RAMMSTEIN – ZEIT [Special Edition +2] (2022)

Modern

This isn’t exactly the type of music featured here, but it was requested by many: RAMMSTEIN‘s new album “ZEIT“, in its Special Edition. Like AC/DC, Rammstein have built a career around a truly distinctive sound. Since their formation in 1994, the German heavyweights have blended crushing industrial instrumentation with snarling vocals, an ambitious sense of grandeur with just a touch of flamboyant ridiculousness. You like it or not, but to their credit you hear a Rammstein song and know exactly who it is.

After a decade without a new record, the six-piece returned in 2019 with their ‘Untitled‘ seventh album – 11 tracks that showed off that recognisable legacy while also adding a touch of electro-pop to their nu-metal-meets-hard-rock sound.
Its release was followed by news of their first ever North American stadium tour, but COVID had other ideas. Instead of breaking new ground stateside, the band headed back into the studio to do it there.
‘Zeit’ (‘Time’) is unmistakably a Rammstein record, but it’s unlike anything we’ve heard from the group before.

Sure, ominous goth-rock anthem ‘Giftig’ and the groove-driven nightmare of ‘Zick Zack’ are exactly what we’ve come to expect from Rammstein, but that doesn’t dull their edges in the slightest. Elsewhere, the menacing stomp of ‘OK’ blends the theatrics of the previousl album with the playful intensity of their 1997 classic ‘Du Hast’.
Lyrically, as well, ‘Zeit’ makes sure to cover the same lusty antics that will keep the band waving around inflatable cocks at their live show for years to (ahem) come. ‘OK’ is about safe sex, while it’s pretty obvious what ‘Dicke Titten’ (or ‘Bit Tits’) is about.

However, the aching ‘Meine Tränen’ is about the importance of men showing their emotions, there’s communal celebration at the heart of the moody ‘Armee Der Tristen’ and the closing ‘Adieu’ is a thundering, moving ballad about death, loss and despair.
It’s not the only softie on ‘Zeit’ either, with ‘Schwarz’ trading in bruising guitar riffs for delicate piano while the title track flickers between hammering blows and quiet cinema as vocalist Till Lindemann sings about how quickly life turns to death with a touching vulnerability.

It’s not just that newfound delicacy that Rammstein brings to the table with their eighth album, either. The whispered ‘Lügen’ starts slow but soon erupts into a hyperactive pop metal number complete with heavily auto-tuned vocals that sounds better than it has any right to be. It’s not enough of a leap to speak to a whole new audience but it’ll definitely piss off some corners of the Rammstein faithful.
The band have always enjoyed pushing people’s buttons, after all.

‘Zeit’ might be a more reflective – and accessible – album than previous Rammstein records, but it’s still an energetic, swaggering beast. Nearly 30 years into their career, the band remain as a distinctive act in the scene, with their nightmarish rock sounding as unique as ever.

01 – Armee Der Tristen
02 – Zeit
03 – Schwarz
04 – Giftig
05 – Zick Zack
06 – OK
07 – Meine Tranen
08 – Angst
09 – Dicke Titten
10 – Lugen
11 – Adieu
12 – Zeit (Olafur Arnalds remix) [Bonus Track]
13 – Zeit (Robot Koch remix) [Bonus Track]

Till Lindemann – lead vocals, harmonica
Richard Kruspe – lead guitar, backing vocals
Paul Landers – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Oliver Riedel – bass
Christoph Schneider – drums, percussion
Christian “Flake” Lorenz – keyboards, samples, synths

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