaries “Anaconda in the net” by Mathilde Bonnefoy and the “Making of the album Reise, Reise” by Rammstein guitarist Paul Landers. The limited Edition is released as a large black/white photo-book with photos by Frederic Batier, who had accompanied the band through their recent tours. The Photo-book edition contains 2 DVDs and 2 Live albums.

Future upcoming album (2007 - Present)

The band took a time out in 2006, and began work again on 2007. In an interview with German rapper Bushido, who contributed to the Electro Ghetto Remix of Amerika, on January 21, 2007, Bushido reported recording a song with Rammstein called Vergiss uns nicht ("Don't forget us"). In this interview Bushido also mentioned that he was unsure of whether it would be on their "Best of" album or not. This was the first mention of a "Best of" album, or the new album all together.In addition, keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz confirmed this in an interview with Metal Hammer Germany in November, stating that they would most likely release a new album in 2008. The band didn't tour during 2007 due to current album production. Their website confirmed work on a new album, but no word of a "Best of" album has yet been mentioned.

Style

Although Rammstein is often generalized as Neue Deutsche Härte, its music spans a variety of related styles, including industrial hard rock, heavy metal and electronic music with influences of punk rock, pop music and gothic rock, due to their use of keyboards to emulate strings, choirs or pianos. The band was influenced by Laibach, a Slovenian neo-classical and industrial group. Other influences include, Oomph!, and Ministry, but the contrast between individual songs such as Du riechst so gut, Bestrafe mich, Ohne dich and Te quiero puta! makes the band difficult to classify, though most simply refer to them as industrial metal. The band's very, very diverse range of influence has, unsurprisingly, made them appealing to tastes of all kinds, but they are chiefly renowned in industrial, electronica, and heavy metal circles.

Rammstein's style has tended to divide critics, some of whom have responded with memorable comments. Jam Showbiz (April 2001) described Mutter as "music to invade Poland to." New Zealand's Southland Times (Dec. 17, 1999) suggested that Till Lindemann's "booming, sub-sonic voice" would send "the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors," while the New York Times (Jan. 9, 2005) commented that on the stage, "Mr. Lindemann gave off an air of such brute masculinity and barely contained violence that it seemed that he could have reached into the crowd, snatched up a fan, and bitten off his head." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic commented that "their blend of industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals is staggeringly powerful.We just push boundaries," said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine Kerrang!. "We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed."

Lyrics

Nearly all of Rammstein's songs are in German. However, the band did record English versions of Engel ("Angel"), Du hast ("You have", which is most commonly confused with "You hate", since hast and hasst sound phonetically identical, which is also why in the English version they say hate not have because you have me makes little sense), and Amerika, as well as covers of the songs Stripped (Depeche Mode) and Pet Sematary (The Ramones). In addition, the songs Amerika, Stirb nicht vor mir//Don't die before I do and Moskau ("Moscow") contain not only German verses, but also English and Russian choruses, respectively; Te quiero puta! ("I want you, whore!") is entirely in Spanish. Oliver Riedel commented that, "German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger".
The lyrics of Rammstein and above all their talk by singer Till Lindemann are an essential element of music and shape the perception by fans and a wider public. This is, among other things that are often very controversial, and taboo subjects such as sadomasochism (Bück Dich, Rein Raus and Bestrafe Mich), homosexuality (Mann gegen Mann), incest (Spiel mit mir and Tier), pedophilia (Tier and Halleluja) , Necrophilia (Heirate mich), Pyromanie (Benzin and Hilf mir), cannibalism (Mein Teil), the game with religious images (Asche zu Asche) having sex and violence (Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen).

Wordplay is a fundamental component of Rammstein's lyrics. In many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways. The song Du hast, for example, is a play on German marriage vows (Willst Du, bis der Tod euch scheidet, treu ihr sein für alle Tage? - "Will you, until Death separates you, be faithful to her for the rest of your days?"). In the song, the traditional affirmative response, Ja ("Yes"), is replaced by its negation Nein ("No"). The final repetition of this line further perverts the meaning of the original vows through a minor change in the wording Willst Du, bis zum Tod der Scheide ... (Will you, until the Death of the vagina ...). The song starts, in fact, with a play on words: Du... Du hast... Du hast mich... meaning "You have me". This line is often mistaken for "You hate me", because in German, there is no clear distinction between the pronunciation of Du hasst which means "you hate" and Du hast which means "you have". The word game is later resolved as the line is completed; Du hast mich gefragt ("You [have] asked me"). Confusingly, the band did also make an English version of the song named You hate which was not translated directly from Du hast. While many arguments about 'Du Hast' are around, it is known that Rammstein used this wording to mislead and create humour in the song. It was done purposely to toy with the same pronunciation of the words, causing many confused people of the English language to not understand.

Live performances

Rammstein are known for their frequent pyrotechnic use.

Rammstein has achieved particular fame (not to mention notoriety) for its hugely over-the-top stage show, using so many pyrotechnics that fans eventually coined the motto "Other bands play, Rammstein burns!" (a quip at Manowar's song "Kings of Metal", which states, "other bands play, Manowar kill"). After an accident in the Arena in Berlin where some burning decoration parts fell on the audience (September 27, 1996) the band took to employing professionals to handle the pyrotechnics; Lindemann himself is now a licensed pyrotechnician who spends entire songs engulfed head-to-toe in flames. He has suffered multiple burns on his ears, his hair and his arms. The heat is so intense that on occasion, people have been carried out of Rammstein concerts suffering from heat exhaustion, and lighting gantries have been seen glowing red-hot from repeated fireball hits. The variety of the pyrotechnics can be seen in a recent concert playlist, which includes such items as "Lycopodium Masks", "Glitterburst Truss", "Pyrostrobes", "Comets", "Flash Trays" and "Mortar Hits". The band's costumes are equally outlandish. During the Reise, Reise tour they were wearing Lederhosen, corsets and vague military uniforms with steel helmets, while during the Mutter tour the group kept to the themes of the album artwork and descended onto the stage from a giant uterus while wearing diapers. According to Kruspe, the on-stage wackiness is entirely deliberate (Rammstein's motto according to Schneider is: "Do your own thing. And overdo it!"). The aim is to get people's attention and have fun at the same time: "You have to understand that 99 percent of the people don't understand the lyrics, so you have to come up with something to keep the drama in the show. We have to do something. We like to have a show; we like to play with fire. We do have a sense of humor. We do laugh about it; we have fun... but we're not Spinal Tap. We take the music and the lyrics seriously. It's a combination of humor, theater and our East German culture, you know?Their onstage antics have led them to trouble as well. During their stint on the American Family Values Tour 1998, alongside acts such as rapper Ice Cube, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Orgy, the band was arrested for indecency. In one of the more infamous moments, Rammstein's vocalist, Till Lindemann engaged in simulated sodomy with the keyboardist, Christian Lorenz during their performance of "Bück dich" in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were subsequently arrested and fined $25 and spent the night in jail. The band attempted to appeal the fine, but spent more in legal fees and court fees than the $25 fine.

Covers and adaptations

Apocalyptica performing with Rammstein.

Rammstein's songs have been covered by a number of other artists, These include: "Engel" : The group Gregorian reworked Engel as a Gregorian chant for their album The Dark Side. The same song has been covered by Belgian girls choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, resulting in a very quiet, brooding version; contrary to the original. "Mein Herz brennt" : The German composer Torsten Rasch has produced a classical symphonic song-cycle entitled "Mein Herz brennt" ("My heart burns"), based on the music of Rammstein. "Seemann" : by Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica. This cover impressed Rammstein so much, that they took Apocalyptica as co-headliner on tour with them in Spring 2005, and invited the band on stage to perform "Ohne dich" ("Without you") and "Mein Herz brennt" ("My Heart burns") together. The "Benzin" single also featured a remix of the song, called "Kerosiini" by Apocalyptica. "Ohne dich" : by Laibach. "Weisses Fleisch" : by the German death metal band Debauchery covered the song for their Back In Blood album. "Mein Teil" : A bluegrass version appears as a bonus track on the band Hayseed Dixie's 2007 album Weapons of Grass Destruction. Rammstein has also done several covers themselves, including "Das Modell" ("The model") by Kraftwerk, "Stripped" by Depeche Mode and "Pet Sematary" by The Ramones (sung by keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz). Cover version of "Schtiel" ("Calm") by Aria was released by vocalist Till Lindemann and guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe as a side project, due to disagreement with Universal records label. It was recently announced that the German pop singer Nena, author of "99 Luftballons" ("99 Air Balloons"), will be doing an album of covers named Cover Me in which it will feature a Rammstein cover of the song "Ein Lied". Till Lindemann appears as a guest singer on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide. He takes on David Bowie's song "Heroes", which was also released in German as "Helden". Lindemann sings the German version, making his song the only German-language song on Worlds Collide.Rammstein singles traditionally also have a great quantity of remixes, particularly often from Clawfinger and Meshuggah.

Imagery

The original Herzeleid album cover.

Described by the New York Times as a "powerful strain of brutally intense rock" who "bring gale-force music and spectacular theatrics together", Rammstein has been a band with a highly controversy-prone nature.Rammstein have not been shy about courting this controversy and have periodically attracted condemnation from morality campaigners. Their stage act earned them a night in jail in June 1999 after a liquid-ejecting dildo was used in a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back home in Germany, the band has faced repeated accusations of fascist sympathies due to the dark and sometimes militaristic imagery of their videos and concerts, including the use of excerpts from the film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl in the video for Stripped. Their debut album Herzeleid, released in Germany in 1995, originally had a cover featuring the band members' upper bodies without clothing; critics accused the band of trying to sell themselves as "poster boys for the Master Race". Rammstein have vigorously denied this and said that they want nothing to do with politics or supremacy of any kind. Christian "Flake" Lorenz, annoyed by the claim, has remarked that it's just a photo, and should be understood as such. Herzeleid has since been given an alternate cover in the United States, depicting the band members' faces. The song "Links 2, 3, 4" (Links being German for "left") was written as a riposte to these claims. According to Kruspe, it means, "'My heart beats on the left, two, three, four'. It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song".[16] On the other hand, this is also an allusion to a military marching cadence since "Links, 2, 3, 4" is typically heard during marching practice in the German army with "links" referring to the left foot. The song is also an answer to the saying "the heart beats left", repeatedly outspoken by Oskar Lafontaine, in 2001 a famous member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), now leader of the Left Party (Die Linke), and almost the title of a book written by him (the title is Das Herz schlägt links instead of Mein Herz schlägt links – "The heart beats left" instead of "My Heart beats left"). According to the German online music magazine Rammstein took with this song position on the side of Oskar Lafontaine. They write: Rammstein binden den Lafontaine-Spruch "Mein Herz schlägt links" in ihren Text ein und zitieren eine Zeile aus einem alten Hannes Wader-Arbeitersong ("Links, zwo, drei, vier; links, zwo, drei, vier; wo dein Platz Genosse ist, reih Dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront, wenn Du auch ein Arbeiter bist"). (Rammstein embed the Lafontaine saying My heart beats left into their lyric and cite a line of an old Hannes Wader workers song ("Left, 2, 3, 4; left 2, 3, 4; where your place is accomplice, queue yourself into the workers united frontline, if you are a worker yourself").) Christian "Flake" Lorenz recently stated on an on-line chat that the song was created in order to show that the band could write a harsh, "evil", military-sounding song that was not about Nazi ideals. Relation to violent events Rammstein were cited in relation to the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999, when photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wearing Rammstein T-shirts were revealed. Though they had absolutely nothing to do with it, the band felt obliged to issue a statement: "The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behaviour. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values". Coincidentally, on September 10, 2001 the single and video clip of Ich will ("I Want") was released which portrays the band as terrorists who want to get a message across and receiving a kind of terrorist award for their "actions". In the United States the video clip was broadcast only late at night after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City although many media officials and politicians requested the video to be removed from the program completely. Following the tragic conclusion of the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in September 2004, the Russian authorities claimed that the hostage-takers had "listened to German hard rock group Rammstein on personal stereos during the siege to keep themselves edgy and fired up".The claim has not been independently confirmed. Band members said this about the issue: "There's been a lot of talk about that, but if there are radical feelings in people anything can wake them – a painting, a picture, whatever. It's just a coincidence that it happened to be our music. It's important to think about what caused them to make their decisions, how they became animals, not their taste in music. Whenever something like this happens it's like 'Okay, let's blame the artist'. Such bullshit. (Till Lindemann). "Our music is made to release aggression, and people listening to it are also needed to do that, but it's not our fault. Should we stop making hard music because bad people might like it?" (Christoph "Doom" Schneider). Pekka-Erik Auvinen, the perpetrator of the Jokela school shooting in November 2007 also included Rammstein in one of his favourite bands. He noted though that, the music among other things was not to blame for his decisions.

Videos

In October 2004, the video for "Mein Teil" ("My part") caused considerable controversy in Germany when it was released. It takes a darkly comic view of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, showing a cross dressed Schneider holding the other 5 band members on a leash and rolling around in mud. The controversy did nothing to stop (and may even have helped) the single rising to No. 2 in the German charts. Meiwes (who was convicted of manslaughter in 2004, then retried in 2006 and found guilty of murder) brought suit in January 2006 against the band for infringement of rights to the story. The outcome resulted in a loss for the band of $5.5 million.

The band's own views of its image are sanguine: "We like being on the fringes of bad taste", according to Paul H. Landers, while Christian "Flake" Lorenz comments "The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive".

Not all of Rammstein's videos feature excess and pushing the limits of conventional taste. The video of Ohne Dich ("Without You") from Reise, Reise can only be described as lushly filmed and touchingly melancholy.

The video for Mann gegen Mann ("Man against man") from their latest album Rosenrot may have caused some controversy, as most of the band members are naked in the video. The lead singer Till Lindemann is wearing what can best be described as a "latex panties" - most likely because he does not have an instrument with which to cover his genitalia. In addition, there are multiple naked men in the video, with clearly visible buttocks, though genitalia can be seen at 32 seconds into the video on Christian "Flake" Lorenz through the arm of the guitarist (Richard Z. Krupse) and below the keyboard. The video has been played uncensored on MTV. The video has been rated FSK 16 in Germany and therefore can be played on television only after 10pm.