A good two weeks ago, on April 29th, Rammstein not only released their eighth studio record ZEIT, but also released the song “Angst” on it as a single – including a horrific music video in which the band members fired submachine guns at each other. Now the most successful of all German bands has published a “Behind the Scenes” photo series for the video shoot on Instagram. Among other things, you can see Rammstein guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers wielding submachine guns.
The dark side of fear
The illustrations of the eighth piece on ZEIT support the text, which deals with resentment and collective paranoia: while the band members get along splendidly at the beginning while eating sausages, skepticism gradually grows. They pull supposed information from the Internet, which turns their fear into panic and finally channels it into hostility. Barbed wire is rolled out, walls are raised and surveillance cameras are installed to shadow the others. For money, cheerleaders then supply machine guns that are ultimately aimed at the screens. In the end, it shows where the collective madness is leading to – so a black hole engulfs the group around Till Lindemann.
“A Kind of Exorcism”
In November 2021, guitarist Richard Kruspe confirmed that the next Rammstein record should be released before the start of the next tour – he was right: on April 29, the group’s eighth studio album ZEIT was released. ME columnist and author Julia Friese has taken the eleven new pieces in the current issue of MUSIKEXPRESS as an opportunity for an extended essay. She said: “ZEIT, the new Rammstein album, is a record like a concert, and a Rammstein concert is a kind of exorcism. Is a performance of German rudeness. In uniform and illuminated by anti-aircraft searchlights, the rudeness is so exaggerated, often even to the point of being ridiculous, that one can march it out of one’s body. The grotesque of this country.”