Belgium Made in Germany

Hard to ignore...



Thanks Manu!

Funeral Ad

The New Look LILT

Every year LILT gets a facelift. You might notice that that time has rolled around again. The Facebook page the Twitter feed will be similarly updated.

Here are the exit stats for the 2010 look:

Visits: 68555
Posts: 1134
LILTs: 53
Followers: 39
FB fans: 353
Twitter followers: 2352

The old look is now at http://lilt2011.rammstein.me. The previous versions are at http://lilt2009.rammstein.me and http://lilt2010.rammstein.me.

MiG Ad

Go Vote

Rammstein have a video award nomination that requires your attention. This is for Mein Land, and you can vote here. I did. Go. Vote. Do it. Just GO.

Get Burned? Never Fear!

The super-duper, extra special edition of Rammstein's Made in Germany album has turned up with issues, but don't fret. UMG is making it right, like a good label. Here's the gen from Rammstein:

Following dispatch of the MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011 Super Deluxe Edition, we unfortunately became aware that part of the production run contains serious defects. If you discover one or more of these defects in your box, you can exchange the affected part of the box. Below is information on what to do.
1. Some CDs and DVDs were incorrectly sorted, leading to duplication of and/or missing DVD/CDs. Duplicate DVD/CDs can be exchanged.
2. The inner edges of the box have not been deburred and are therefore quite sharp. This was intentional on the part of Universal. Anyone who is bothered by this can also exchange the metal box itself.
3. On some of the boxes there is also evidence of marks and/or printing errors on the box packaging and the metal slipcase. If you discover this error, you can exchange your box or slipcase.
4. There is some evidence of stained cloths. The cloths are there to protect the contents from rust stains, and so are intended to be stained at a later point. Anyone bothered by the current stains can have the cloth exchanged.
5. RAMMSTEIN had intended a different binding to be used on the 240-page photo book, one that allows the book to be opened more easily and lets the photos flow into each other cleanly. The book will therefore be reprinted to the appropriate standard and anyone who wants to can exchange the book.
As it currently stands, the Super Deluxe Edition in no way meets the standard of quality which was desired by RAMMSTEIN and assured by the manufacturer. RAMMSTEIN has carefully followed the entire production process; the above errors appeared in the few areas which are outside the control of the band.
Universal Music is therefore immediately offering anyone who purchased a defective Super Deluxe Edition the opportunity to exchange any faulty components, postage free, and has pledged to correct the defects quickly and without any fuss.
Anyone wishing to avail of this offer should please send an email, specifying the defect, to the following address:
rammsteinbox@universal-music.de
or call the following number:
+49 30 52007 2355 (10am – 6pm CET)
According to Universal, you will immediately receive further information on the processing of the exchange.
Universal has said that the exchange and shipping of the correct CD/DVDs and/or photo book will take place as quickly as possible. As the components now have to be produced again, the exchange may take several weeks. Please notify your defects to Universal as soon as possible, as Universal has only agreed to take the items back until March 15th 2012.
We regret the inconvenience and are very irritated that our agreements and specifications were not complied with by Universal and their suppliers.

Made In Germany Album

It's out there, and it has an impressive array of content in its various forms. I plan to get the big fat mega-uber-super-ultra edition with everything, so I don't have it yet due to a shortage of gold. Please do post in the comments with your reviews, views, raves, rants, and so forth, so I can live vicariously through you, and so can my similarly situated readers!

Combichrist Is Going Down

Under.

Monsters of Australia, you have been warned.

No NZ in there, I see. This is where I mutter darkly, then mutely shake my fist at Joe and co, while giving them 'the look'...

A-Fucking-Men

Rammstein excites people. The white supremacists get off on the gutteral German and the martial marching rhythms. The angsty teens feel the band speaks to and for them. The repressed housewife breathes the music in, and her neuroses out. Young adults fall in lust with the band members. I love the lift I get from the sound.

Flip-side? The Nationalists would still be racist if Rammstein wasn't there. The teens would be getting something similar from different music. The Hausfrau would look elsewhere for catharsis. The new generation of adults would get wet for someone else. I would listen to Gevolt 24/7. Rammstein doesn't define or drive us. It simply works for us.

Time Live has posted an article about this, which I heartily recommend you read and share. It's not long or preachy. It simply makes clear the need for human expression and inspiration.

Grand Opera

I have mentioned my view that Rammstein is opera a number of times here, but this latest start reinforces this opinion in the most operatic way. A death march to a mausoleum, near a pyrotechnical merchandise hut in the middle of Berlin. Watch the O2 video for some professional journalism, and check out the fan video below as well:

Jeremy McKinnon on Rammstein

An NME interview with the A Day To Remember frontman brought out this:

What's the best arena rock show you've ever seen?
"Rammstein. I saw them headline a German festival a few years back and it was easily the craziest thing I've ever seen. That's a perfect example of a great show, I'd only heard one of their tracks, that 'Du Hast' song and I sat there for two hours in awe of the whole thing.

"I was with a friend and we could have both given a damn about the actual songs, but the whole show was so damn entertaining that I wasn't bored for one second. And what's more important than that? If you can convert the people who don't care about your band and make them have a good time, then imagine what you can do for the people who love your music, you're doing something for those people that people can't do."

DW Article

Deutsche Welle has published an article about Rammstein. It contains no new information, but it does contain one paragraph that shows neither the authors nor the editor have ever seen a Rammstein show. Flake's boat rides have become one with Mein Teil's cauldron routine, and turned into Till's boat rides, and apparently these came about with the current tour. Other than that there is a trail of commentary from readers here.

Flake's Pyro Show

Some bastard burned down Flake's barn...but, apparently, not his wonderful car collection. I am assuming this would be his personal collection, as opposed to the fleet he operates as a business in Berlin.

Behind the Scenes: Mein Land Video

UMG has shared a video documenting the new video:




Thanks Blabbermouth.

North American Leg Announced

Okay, so I'm late to the party, but I'm here aren't I? *

Rammstein has announced NA dates:

Following the conclusion of their European tour dates in spring 2012, Rammstein will present their retrospective "Made In Germany 1995-2011" in North America as well!

As of today, 21 concerts have been confirmed for April to May 2012!

General presale will be staggered over three weekends in November/December 2011. First weekend is 18 and 19 November 2011.
All tour dates and the respective starts for pre-sales can be found here.

Links to the official ticket offices will follow shortly.

LIFAD members will be able to secure tickets one day earlier. Further information will be announced this week in the LIFAD.

* I have managed to sustain second degree burns to my back, and have spent a good part of the day feeling very sorry for myself. Before that I was attending a conference. Before that I was painting my house. Forgive me?

Radio Goethe's 15th Birthday

Arndt from RG has posted the latest RG programme:

This month 15 years ago I founded Radio Goethe, the first show was on KUSF San Francisco. 15 years later, the program is on more than 40 stations and can be heard in many countries, even in Afghanistan.

Rammstein was first heard in the US on Radio Goethe, the response was amazing.

And here is the anniversary show...of course on the heavier side: http://www.radiogoethe.net/audio/rg_2011_11_11.mp3

arndt
www.radiogoethe.org
www.facebook.com/RadioGoethe

Happy birthday, RG!

Mein Land Video Premiere

Rammstein - Mein Land from Rammstein on Vimeo.

Putting The Hoff to shame...

Last Chance ...

Rammstein's latest mail-out:

Additional concert in Hannover 2012 + last chance for tickets for the sold-out Germany Shows 2011

We have just received the confirmation that Rammstein will play an additional concert in the TUI Arena, Hannover on 3 February 2012!
Ticket pre-sale starts now, exclusively at Rammsteinshop.

Seats previously foreclosed due to production rules have now been released, so there is one last chance to get concert tickets for all German tour dates on the MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011 Tour. Available immediately, exclusively, and at fair prices at Rammsteinshop.

Yeah, that is one bigarse dump directly from an email. It's past my bedtime.

MiG: Mutter

This one has rather good audio:

MiG Intro

Footage from the MiG intro in Bratislava has been posted. WARNING - turn your volume down. The audio clips and distorts in the most painful way:



Niiiiiice. Not bad for a pack of 40-somethings...

Possible Set-List

I found an image (totally unverified), then lost it again, but before I closed the browser I typed out the what it depicted:

INTRO
flamebowls
SONNE

MEIN LAND

KEINE LUST

SEHNSUCHT

ASCHE
burning mikestands (sic)
FEUER FREI
lycomasks
MUTTER

MEIN TEIL
lyco flames pod & flamthrowers, smoke carts

DU REICHST SO GUT
Links

DU HAST
lycotruss
HAIFISCH

BÜCK DICH

MANN GEGEN MANN

PUSSY
___________________________

MEIN HERZ BRENNT

ICH WILL

WOLLT IHR DAS BETT IN FLAMMEN SEHEN (BRINGER)
___________________________
ENGEL
lycowings and strobeflares
AMERIKA

Please note that I'm not sure if this is a rehearsal set, a complete work of fiction, or something else. Don't distribute this is established fact, in any case.

Alea's Rehearsal Report

For those new to LILT, Rammstein invited me to attend the MiG rehearsal show in Berlin on October 31, but I live in New Zealand and am in the middle of a divorce, so I was unable to attend myself. Rammstein's people very kindly allowed me to send a representative in my place, to act as correspondent for LILT, and I sent Alea.

Alea is an American in Germany, a self-taught fluent in the tongue, and a Rammstein fan of the nicest kind. She is a very talented musician and singer in her own right, and has always struck me as a generous and kind woman, so she was my first and only choice. She has written up her experiences of that night, and I'm very pleased to share them with you here:

I decided not to get there 3 hours early again. In Mannheim 2010, my first and only concert before this, even this extensive head start had been to no avail as there had already been hundreds of people who'd been camping out much longer than I was willing to sacrifice on this beautiful autumn Monday afternoon. In Mannheim there had been over 1000 fans and when the mosh pit began, my frail, small self was pushed away from my 3-hours-long-awaited 5th-row spot. I could no longer see anything on stage, only arms with their phones held high over a mass of black heads. Somehow it was even louder than in front and the echo of the hall turned the LIFAD songs into a smear of white noise. My experience in Mannheim had been just less than a complete disappointment. So in Berlin I decided to take my time and just see what would happen. When I set off on the tram towards Pankow around nightfall, I had only an extra hour until the doors officially opened. That turned out to be perfect since it was an invite-only rehearsal, so the guest list must have been no more than 250 people.

It was a warm All Hallows Eve in the quiet neighborhood of Wilhelmsruh. Children painted as bloody ghouls carrying lanterns strolled the cobblestone streets which were covered in dry golden leaves. As I walked towards Black Box Music I spotted a car with a large Rammstein sticker and suddenly the excitement hit me. In front of the venue there were only around 30 people, clad in black and Rammstein apparel. I couldn't believe it; I was one of the first there. The entrance was taped off and a couple stood conversing with a security guard in front of the tape. After about 10 minutes, he let the couple in. Following right behind them with a group of eager fans from the Czech Republic, I made it maybe fifth in line through the doors. They had let us in far before the official door opening.

Security was very thorough. They did not allow any electronic devices whatsoever. They warned that even the attempt to bring electronics into the stage area was punishable by law. They had us check our coats, inspected IDs, ran us through a metal detector and searched us down with detector wands. Finally we each received a Rammstein armband and walked into the hall. At around 6x30 meters standing room, the rehearsal venue was astoundingly small compared to the exhibition halls and airplane hangars they usually preform in. It was practically empty when I entered, so I positioned myself front row center and waited for the fun.

The stage set-up was the same as on the Liebe ist für alle da tour with a few slight changes. It was a tall stage of about 2 meters made of rust painted metal and grates with an elevated platform in the center for the drum kit and keyboard. The drums sported the plus sign “R+” logo and the door to the ramp of the off-stage area beneath them was a grate, also in the shape of a plus sign. To the right and left of the grate, spinning fans with blades would later serve as extremely cool lights. Across the top of the stage hung the huge turbine- and plus sign-shaped light fixtures. Behind them, the backdrop was a net-like curtain with wave shaped grooves and further back another layer, creating a hollow space divided into rotund sections like a cellular structure. This looked great later while illuminated in various colored light.

The fans around me were friendly and we held each other's front row places while getting drinks. Time drew on, but as no one had a phone and barely anyone a watch, we would ask what time it was, look down at our armbanded wrists and exclaim “Rammstein!”

Nearing the begin, a man came out on stage with a microphone and announced in German and English that this, being a rehearsal, would not be completely finished and that there was a B stage planned for the tour which would be simulated here on stage right. He also mentioned that due to the size of the venue, they would have to tone down the pyro effects to some extent.

A short time after, the lights finally went out. A hauntingly sweet synth melody and the dim glow of green lights filled the hall, accompanied by a steady, pounding beating and much cheering and clapping. The pounding grew louder and more powerful by the minute, the synth swelled. Above the stage, a door opened and the dark figures of the 6 musicians began to walk in single file down the staircase to the dimly glowing stage, one (Oliver) holding a torch. As the beat pounded on, he lit two bowls of flammable liquid on either side of the stage and they took up their positions. The pounding music came to a climax and then suddenly everything lit up and the music fell into the counting of “Sonne”. When the entire audience joined in screaming “AUS!”, all went dark save for a spotlight on Till who grinned smirkly and said in German, “Na, you faggots?” Then the crashing riff of Sonne began and much knee-pounding ensued.

The band members were dressed for the most part as they had been on the LIFAD Tour. Richard was wearing a long black coat with shiny buttons and red cuffs. Paul had a simple dark get-up, a sleeveless black vest and a round collar around his neck. Till had tall boots with spikes all up the sides and unevenly tied red laces, a black vest-like shirt with a mesh pattern and pants with straps. He was splattered with (hopefully) paint and he had the appearance of being dripping wet. Flake was wearing his full body chrome suit and walking on a tread mill with his profile to the audience. Oliver was dressed like a medieval watchman with a leather cap over a sleeveless vest. Christoph was already topless, and the rest of the costumes seemed to diminish in layers with every song. Richard dropped his coat for the next song, Amerika, revealing a vest and red and black sleeves. Eventually half of them were topless and in the end, Flake continued only in boxer shorts.

They continued to play (I don't remember the exact order of the songs) Keine Lust, Sehnsucht, Asche zu Asche, Ohne Dich Links 2,3,4, Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen. They played wonderfully and seemed to be having a great time. Even their older work sounded fresher and seemed to tear the very walls down. They smiled at each other and made a lot of eye contact with the audience as well. For Du Hast, the fire began. It flew from the bottom of the stage in hot columns. They sported fire-breathing masks for Feuer Frei!, played Mutter doused in blue light with a varied synthesizer solo. For Mein Teil, the band was let out on all fours led by the “mistress” - Christoph in a wig. Till wore his blood splattered butcher outfit with the machete and chef hat and revealed Flake in a steaming pot, out from which he was then lifted at the end of the song. At one point, Till spoke into the microphone and said, “Okay so pretend Flake is in his boat now” and Flake proceeded to “air row” around the stage, laughing. When they played Ich will, everyone's voices rang out with the audience-included lyrics. The crew set up the “B stage”. Bück dich was the usual live performance, it began with Richard on the keyboard playing the rythmic calling to the audience and Till undid the seat of Flake's pants to reveal his naked butt. Till sprayed the audience with his strap-on hose. The “semen” smelled slightly of liquorice. They played Mann gegen Mann which was a blast live and Pussy without the foam cannon. They took a few minutes break. Everything they had played so far had been simply magical and I had been waiting my whole life to hear them play Mein Herz brennt, so I screamed it out into the darkness. As if it had worked, the slow strings began and red light filled the stage. I was overjoyed, they played beautifully. The stage was littered with silver confetti. For Engel, Till came out with his majestic metal wings and the ammunition vest. The wings spouted fire. A ring hanging above the stage was lit near the end of Engel and sprinkled the whole stage with a rain of sparks. At some point, Richard and Paul came up front and danced around, playing all the while. They lifted their instruments above their heads, behind their backs, laughing and playing. Till had been very talkative in the concert, although against the music you couldn't always hear what he was saying. It was a great show and after just under two hours, the stings of Ohne Dich played softly and they took bows. Richard threw some picks into the audience and Schneider distributed a few completely splintered drum sticks.

As they left the stage and the lights came back on, we filed out of the arena and into another entrance along side the bar to retrieve our coats. Through the windows by the line, we looked through to the bar, where the VIP and after-party goers drank and danced. We waved.

The concert was amazing and I was drenched in sweat from head to toe. My nose was full of ash and blood from having head-banged nearly the whole time up in the flames and my face felt burnt. I couldn't stop grinning. I played Rammstein on my music player to try and reinforce my bliss, but the album recordings sounded like plastic compared to the bone-shattering performance I'd just seen.

I hope that Rammstein will be just as cheerful on the upcoming tour as they were for this rehearsal. They were simply splendid and it seems even Till has gotten over his “stage fright”.

I hope you can read this and feel the same thing I did while I was there.

Wonderful!

I'd like to thank Alea for this article. It's detailed, coherent, and exactly what I had hoped for. Brilliant!

If you have anything you wish to say to Alea you may email me at lilt at rammstein dot me, or post to the comments here. I will make sure she reads any and all feedback and correspondence.

As a note, I have heard that the 'semen' sprayed during Büch Dich is Pernod mixed with water. Pernod is a clear, colourless liquor, which becomes milky on contact with water, and it is flavoured with aniseed. That explains the licorice smell Alea remarked.

Rammtube

You can check out the band's YouTube channel here.

Swimmy

Surfy

Saucy

Purest Cheese & Ham with a Liberal Sprinkling of Corn

Distinctly unGerman:

Sind Sie Gehen?

Regulars might remember me posting about Bill Bailey letting out his inner Rammstein at Sonisphere. On a whim I decided to look for footage of this performance, and found it:



To my mind Bailey is as much a titan of comedic talent as the Rammstein lads are giants of riff-heavy, operatic metal. The combination is irresistable. I'd love to see a collaboration on this particular number.

Unofficial Rammstein Android App

It's unofficial. It's unverified. It's free.

I in no way endorse or support this app. I don't have an Android device on which to try it, and I don't vouch for it's safety. Use at your own risk.

Made in Germany Album

The Rammstein site has been updated with the details of the new MiG album, including artwork. It would seem that this album cover might resemble the Sehnsucht one, in that each band member is represented in an individual cover. The image provided is Oli, looking downright virginal, all in white.

Here's the gen:

On 2 December 2011, MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011 will be released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland! The international store date for this Rammstein retrospective is the 5th of December 2011.
MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011 will be available in three different editions:
Standard Edition: CD Digipak – Best of Album
Special Edition: CD Digipak – Best of Album / Best of Remixes
Super Deluxe Edition: limited steelbox – Best of Album / Best of Remixes / 240- pages photobooklet/ full RAMMSTEIN Video catalog + all Making ofs incl. 8 unreleased Making ofs.
All songs & videos of MADE IN GERMANY 1995-2011 have been remastered for this release!

Before Being Made In Germany

Rammstein's site has some new photos up. These show preparations for the Made in Germany Tour. Enjoy!

Blatant Bloody Bavarian Bias

If you don't think Rammstein get singled out for special attention then you're deluding yourself. The lovely boys from Berlin get kicked in the slats wherever the establishment takes a dislike to black lippy and short Lederhosen. The latest slap in the chops for my favourite sextet comes from Bavaria, where the authorities have deemed Rammstein's sold-out show to be cutting too close to the bone on 'Dead Sunday' forcing the postponement of the November 20 show to the 22nd.

It is pointed out on the Rammstein site that many shows have been put on on this commemorative day, which begs the question: why is it sauce for Rammstein, but not for others?

Those who can't accommodate the change of date may contact the Rammstein shop for a refund. Details are here. I guess that tour leg can be dubbed 'Mad In Germany'.

Mein Land

Rammstein has announced the release date[s]* and some other details for the Mein Land single, which also comes with a Jonas Åkerlund video. I'm not sure if Rammstein's visit to Australia was the inspiration for this baby, but it promises to be something a bit different for the band (see the album art for a hint...

The single will appear as a 4 track CD Digipak, as well as a 7″ vinyl with 2 tracks. In addition to MEIN LAND, it includes the as yet unreleased song VERGISS UNS NICHT, as well as remixes by BossHoss and Mogwai.

Check out Rammstein.com on November 14 (German time, one assumes) for the video premiere.

* November 11 in German, Switzerland, and Austria. November 14 internationally.

ALL BLACKS!!!

A lot of you won't know a damned thing about Rugby, but tonight I gasped, screamed, groaned, and held my breath with a mob of perfect strangers in a pub, while our national team became Rugby World Champions for the first time since the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987. It was incredible, and driving back home through town we had to move at a snail's pace, because the streets are full of jubilent Kiwis, madly celebrating our victory. Every driver has their hand on their horn, every window is open with people hanging out whooping it up, every cop is on duty and carrying it out with a grin on their face, as they gently herd hysterically happy citizens out of the traffic, and it couldn't happen to a nicer country.

Kiwis are a fairly reserved bunch, but tonight New Zealand is having a national love-in.

End of off-topicness...

New RZK from ESP?

Apparently there's a new signature series RZK guitar coming from Richard and ESP. I don't see it on the ESP USA site yet, but given Richard's passion for the technology underlying his music it doesn't surprise me to hear that he's extending the RZK line.

Update 20111028: KJ from Facebook has contacted ESP and they deny this. I'm seeking further information.

Made in Germany: Initial Release Details

ThePRP apparently has an inside line on the first details of the new Best of album, Made in Germany.

Rammstein‘s forthcoming greatest hits collection “Made In Germany” is now eyeing a November 22nd release date through Vagrant/Fontana. The outing will be made available in three different formats, including: a standard one disc edition; a deluxe 2 disc edition and a ‘Super Deluxe Metal Box’ edition featuring 2 CD’s and 3 DVD’s.

The collection is expected to feature 20 songs from the bands back catalogue along with the new track “Mein Land“. The groups entire video catalog is expected to comprise some of the DVD content with more exact details are pending.

Speaking of the new track “Mein Land“, a video for it was recently filmed with director Jonas Akerlund (U2, Hollywood Undead) and will debut shortly.

A 45 minute EPK promoting the “Made In Germany” release is expected to begin surfacing in segments shortly, while U.S. touring in support of the set is slated to kick off in the spring.

Note that I have verified none of this. It could all be porky pies for all I know.

Update 0000hrs 20111020 NZDT: I've been able to verify all but the date. Everything else is bankable.

Metal Hammer: Vote for Herzeleid

Metal Hammer is celebrating its 25th by calling for votes on the best debut of the past 25 years. Herzeleid needs you.

Update 20111019: Damn it, they closed the poll!

ESP & RZK

I haven't had time to watch this, but it's an interview with Richard:



Thanks James!

Goodbye Rammimages.com

I was very sad to find today (so out of touch) that Minx has closed down her website. That insanely huge gallery of Rammstein photos we all knew and loved ceased to operate October 1. Thanks for the years, Minx. You did us proud.

Rammbike

It's a slow month, but I found something worthy of your attention today: a bike-riding Rammstein fan's tribute to the band.

Bitter Sweet

Rammstein invited me to attend a rehearsal show in Berlin at the end of the month, but I don't have any cash. This is one of those times when one starts madly buying lottery tickets and considers selling large items of property. My house will take too long to go, and I need my car, so I bought a lottery ticket. No luck!

Oh well, I'll just have to send my correspondent...

Rumours About Jonathan Ross

It's been touted about that Jonathan Ross would like to get Rammstein on his show. That would be fantastic, so long as whichever band members attend are in humorous moods. I can't think of anything worse than Rammstein playing it straight on Ross's show. The kind of friskiness Schneider and Lindemann displayed on Swedish MTV in 2001, however, would work really well. We can only hope it happens...and they're on form.

4th Berlin Show Announced

Rammstein have announced a 4th show in Berlin on December 15, with tickets available exclusively from the Rammstein Shop.

Third Show in Berlin

I'm a bit slow off the mark, but for those of you who don't know then I guess it's news that Rammstein have announced a third show in berlin in December.

Engel Fingered

Finger-style? Sounds saucy.



Actually no, it sounds like Bon Jovi had Rammstein's bastard child. I like it. Thanks Phil.

Rehearsals

LIFAD community members can be in with a chance to attend Rammstein rehearsal shows at the end of October, in Berlin. LIFAD is the official Rammstein community, and these are not public shows. You can join here, if you wish to go into the draw for tickets.

Mine Stein

Have you got game? Minecraft has brought out the fanboy in many gamers, but this one is the first that I've felt the slightest urge to share here. To those not familiar with the genius of the game it probably looks like something the cat made on the old 386 lost down the back of the couch, but to me it's rather grand. Was the author clever enough to call it Mein Kraft, I wonder? If not he or she bloody well should have.

Academolition

Musicians or performance artists? Circus or opera? Off-beat or off-colour? Academia or demolition? Got a thesis in you? I could write a damned book...

Anyway, the University of Pennsylvania Department of English wants abstracts. If you don't know what an abstract is then you probably don't have the required skillset to write one, or back it up with a complete paper, but don't let that stop you from trying. We could get interesting results if a bunch of rammdoms submitting pieces.

A Warm-Up for Cardiff

The Welsh are a lovely bunch. I've never checked out this lot. They're a tad out of my reach, but RAMMLIED sounds like a fun little warm-up for the Made in Germany tour.

Swedes Are So Supportive

Rammstein have announced that the Swedish band, Deathstars, will be supporting them on the Made in Germany tour. I don't know a damned thing about them, but they're from my country of birth and they're metal, which tends to be a good combination.

Win Rammstein Tickets

UK residents can go into the draw for tickets to the Made in Germany show of their choice here.

On a Lighter Note...

Cookie: Pussy, parodied, badly:



Well, not so badly done, musically. The lyrics could have been much more amusing with a little thought.

I guess it had to be done.

Mein Herz Brennt

I'm a bit irritated. Some smacktard posted all sorts of highly provocative crap in a website post entitled 'Rammstein Concerts: Better than killing Jews' and now the damned thing won't go away. His blog post was apparently meant to be about a Rammstein show, but then became all about shooting Joe Lieberman (many times). It sounds as though it was the usual toxic, hate-driven, rectal leakage we see from white supremacists whenever they get onto their bandwagon. It's drivel, not worthy of our attention, but because this sad little twerp mentioned that he thinks Lieberman should be shot it has become a ubiquitous story, indelibly associated with Rammstein, a left-wing band, made up of middle-aged Germans who grew up behind the iron curtain. Really? Why?

Heartburn. That's what the racists are giving me. And it's not the good Rammsteinish variety either.

Rammstein 10th in North America

According to Newsday, Pollstar's Top 20 tours list places Rammstein at ten. They're in good company, ranked amongst such acts as Lady Gaga, Usher, and Kylie Minogue. Not too shabby.

Upping the Voltage

Gevolt have revamped their website. The new look includes what appears to be the outcome of the photoshoot I posted a video from a couple of months back, and is very slick.

They've also got their current album, AlefBase, available on CD at a very modest price of $12.90, as well as available for free download. I've bought both this and their earlier album Sidur and am planning to adapt the lyrics of both, as I have Rammstein's. It can't be called LILTing, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. The Gevolt vocalist/lyricist is called Anatholy, so my first thought was to call my adaptions 'Anaptions', but we'll see.

If you haven't already have a look at my interview with Gevolt earlier in the year. They're an interesting bunch, quite aside from their wonderful music. Watch this space for Anglicised versions of their lyrics and updates. They not only rock, but they're also very nice people. I'm following the band closely.

Left 4 Dead Rammstein Map Assets

Yep, Rammstein fans go that extra distance. A Rammstein-inspired level is just what I need. Shame I'm short a games console at the moment...

Rammstein Seriously

It's almost jarring to hear a conventional US media outlet discussing Rammstein as a major artist, rather than as a boutique foreign freak show, but in a good way:



The two band-fielded questions are conventional and the answers are stock, but this is middle-America taking Rammstein seriously, so I'm sharing it anyway. The lack of personality is more than made up for by the respect shown to our favourite riff-masters.

RammBilling

In an article about Bill Bailey's Sonisphere show we get some idea of the inspiration Rammstein has provided him:

...He then gave a beautiful rendition of Scarborough Fair with a bouzouki before launching into a heavy interpretation through the ears of German rockers Rammstein. It was surprising how well the German lyrics were picked up (rubbish translation below if you want to give it a go), which led into Hokey Cokey, with Bailey clearly showing too much interest in Rammstein.

All the more impressive was that as the rush for the main headliner started, with the rain still lashing down as if straight from heavy metal hell, the crowd stuck with him until the end, allowing a delighted Bill to congratulate everyone on what he claimed must have been " the biggest comedy crowd ever, ever, ever". I’m not sure what McIntyre would say about that.

Scarborough Fair Rammstein-style

Gehst du nach Scarborough Fair?
Petersilie, Salbei, Rosmarin und Thymian,
Erinnere dich an mich an einen, der dort lebt,
Er (sie) war einmal eine wahre Liebe von mir.

I'm a huge Bill Bailey fan, and (I know this might surprise you) I'm also a pretty big Rammstein fan. I love it when things come together like this. Fuck yes!

In Paris

The French are getting a bonus show. Nice.

Du Hast A Capella

Death

A member of my immediate family has just died. The site will not be updated for about a week while I deal with this.

LILT Black-listed by Facebook

The Facebook site is currently blocking this site. Pissed off? Me? Yep.

More MiG dates

More Made in Germany tour dates have been revealed on the Rammstein site. These guys are on a roll.

Gevolt Coming to America

LILTees will know that I found Gevolt fairly recently, and took a real shine to them. I've interviewed them, and listen to their music a lot. They should appeal to many of the same people Rammstein do, but have a unique and genuinely eclectic sound, comprising the industrial riffs of Rammstein, the utterly beautiful musical themes of Yiddish music, with an eerily fragile touch of violin, and a really awesome male vocalist who ticks many of the boxes Lindemann does, and a few more. Their cultural influences are those of the nations of the former USSR and Israel, and Europe in general seems to be touched upon in their overall vibe.

Right now they're in the early stages of planning a tour of the USA. They've kicked off a dedicated Twitter stream for this, so if you're in the US spread the word, share the current album (free unless like me you feel it's worth paying for), and give them feedback.

As they get things nailed down I'll let you know.

Hello Tel Aviv

Tour Dates

More dates have been added to the Made in Germany tour. This is what we have:

06.11.2011 SK Bratislava Zimny Stadion Ondreja Nepelu Tickets hier
08.11.2011 CR Zagreb Arena Tickets hier und hier
10.11.2011 HU Budapest Sportarena Tickets hier
12.11.2011 CZ Prag O2 Arena Tickets hier
14.11.2011 PL Danzig/Sopot Ergo Arena Tickets hier
17.11.2011 D Leipzig Arena ausverkauft
18.11.2011 D Leipzig Arena ausverkauft
20.11.2011 D München Olympiahalle ausverkauft
21.11.2011 D Friedrichshafen Rothaus Halle ausverkauft
23.11.2011 A Wien Stadthalle ausverkauft
25.11.2011 D Berlin O2 World ausverkauft
26.11.2011 D Berlin O2 World ausverkauft
28.11.2011 D Hamburg O2 World ausverkauft
29.11.2011 D Bremen Arena ausverkauft
01.12.2011 F Straßburg Zénith Tickets hier
02.12.2011 LUX Luxemburg Rockhal ausverkauft
04.12.2011 D Düsseldorf ISS Dome ausverkauft
05.12.2011 D Düsseldorf ISS Dome ausverkauft
06.12.2011 D Düsseldorf ISS Dome ausverkauft
08.12.2011 D Frankfurt a. M Festhalle ausverkauft
09.12.2011 D Frankfurt a. M Festhalle ausverkauft
10.12.2011 D Stuttgart Schleyer-Halle ausverkauft
12.12.2011 CH Zürich Hallenstadion ausverkauft
06.02.2012 LT Kaunas Zalgiris Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
07.02.2012 LV Riga Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
10.02.2012 RU Moskau Sport Complex Olympiski Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
13.02.2012 RU St. Petersburg Sport Concert Complex Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
15.02.2012 FI Helsinki Hartwall Areena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
17.02.2012 SE Stockholm Ericsson Globe Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
19.02.2012 NO Oslo Vallhall Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
21.02.2012 DK Kopenhagen Forum Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
22.02.2012 DK Herning Jyske Bank Boxen Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
24.02.2012 GB London The O2 Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
25.02.2012 GB Birmingham LG Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
27.02.2012 IE Dublin The O2 Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
29.02.2012 GB Newcastle Metro Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
01.03.2012 GB Manchester MEN Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
02.03.2012 GB Nottingham Capital FM Arena Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
04.03.2012 NL Rotterdam Ahoy Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
06.03.2012 FR Paris Bercy Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011
08.03.2012 BE Antwerpen Sportpalais Vorverkauf startet am 08.07.2011

I'm Not Dead

As much as this site my appear to be dead in the water I'm alive and well, and can't wait to get back into it...as soon as I have an internet connection. I'm posting this over a highly over-priced cellular connection (thanks Vodafone NZ), as I wait for my DSL to be up and running. I'll be back in black.

Made in Germany Album & Tour

Rammstein have announced their next tour and album just now:

RAMMSTEIN have assembled a retrospective of their most significant songs: "Made In Germany 1995 – 2011"!
The machinery of RAMMSTEIN Live is hauling across the whole of Europe, starting 6 November 2011 and bringing the essence of 16 years to the stage. With a completely new show, RAMMSTEIN at its best!
All dates are listed below. The tour will be continued in 2012.

The tour dates are as follows:

„Made In Germany 1995 – 2011"- Tour
11/06/2011 SK Bratislava Zimny Stadion Ondreja Nepelu
11/10/2011 HU Budapest Sportarena
11/12/2011 CZ Prague O2 Arena
11/14/2011 PL Gdanks/Sopot Ergo Arena
11/17/2011 D Leipzig Arena
11/20/2011 D Munich Olympiahalle
11/21/2011 D Friedrichshafen Rothaus Halle
11/23/2011 A Vienna Stadthalle
11/25/2011 D Berlin O2 World
11/28/2011 D Hamburg O2 World
11/29/2011 D Bremen Arena
12/01/2011 F Strasbourg Zénith
12/02/2011 LUX Luxembourg Rockhal
12/04/2011 D Düsseldorf ISS Dome
12/08/2011 D Frankfurt a. M. Festhalle
12/10/2011 D Stuttgart Schleyer-Halle
12/12/2011 CH Zurich Hallenstadion

They add detail about the album as well:

Parallel to the tour, "Made In Germany 1995 – 2011" will be released – 20 RAMMSTEIN original bests, including one new track, as well as the entire video catalog for the first time on CD/DVD!

See the link to the Rammstein site for ticket details.

More from Jules

Following on from my earlier post of the photos from bdjules:

Christchurch Shakes

This is completely off-topic, but I wanted to share it to give people some idea of what is going on in Christchurch, New Zealand, where quakes have been destroying infrastructure, homes, and businesses, leaving people shaken and in shock, separating families from their homes and belongings, and killing and injuring many:



This started in September last year. Donations to the NZ Red Cross will benefit the victims of this awful series of disasters directly.

Confirmation?

Rock Sins has posted that the March 1 Manchester show has been confirmed. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

Made in Germany

The Gauntlet and Richard

TG has posted content from his interview with Richard last month. It's from here that we had the first intimation that Rammstein might be heading back to the US, and this, an interview conducted in the US during the last LIFAD tour leg.

Back to the UK

March at MEN in Manchester, according to Metal Hammer. More details (and presumably venues) to come. Stay tuned...

Video Release Estimate

Rammstein's site has stated that they expect to release the new video in late Autumn this year. I won't link to the Rammstein site, as it's behaving very strangely for me. The 'Rammstein's North America Tour' link takes me to the article just posted with a URL indicating it's the Golden Gods nomination article, and I'm deeply confused. The CMS seems to have gone a bit haywire.

Aussie Tour Rumour False

It is being put about that someone called Universal Media has confirmed a four date tour in Australia. Here is an excerpt:

Rammstein and Universal Media have now chosen 4 cities in Australia to do a tour, as of yet I have not been advised on these cities or the dates and I am currently talking to Universal Media over the next month and I will post the dates as soon as I know them, and I thank everyone for there support to bring Rammstein to Australia.

I have checked, and this is false. Please do not propagate this rumour. It's unfair Rammstein, their team, and to Australian fans.

Vegas Fan-Photos

A Herzeleid user called bdjules has shared some really good photos from the Las vegas show, and very kindly given me permission to post them:






There may be more to come!

Correction: Attendance Figure

I'm afraid I made something of an assumption regarding the 100,000 number I posted this morning. Because it wasn't specified I assumed that number was for the entire leg of the tour, but it turns out that it's only for the US and Canada! Mexico is not included. That just makes it even more impressive.

Attendance High

The latest leg of the LIFAD tour has been rather impressive, especially if you consider only the US shows, because we all know Mexico has a long-term love affair with Rammstein, which is entirely reciprocated, and Canada is multilingual anyway. An official source has told me that attendance across this entire leg (including Mexico and Canada) has been around 100,000. That is huge. The USA is a hard market for non-English-singing acts to break into, yet Rammstein has smashed their way in, torched the place, and come away with the sort of attendance number that an English-singing band would be proud of. Way to go Rammstein!

Correction: This figure is not for Canada, USA, and Mexico. It's just for the US and Canada! Awesome :)

The Owl Mag Photos

Some excellent photos of both Rammstein and Combichrist have been posted to The Owl Mag. They're from the Oracle Arena show, and the photographer is Mike Roseti.

Rammstein in the USA

Kadri, one of the four people I was able to give concert tickets to, thanks to Webby, has reported back on her Rammstein experience. Enjoy:

Alright, Liebe fellow Rammsteiners, time for some concert rewiews from the concerts in USA!
I was there for 3 shows: Oakland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas (for which I won the ticket from here ). I flew in from all the way from Europe, just to see them in 3 shows, but oh boy! has that been rewarding!!! But let's start at the beginning.
To give you a picture of myself: I am a blond Estonian girl, who has been terrified to go to places I do not know, my whole life. This trip proved to me, that with a good enough reason nothing is impossible. I landed in San Francisco 3 days before the Oakland show and thought to myself, well, let's see some of SF-s sights as well. Hah, it rained nonstop all the time, so my whole sightseeing ended up in couple of shopping malls and many small divebars for some beers. But then... met couple of people, who I got to know (and love) from fan-gathering in NYC in December, and we went out on the night before the show to a have a couple of beers. There, one of them casually mentioned: "oh, by the way, I won 2 meet and greet tickets for the Oakland show and I have a spare one, wanna go?" I swear to god, I almost fell down!!! And it did happen, we got to meet 5 out of 6 band members (only Schneider was missing) just minutes before they went on the stage, got pictures with them, and I got their autographs on my LIFAD CD cover, and a hug from Richard. Happy as a kid in a candy store!!! They were all really nice, although Ollie seemed very shy, and Till looked slightly annoyed and bored. But Richard and Paul were sooo nice, they smiled and chatted with us. After the meet and greet we were escorted to the PIT to see the show, and we ended up in 6-7th row, which was not bad at all. The concert itself was great, as they all are.
The next day it was off to LA, to be ready for the lineup early in the morning of May 20th. I was there at 7 AM, and our group was the second one in line. During the day in the line it turned out, that one of our group members had an extra PIT ticket for Vegas, and I ended up buying it off of him, although I had the ticket won from here, but it was a seated ticket, and if given a choice, I always would prefer PIT. (The PIT tickets for Vegas were so insanely overpriced, that I could not let get away the possibility to have it only slightly over the face value). After looong waiting it was time to run for the first row. Ended up there just between Richard and Till, couldn’t get better than that! Then there was the time for Combichrist, the supporting act on all 3 shows to start warming people up. As I do like them as well, I really enjoyed their act, until… Richard and Paul showed up on the stage to perform “Blut Royale” together with them! What a massive surprise!!! The crowd flipped out! Both Richard and Paul really seemed to enjoy themselves; they were smiling all the time – something, that is very rare for Richard during a concert. After that there was time for Rammstein to enter the stage. They did, with the big black wall with Richard and Paul punching their way through that, and finally Till welding his way on the stage. But, pictures speak louder than words, so I really suggest, you check out the footage from the concerts on youtube. The crowd in the LA show was quite wild, and I got some serious bruises from a couple of crowd surfers, but hey, It’s rock, without some bruises after the concert you will look like a pussy. At the end of the concert I got a high-five from Richard, when he jumped off the stage at the end. WIN!!!
Right after the LA show it was time to head towards Vegas, and after nearly 5 hours we arrived in sin city. We went straight to the lineup, just to see, that we were almost first in line again. Reached he first row again, this time right in front of Richard. And again, the show was amazing! As it was the last show together for Combichrist and Rammstein, then they had prepared a special surprise for the audience for both Combichrist performance (Lacey Conner from “Lords of Acid” and Sin Quirin of “Ministry” performing “Kickstart the fight” and “What the f**k is wrong with you?” together with Combichrist), as well as for the Rammstein (Joey Letz and Trevor Friedrich from Combichrist joined Rammstein on stage for “Ich will” and “Sonne” – there were 3 drumsets on the stage – it was INSANE!).
So to make a really long story short: the trip was soooo worth travelling around the world. Would not change anything, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Du Hast Balalaika

Russians, I think? Awesome, either way.

Rammstein in Rosemont: 7th Highest Grossing

The Rosemont Rammstein show is listed as the 7th highest grossing show in the US for April and May 2011. Not bad for a pack of foreigners.

LIFAD, Especially For This Guy!

The whole idea of LIFAD and the heart symbol really comes into its own when a Rammstein fan (link in Spanish - GLT English here), desperately in need of a new heart, lies in hospital fighting an infection. It would be nice to click my fingers and send the band to him. It would be nicer if I could magic up a heart for him. Spread the word though. This boy needs to be in all our hearts.

Vegas Photos

There're some really great shots from Las vegas here. Yeah, I'm playing catch-up...

Gevolt: Behind the Scenes Video

Roman Kruter has posted a video documenting a Gevolt photo shoot, accompanied by Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn, from Gevolt's current album, AlefBase:

Behind the scene "GEVOLT" from roman kruter on Vimeo.

If you haven't read it yet, my recent interview with the band is here.

New Video Shoot

The Rammstein site has been updated with photos from the new video shoot in Malibu.

On May 23rd, the band recorded the 22th Rammstein video in LA. Once again directed by the Swede Jonas Åkerlund. After Ich tu dir weh, Pussy, and Mann gegen Mann, he is back for his 4th Rammstein video.

What do you think it's for? I'm thinking LIFAD, but I've heard theories that it's Roter Sand or an entirely new track. Given that one of the video's cast has mentioned moshing I shouldn't think it's Roter Sand, but she thinks it's for the 'best of' so the new track idea isn't a bad one.

Real Life

Labouring under the terrible burden of having the most awesome job in the world as I am, and also having huge amounts going on outside work, I have neglected you horribly. I'm sorry about this. I'll be back on track in a few days, rammaging around, digging up little gemstones about your favourite Germans, and posting them here for your delectation.

Oops, got to go and work again...

More Kimmel Footage

Timing is Everything

Why does Rammstein always do cool stuff when I'm flat-out at work, or somewhere without network, or driving, or something? They posted a long-distance shot of a video shoot today, and I didn't have time to post it here until now.

Never Take Joey's Stuff

This is what happens when someone takes Joey's drum away, instead of holding it for him to play:



The lesson here is don't mess with Joe's performance. He's a lovely guy, and messing with his drumming is just...wrong. It's like kicking him in the slats for no reason.

By the way, if the guy who took Joe's drum reads this, he wants you to PM him on facebook.

LV Review

I'm at work, so I haven't read it, but you might like to.

LA Times Review

The Los Angeles Times has posted a write-up of the show at The Forum.

LA Review

LA Weekly has a review of the show at The Forum up, with video.

Las Vegas Photos

The Las Vegas Sun has posted 16 photos from the show.

Metal Sanaz Video

Metal Sanaz has posted an HD video from The Forum in LA:

My Latest Finds

I have two things to post, but neither warrant its own article, so here they are:

LA Review with slideshow
Toronto photos

Listen to The Gauntlet's RZK Interview

TG has posted last night's interview with Richard. You have to hear this stuff to believe it, so listen.

Gevolt Interview

As regular readers will no doubt know, I recently fell in love with another band. Gevolt, an Israel-based Yiddish metal band, has been around for a while, but I only recently discovered it through my relentless search for Rammstein news. I hit upon Gevolt after it was compared to Rammstein in an article on music from around the world. While Gevolt does share traits with Rammstein it is a different creature, with its own unique and incredibly compelling sound. I wanted to know a bit more about the people behind it, so I contacted them. They very kindly agreed to an interview.

Below is the outcome of several emails between myself and the members of Gevolt. Answers have come from the entire band, written by various members, but always labelled or addressed where answers are specific to one of the crew.

Photo by Alex Freiter















How did the founding members meet and come up with Gevolt?

In the early 90's Anatholy Bonder and Dima Lifshits met in the collage class.
Together skipped the entire last semester of the first year and successfully failed the exams))
On the second year they even didn’t try, preferring to play, play, play…

Then they found Vadim Weinstein for a drummming and started a punk rock band called "Pot Of Honey", but in a while military service duty came so they had to split.

In 1999 Anatholy as a singer and Leonid Polonski as a song writer started a project called "ruins of kaballah" - made of programmed orchestration and vocals only.
The Ideas of that project has served as the basis for the GEVOLT in the future. ( some of the songs like “2+2” and “Molotok” were recaptured on a SIDUR album.)

Somewhere in 2001 Anatholy came with desire to make it in electric by gathering a band.
This marked the beginning of GEVOLT.

I'm very glad that you succeeded in failing your exams. The world wouldn't be nearly so much fun without GEVOLT. Out of interest, what were you studying?

Electricity

I consider that rather appropriate :)

'Electrify', 'buzz', 'a bolt from the blue', and more electricity-related turns of phrase all describe what your music is to me in these initial stages of merging it with my mind. In the days since I first found you have have graduated from my main play-list, to my workout play-list, and onto my driving play-list, which is the most critical, as I LOVE to drive, and insist on the best music.

Right music for driving is surely important, that’s true.:)

Photo by Alex Freiter

What do you guys listen to when you are driving or travelling? Also, who would you consider to be your primary influences? I'd really like to hear from all of you on this, as you each bring your own material to your work.

Misha: It’s always depends, on a company ,mood , time of the day, but mostly it’s energetic.

I often use car audio systems as sound reference when mixing.

I can say with certainty, we are listening to all kinds of genres. We often discuss songs or even whole albums either metal or classic, making some kind of analysis, just to understand more accurately the tastes of each other. We share music between us as well.

Our drummer is a big music lover, listens to new music all the time.

His influences: Deep Purple ,Rainbow, Camel, Kayak, Symphony X.

Anatholys influences:
Egor Letov(Grazhdanskaya Oborona), Auktyon, Sektor Gaza, Nirvana, Ozzy Osbourn, Manowar, Sex Pistols, Rammstein, System of a dawn, Pantera, Metallica, Death, Fedor Shalyapin, Nogu svelo, Green Day, Kusturica and No Smoking Band...

Chants of northern and steppe peoples of Asia.
Those days at work: Letov, Gogol Bordello.

Mark says:

Well, I don't drive, but I listen to music a lot when I'm in a bus on a way to work.
Lots of old good Motown records, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Queen, Nirvana, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, Michael Jackson, Pendulum, Enter shikari, Air, Mogway, Flaming Lips, Weezer, The Strokes, Blur, Gojira, Pomplamoose, 30 seconds to Mars, Short Stack, Bjork, The Beatles, Imogen Heap, Jan Tiersen, Wagner, The XX... it's about 10% of my iPod content;

influences:
Everything that sounds good. It can be either pop music, indie rock or extreme metal...


Misha: My big influence was Black metal genre, once I played in a band called Arafel - participated on the recording of the first album.

By the way, you can check my other projects :

FB [force]
EIN

Photo by Alex Freiter

Was any of the ruins of kaballah project recorded and released?

7 songs were recorded and never released. Rest of the band didn’t even know this recording existed before the interview, so now some of the members became really curious to hear it.))

Haha! They're not the only ones. Do you ever think you would release those songs, perhaps as part of a retrospective project?

Yes, we will.
We will just post em on youtube or something...

And how have you found your new members as older ones have sloughed off?

We have a musician's community(rock\metal), where mostly everyone knows the other, so when someone decides to leave the band, the hearing spreads quite fast. For example, our guitar player already played(jamming) with the drummer before he was invited to the band.
And the Bass player was well known to us from playing in another bands.

Does the magic change, or do you select new people to fit the gaps they're to fill?

Naturally, the changes are always remain its mark.
Of course the magic has changed. Cause it’s – Magic:)

Indeed it is - I'm spellbound.  I'm going to have to buy Sidur. What should I expect, in terms of differences to AlefBase?

AlefBase – alphabet. ))
sid·dur
n. pl. sid·du·rim (s-drm, sd-rm) Judaism 
A prayer book containing prayers for the various days of the year.                         
- a kit of songs for practical use.
We find Sidur more atmospheric, in some way mysterious with a gothic touch.

Are most of your iTunes sales for Sidur in the Israeli store, or are you getting a healthy market building in other countries too?

We think that we got more iTunes sales outside of Israel)), probably because iTunes is not that big(popular) in Israel.
At this moment, we distributing SIDUR through CD Baby (physical/digital) and its not only in Israel.

The territories from which people are buying and downloading your albums from is useful information. I get the feeling you will do very well in the same territories as Rammstein, partly because of the kinship between Yiddish and High German, and the Russian/former USSR connection, but also because, despite the differences, your sound is appealing on many of the same levels as theirs. Have you explored the Spanish-speaking markets?

Not yet.))

Photo by Yevgeny Raw

While I am on the subject of Rammstein, have they had any influence on the development of your sound, or have you worked in a more parallel way?

We like the way Rammstein sounds, but it never was the landmark on developing our sound.

How did the fusion of metal and Yiddish music come to happen? It seems an unlikely marriage, and yet it works.

We like to do incredible things.

Are all your songs based on existing Yiddish songs, or have you composed them from scratch, only to create a feeling of the old style of music. I feel like I recognise some songs, but can't be sure, if it's because they're old and pervasive, or because you are very skilled at composing in that style.

The entire AlefBase album is based on old good traditional Yiddish motifs.
We have made total changes, rearrangements and adds to the originals, guided by our taste.
Recently we started to work on a new album, which hopefully will consist of a new material in Yiddish and we'll not stop on the sound we got in the AlefBase, we'll move forward to get more (maybe more heavy, maybe more folk, maybe more fun, maybe all together)

In that case I probably am recognising the underlying material.

Photo by Yevgeny Raw
 
Evolution is important, so I'm glad you're not going to let yourselves get bogged down in the texture of the current album. Are you intending to shift away from the traditional theme for the next one, or are you going to develop on that further?

We're more likely to expand horizons in both ways, to create more individualistic and innovative patterns.

I'm really looking forward to this. How long have your previous albums taken to develop?

About 4 to 5 years each.
We all have daily duties, sometimes it's just hard to find enough time for making music.
At that time we have a discussion within the band for most productive system to make the next one faster but with highest quality.

That's a reasonable development cycle. Can you tell me what you each do outside the band?

Eva is a professional Violinist, plays in orchestra

Anatholy: Family and working as programmer.

Mark says:
I work as an art director in some small design studio. At free time I draw a lot, play with my other bands, write material for my solo project and do a bit of sports.

Dimitry is a sound engineer, post production.

Misha: I work as a sound engineer, recording and producing, mostly working with rock\metal bands.

Photo by Alex Freiter

Are you trying for the beauty, along with the brutality, or is that an inevitable side-effect of the Yiddish style of music tinting even the harshest elements with gold?

We are not trying, but doing Music first of all.
...and last of all.
...and in the middle:)

Let the magic form itself, then. The violin is a big part of the old world feel and the beauty of your music. Are there any other instruments you would like to fuse with your current line-up?

Hard to tell at this point, it possible that we will mix in some additional instruments, as we did on AlefBase’s 11 track (Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn)  and 3 track (Der Rebe Elimelekh).
So far we treat this as a post production thing,  which usually takes place at much further step of making an album.

That makes sense, given your method for composing and developing songs. I was thinking after writing the last question that some cellos and double basses would work so well woven through the guitar wall, and boost the violen really well.

We will think about it:)

Given your eastern heritage have you considered 'metal-plating' traditional, non-Yiddish songs from your countries of birth

Not really.
Sudir album is somehow displays that.

Do you plan to tour outside Israel, if so, which countries show the most promising fan-bases so far?

We're working hard on local booking for now.
We'd like to make some long tour, since we have fans in many countries in the world. Recently we've got a bunch of gig proposals in some Europe countries and USA. Also in Russia and former USSR countries (Which is not a miracle, all of our band members were born in former Union).
By now we're doing all of booking and promotion by ourselves, but still looking for some booking agency to help us.

Photo by Yevgeny Raw

Would you like to make an album in a new language, such as English or Hebrew?

Yes,I think, Hebrew is really interesting to make a metal record with.

Which nations are you each from, originally, and what brought you to Israel?

Anatholy:
I was born in Kiev (Ukraine) and lived there. Also lived in Nizhnevartovsk (Russia - Siberia) about 6-7 years.
My parents brought me to when I was 16.


Mark:
I was born at Russian border with China (Khabarovsk, Russian Far East district) and in the age of 17 moved to Israel. Well, I'm not that big sionist. I just was young and wanted some adventures.

Vadim:

Russia - Belgorod . Repatriated with parents at age 15.

Misha:
I was born in Tashkent – Uzbekistan. Repatriated with parents at age 11.

Dimitry was born in Russia, I think, in Sverdlovsk.

Noting the Russian, Yiddish, and then mention of Hebrew, it almost sounds like the band's journey is parallel to your personal journeys, or even the recent history of Russian Jews. Is that a fair observation, or is that reading too much into it?

More or less the impression is correct;
We have absorbed various elements of the different cultures, that somehow were transformed into the essence of Gevolt.

Also, is there an agenda within your music to promote, raise awareness of, or educate regarding Israel?

We are reflecting our ways, our home, and our state of mind through music.
Of course we are inspired and influenced by the environment which we are surrounded by.
Whether it be walking the old city of Jerusalem or hanging around with friends on the embankment of Tel-Aviv.

How do you feel about being compared to Rammstein? This comes about because of the awesome vocals of Anatholy, and the combination of lung-flattening guitar and keyboards, but you each so clearly represent two very divergent focuses.

Being compared to Rammstein is not a crime:)
After all, Rammstein is a great band.
There's nothing to do, we both have a low-pitched vocalist and a wall of guitars.

While Anatholy's voice is different to Lindemann's, they have similar vocal ranges, and both sing with a distinctly operatic touch, so comparison is somewhat inevitable. What really solidifies the similarities between the two men is the exaggerated rolling of Rs. Is this speech mannerism a trait of Yiddish speech, or is it Anatholy's own, as it is with Lindemann? 

Well, we do not see much difference, whether it's Sidur with singing in Russian or AlefBase.
So likely it Anatholy’s specification.))

Photo by Ludmila Bazarov

Anatholy, your singing is a revelation. Which language is your favourite?

I love Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, English, German, Finnish...
Some of those i know well, some of those not much and some of those absolutely not:)
My native language is Russian ( thats why - Rs), then it was English (in school), after that - Hebrew, and now i'm learning (or think that learning) Yiddish - and I like it too.

Your music is brutal, sensitive, and highly immersive. Do any of you ever wonder how on earth this has come about? That is, does it all seem to be much more than you expect, after you've been jamming, and come to pull everything together for the first time?

It's something that has to do with certain people and their specific relationships within the band, which is probably impossible to calculate.
A symbiosis of personalities, various dynamics and desire for self-expression, if you will.

We worked hard on the “AlefBase” album and ultimately - we're satisfied with the result.
Nowadays I get a little bit excited with the ideas I’m writing down for the new one.

How do you develop your compositions as a group?

We do it by stages.
Most of our compositions has been developed within the rehearsals,
then got polished during the recordings.
Since we record and mix by ourselves, final touches are possible till the final point.

Photo by Yevgeny Raw

Do you have a dominant personality in the band, or do you operate as a democracy?

Usually the dominance in our band passes from person to person, depending on the matter.

Cool. What about the cliche roles? You know: the clown who cracks wise all the time, the peacemaker, the weird ideas person, the serious person, the motivator, etc. Who's who?

Every one of us in different times become one of those persons:)

Do any of the band members have musical side-projects, aside from Misha and Eva with her job?

Vadim’s side project

Gevolt website
Gevolt's current album download
Gevolt on Facebook
Gevolt on Twitter
Gevolt on YouTube
Gevolt on MySpace
Gevolt on Last.FM

Thank you, Gevolt.