Tilting at Demons

Now, here's something for the fan-girls to take home to their mothers:


Oh yeah, Lindemann to the core. I've previously described this man as a medieval fortress with charisma, a fleshy tank, fist-like, and an intellectual TARDIS, but I've never called him beautiful. I think he is in this video, almost definitely because of the post-production work, possibly because of the careful lighting, probably because he's putting a lot of effort to make bedroom eyes throughout. Either way, well done!

Now I need to post the lilac eyes picture, just because it's so damned absurd. I'm sorry, but after my teenage explorations into romantic fiction, with the inane fixation such authors have with oddly-coloured eyes, this strikes me as funny. I can't think of a less Mills & Boon-ish figure than this:



Something I commented on in an earlier post was how the mishap with Till's cheek-piercing lead to some rather unnecessary mirroring, so they could light him on one side and hide the wire going into his mouth on the other. Here is where they took it to an extreme, yet made no effort to disguise it by masking his distinctive scarring - duh:



Another right royal balls-up was with the split tongue idea. Now, the human tongue is a nasty article, but it has certain physical properties that you can't ignore, such as depth, also known as thickness. I don't care to speculate on the career of Lindemann's tongue, but I have doubts that it is in fact one pixel thick, don't you?



Yes, enough of that now.









The production values were high in this video, on the whole. The lilac eyes, 2D tongue, and the twinned plasma were the only glaring faults I found. Yes, twinned plasma. You know the Tesla coil and how it makes lightning, right? If you don't then google is your friend. Go read about it. Anyway, the fact is that plasma is a bit like snowflakes...sort of. Whether or not that makes sense (sorry) it does not appear in the same form over and over again. This can only happen under the influence of a tired, or possibly lazy, post-production gimp:




Yes, you are seeing the same plasma animation moving up those two Tesla towers. Oopsy-daisy.

The last two stills are shots of Till's mic'. The first one is rather classy, being his Mein Teil mic' from the Reise Reise tour:



Cool! We all liked that mic', because it went with the master butcher costume and the lovely blood-toned costmetics Till wears so well. The other mic' is something a bit different:



Oh now, Till, that's just manky, man. You don't know where that's been. Grubby bastard.

Anyway, here endeth the nitpicking. The next, and probably last installment of my review will be all about the less quantifiable aspects of the video. If you can stand more of my ruminations check back in the next few days.

[discuss]

In Pursuit of Trivia

Okay, this is an exercise in illustration, as I don't really think I can describe what you're seeing better than a screen-dump, so bring on the pictures! (Click them for bigger versions)


There are a lot of nice little details in the Ich Tu' Dir Weh video. One that really caught my eye was Schneider's drumstick trickery. He does a couple if nice little moves, and as nobody really gets to see him live I felt this should be highlighted:

Another thing that leapt out at me was how utterly gorgeous Olli looks. He's a good-looking dude on a bad day, and enhances that by being a bit of a closed book, but come on, this is just mad. CK model, anyone?

For random trivia you can't go past Schneider's feet, Richard's hand, or Paul's hide. I give you some great icons: Converse, Emigrate, and shurikens:



Another shot of Schneider that really tickled me was part of the bridge seizure-fest interleaved with Lindeman face-time. Since photos have been coming out of him with the long hair-do I've wondered what he'd look like with a beard, perhaps sporting a spiffing crown of thorns, and maybe a martyred look. Do you get my drift? Well whoever edited together this epileptic's nightmare obviously had the same thought. Christoph wins the Most Christ-like Award of 2009.

Now comes a run of Flake-loving. The man has that certain something. He's all personality and madness on stage. There's no ignoring Herr Doktor. What really got me pulling faces this time around was how damned evil he can appear. There's something about that rictus of a grin that makes me think of paper-clips and rubber bands around the ears, pulling the lips back.

Then there's the big ookie Flake-finger thingie he's got going on:









I don't know about you, but that just gives me the willies. It also opens up all sorts of possibilities in the boudoir... Go Flake!

He has some electrifying moments in the video, which I'll touch on next, but I have to raise the lovely keyboard effect first. Did you notice the glow? It's subtle and not pervasive, so I'm guessing a lot of people will have over-looked it in the madness of that editing, but it rocked me completely. It's definitely a highlight in my geeky little video experience, and I have to share the goods with you (note the normal finger size):


The aforementioned Flake-zappage rocks. He takes a full-body jolt near the end, but before that he gets a shot from the rear, which make me laugh out loud, because it reminded me of nothing so much as Bück Dich.


My last little Flakage is one you probably won't see unless you pause the playback at exactly the right moment. It was completely random luck that I found it at all. I was just pausing at random for the last closing stanza and landed on this baby - Flakey-no-legs:


You're probably wondering where Till is. This is, after all, a site centred around the Lindemann creature. I have some shots and words on this subject to share, but they, and a couple of blunders from the post-production team, will be forth-coming in the next installment.

God, I do go on...

[discuss]

Yep, it's Coming...

I am going to write up the next part of the ITDW video review. I had a longer day at work than expected, and then realised I hadn't eaten all day, so forgive me for feeding the beast before I feed the website...

[discuss]

Don't Throw Down The Gauntlet

Good manners don't cost a thing. In fact, showing appreciation pays off in good will and respect, amongst other things. Recently a blog (NSFW as of posting this) dedicated to Rammstein made the mistake of plagiarising a post from The Gauntlet, without credit, marking it as a re-post, or any other sign of respect. This is called 'throwing down the gauntlet', and is just rude. The upshot is she (even worse) embedded TG-hosted images directly, so he was able to hax her site content. Shot.

As it turns out she has directly ripped a number of pieces directly from other people's sites, including the Gauntlet. Cheeky!

[discuss]

Rammaging Through

I have been rummaging through the Ich Tu' Dir Weh video for the last half hour, and have some stills to illustrate things I noticed after watching the video a few times streaming. It took me ages to click onto the illegitimate treasures of YouTube, after watching the damned thing streaming until now. The trouble is it's almost 1 AM and I'm spent. I'll write up part three of my video analysis in the morning.

[discuss]

Nitty Gritty

Did you read my LIFAD review on TG? If not here's the Ich Tu' Dir Weh bit:

The ecstatic pain of one of my favourite tracks opens with a waveform from Flake, which quickly drops into a (classic) hard riff via the drums. The rhythm is basic, but lively. It's like a heartbeat, and I don't just mean the primary beat. I also feel the little demi-beats that peek out from behind the main surge of an asymmetrical four chamber organ throbbing on and on and on...

That pulse is pervasive and relentless. The guitars, vocals, bass, and keyboards work to and around it. There is no getting away from it, and it is good. The song changes gear a few times, but the rhythm doesn't drop out. This track is riff-heavy, but is not lead by the riff. Schneider is most definitely the spine of this song. I feel it in my bones.

The chorus consists of beautiful voices undulating in and out of the rhythm. The choral melody is robust, if basic, and the layering of sound is rousing. This is a wall of sound done the right way. The verse contrasts by being fairly monotonal, which works very well.

Till pushes his voice through a range of textures. All work towards the feeling that he's trying to catch you out; lulling you slightly with full voice, all the while watching, and then pouncing with a switch to his trademark purr. The bridge is different again. He's almost in his knees, vocally speaking. There's an entreaty or pain in there, which I don't understand. I can't wait for a quality translation of these lyrics.

This is a seriously hot song though. It's oozing sex, but not in a nice wholesome way. No, that wouldn't be Rammstein at all. The sex dripping off Till's knuckles in this track is greasy, dirty, and white hot. There are plenty of promises in his voice…but they're almost entirely threats. His character is not being remotely friendly: he's definitely about to screw you in this unaffectionate but passionate encounter, but rather than being a lover you're so much meat caught in his headlamps, and it won't end well for you.

Got the idea?

Actually, I think this is the theme of the entire album. Ich Tu Dir Weh is just much more so. It's dark and hot and steamy, and I'm guessing the younger, more neurotic, heterosexual males reading this are shifting uncomfortably in their seats about now...

If you are listening to it properly it will leave you slightly breathless and entirely rapt. You may even experience the odd shiver up your spine. You'll never know quite how healthy or otherwise that is though...and there's no safety word should you seek escape.

Since I penned that I have read translatons and LILTed the song, so I will need to write a new review with the lyrics in mind at some point. That's not the focus here though. We're looking at the video for the song. The reason I have dredged up my review is the video backs up the music rather well.

I'll start at the wrong end, because the bridge and close are the most distinctively marked sections in the video. For the bridge, where Till is, vocally speaking, on his knees, the video pulls into a close-up on his face, and we get a good look at him.

His face is half in darkness, tears streak his cheeks, and those eerily pale eyes feature. The makeup is great. This is the makeup he should wear live. But the makeup is secondary to the eyes.

The eyes have made an indelible impression on me. I don't think they're achieved with lenses. I think his eyes have been desaturated and lifted in post. The saturation has definitely been messed with for the bridge itself, as the bloodshot lower eye is natural base colour with a bit of a boost, lightened slightly, while the surrounding shot has had saturation lowered. I think there's too much detail visible in the iris to be a lense too. Light simply doesn't behave the same when it's stopped at the front of the cornia. The iris is contoured and the crenelations are visible, so unless there's a new lense out that lightens the eye without opacity we're seeing Till enhanced by makeup and post production work, and nothing more invasive.

Interleaved with shots of Till are time-slipped shots of the rest of the band. They look decidedly demonic with the mad head movements and post effects. It's creepy, but effective.

You should note that they only light one side of his face (his right) during the bridge. When lighting switches to the other side they are mirroring the image. I expect the problem with the piercing is the reason for this. The scarring on Till's face makes it clear what they have done, and I'm honestly not sure why they bothered. The change in lighting direction doesn't add a damned thing to the sequence, and the mirroring is fairly obvious because Till is not a symmetrical man.

The bridge is a very emotive part of the song, but the closer that follows is pure climax, and the video goes in a frenzy of cuts, time-slipped spasms, and post effects of other kinds to convey that really nicely. Flake enveloped in lightning, Till 'swinging his dick' (dildo mic), Paul 'having what she had', etc. It all says the same thing. The explosion at the end is a little hackneyed and tacked on, but suits the orgasmic aspect.

Up until that point the song is all menace of the most sexual kind, and I now know that the lyrics bear that out in the most repellent way. The video is a little gentler, but still sweats sexual innuendo liberally. More on that in the next part.

Video provided by The Gauntlet

[discuss]

Holier Than Thou

TG has a solid interest in Till's latest hole. I'm sure you noticed the cheek piercing in the new video. If you didn't then *smack* you're blind.

Wait, what? Which brow piercings..? Sorry, you're cutting out...

[discuss]

Details Be Damned

I'm probably going to end up staggering my thoughts on this video. That's not a bad thing, as I have a tendency to find new perspectives in myself, but it may be a bit tiresome having it split up. I might need to repost this earlier stuff later, with a more complete review as I dump my thoughts out for you to pick through.

This video is exactly what the spiel said it would be:

Ich Tu Dir Weh" is the ultimate distillation of a RAMMSTEIN concert into five minutes.

Nothing more and nothing less. This is Rammstein stock. A reduction of their live show into a very thick and sticky syrup. Not to be taken lightly.

Aesthetically it's unreal. They all look beautiful. Olli and Till in particular are flattered beyond belief. Olli has always been a good looking guy, but in this video he's downright stunning. Till, never a pretty critter, looks beautiful in a strange and brutal way. I'm still ambivalent about RZK's do, but he's looking intensely Richard, and the other three look great in their own, very different ways.

Appearances aside this video shows them all at their most basic. The trademarked signature stuff is all there; the same stances, moves, and expressions we have come to expect, lit, framed, and recorded for our delectation, and all in self-conscious, low colour, 35 mm glory.

Till's crabbed movements and shit-eating grin, wonderfully enhanced by lights wired in through his cheek; Richard's splay-legged new-born colt stance and exaggerated playing; Flake's mad 'I've got too many joints to keep up with' activities; Paul's deadpan, minimalist approach; Olli's I'm hinged at the pelvis terminal dance moves; and Schneider's energy conserving tautness. It's all there, and it's all dished up in a fairly deliberate manner.

This is a good thing. I've read several fans complaints about performance videos, but performance is Rammstein's metier. Their stock in trade is their live show, and as wearable and addictive as their studio work is, it merely serves to populate their live set-lists when you get right down to it. Rammstein's story-driven videos are lovely. Don't get me wrong, but I do think they were well overdue on this one. The Feuer Frei video, which was a glorified movie trailer, and the other videos which have included performance elements, such as Benzin and Pussy, do provide small bites, but they're somewhat dumbed down, weak versions of the actual live show vibe. Ich Tu' Dir Weh actually conveys the pyro, the frantic pace, the energy, and the Till-based insanity rather well, and I'm glad they've finally done it.

Video provided by The Gauntlet

[discuss]

A Small Slice of Pain

I'm not going to comment on the video yet. I need to watch it more than once, and while fully conscious. I also need to get out of the mindset I'm in, which is not positive or friendly in any way. I woke up angry this morning, which happens once in a blue moon.

In the meantime it should be noted that the performance Rammstein is just about to begin is the last until the try again in Luxembourg, January 31, so wish them well. Happy Christmas, strange men.

[discuss]

ITDW Tease

It counted down to zero, and sat, a line of zeroes tormenting me. I F5ed, and what did I see replacing the rank of naughts? Herr Lindemann's bloodshot eyes and a new counter, once more whittling down the seconds. There is a delay on this premiere, it seems.

It's almost half past midnight here. I'm going to bed.

[discuss]

Tall Till

I realise that I am probably the last Rammstein fan on the planet to work it out, i.e. watch the videos and see it, but tonight I have discovered Till's trick on the ITDW tower. If you too are a little slow on the uptake and have been amazed and astounded by Till's ability to stay put on top of that ruddy great pneumatic phallic thingie then wonder no more. They've attached a snowboard binding or similar to the thing, and he puts his right foot into it while he's battering Flake in the bath. Tricky.

I also love Flake's schmetterling-ähnlich* emergence from the bath. It's so purdy, and he's such a consummate flutterer, especially in that gorgeous suit.

* Yes, I do think I have actually managed to extrapolate what this should be. No, I still don't speak German. I just hacked it.

[discuss]

Alf's Post

Ts4EVER from Herzeleid has kindly given me permission to reproduce his translation of Alf's blog post (the GLT translation is so awful):

For everyone who just has to know:

My brand new BMW lost control at a speed of 263kmh on an icy road although I had summer tires, rolled over 5 times, crashed down a hill and exploded. I flew through the air burning for 42 metres and was impaled on tree trunk. I hang up there in a height of 7metres, screaming and bleeding for 3 hours, until the helicopter arrived. But it was only a fleshwound and I came to work on time.

[discuss]

A Note on Indexing

The new ITDW video and single cannot be advertised in Germany in a general way. This is part of the indexing system. If you are wondering why the video premiere information is not on the official Rammstein site then this might give a clue as to why. The official Rammstein site is a German site. It is generally accessible in Germany, without age verification or any other way to keep minors (those under 18 years of age) out. For this reason no promotion of the new single and the video debut can be posted on that site.

If you have a Twitter account please retweet 'We Have a Lift-off...Date: ITDW will premiere on Monday, 1 PM CET, 7 AM EST, and 1 AM Tuesday NZT. w00t! Go to visit-X for the ... http://bit.ly/5B65WE' from LILTwitter. Since Pilgrim Management can't promote Ich Tu' Dir Weh on their site we need to give them all the help we can to do so by any means we have at our disposal. Twitter is a good start. Push it!

[discuss]

Beauty

It's official: I have found my favourite Rammstein photographer. This name is Christian Hjorth, and though I'm probably not supposed to post any of his pictures I am using my favourite as a thumbnail to link to the gallery the photo was taken for. I'm SO damned sneaky! Though, just for safety's sake, I will state for the record that, like everything on this site that I don't own, this image is copyright to its owner, Christian.

While I have been exposed to hundreds of good quality shots from the LIFAD tour already I have yet to see any that outdo Christian's work. Click on the thumbnail to see the gallery on gaffa.dk with his other photos from the show, and click here to see his website.

[discuss]

Alf Speaks

Alf Ator has posted (original German here) about his little mishap on the way to work recently. I love this man. Someone introduce me to him so I can buy him a beer.

[discuss]

Oh Mutter!

Please go and vote for Mutter on the front page of Metal Hammer. We need to get it further up the poll for album of the decade. As of writing this Mutter was sitting at number ten. We can do better than that!

[discuss]

The Sell

"Ich Tu Dir Weh" is the ultimate distillation of a RAMMSTEIN concert into five minutes. As with the preceding video "Pussy," Jonas Åkerlund stands at the helm as director, and for "Ich Tu Dir Weh," he captures the show on the band's "rehearsal stage" in 35mm. A full-bodied format to do filmic justice to RAMMSTEIN's own brand of "widescreen" staging.

The plan was simple. Åkerlund uses the language of grand cinema, RAMMSTEIN delivers the rest: the theatre, the flesh, the frenzy. The result is formidable. "Ich Tu Dir Weh" shows the band at its purest and most concentrated. A beast, only awakened to life onstage under the spell of fire and a maddening roar. On December 21st, 2009 at 1pm CET (7am EST), "Ich Tu Dir Weh" celebrates its premiere at visit-x/rammstein.

Visit at your own risk.

Please retweet my Tweet about this. This needs the widest distribution we can give it. Pimp it, spread it, share it, and push it, please!

That time is midday GMT, Monday 21 December.

[discuss]

Flake Back

Sparkie has posted on Herzeleid that Flake was on stage for the latest show, which is great news.

[discuss]

RZK on Indexing - TV Interview

I'm not entirely sure he understands the reasoning behind the indexing. Provocation has nothing to do with it. I emailed the BPjM, and got back a very considered and helpful answer, and am still corresponding with their representative to get this straight in my head. What has really stood out for me so far in our email conversation was this (I hope she will forgive me paraphrasing her):

Other songs on the CD, such as the "Wiener Blut" song, did include aspects of critical reflection of the violence described, therefore this other song was altogether not found to have a harmful effect on minors.

So where Till's words show a level of criticism of the perpetrator for the act or the act itself, the harm done by the description of the act is ameliorated. To me this makes sense. This is about shaping the values of Germany's youth, after all, and propagation of criticism of an antisocial act has value that can't be ignored. While I think the photo of the spanking is rather mild it does lack that critical aspect the BPjM looks for. There is consistency in this that I had not found in their ruling until it was pointed out, as there have been songs equally depraved on past albums by Rammstein. There has also been that criticism though, so suddenly the ruling in this case and not others makes more sense.

I'm not happy about it, and I certainly don't think the image should be included in the ruling, but I don't view this decision from the BPjM with the bemusement and incredulity I felt before they returned my email. I really wish Rammstein would record a new version of this song for German release though, because it is a really excellent song, musically and expressively (TL's operatic mastery at work), and relyricising it would mean German kids can legitimately enjoy the musical and vocal performances at least.

[discuss]

We Have a Lift-off...Date

ITDW will premiere on Monday, midday GMT, 1 AM NZT, 1 PM CET, 7 AM EST. w00t! Go to visit-X for the goods then.

[discuss]

Crash, Bang, Wallop!

Flake got sick recently (hospitalised-sick), which had me really worried (hence the shout-out the other day). He's such a key personality on stage, and as tough as he seems a bad infection can kill a healthy man, so they wouldn't put him on if he's really sick. So who could play his part? His replacement since has been Alf Ator, of Knorkator fame. Alf has now got into a little scrape too. Thanks to TG for the heads up, and of course the inclusion of the fact that Alf is okay. Two down, none to go. Please look after your keyboardists, guys!

[discuss]

More of the Chronicle

Our elephant attendant has struck again, and presents a humorous read, immediately below the first one.

[discuss]

Slo'-Mo' For the Win!

TG has got bored (yes, even metal sites get bored sometimes) and has slowed down the medley teaser so we can get a good look at it. Good idea.

[discuss]

More Teasers

TG has more teasers and finalised single release dates up. Now we just need that damned video...

Also, a big shout-out and get well for Flake, who has an infection that landed him in hospital recently.

[discuss]

Hot Cold Hot Cold Hot...

Okay, it appears that it's all on for imminent debutage:

OK...as it stands right now. The video is in everyone's hands that need it. The video has never been intended for a Dec 18th release, it has ALWAYS been Dec 15th. Basically expect to have a nice surprise soon, keep checking the rammstein.de site for the announcement and link.
- The Gauntlet

Noice. Keep on F5ing Rammstein.De!

[discuss]

Video Debut Postponed

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Video This Week

TG has it that the video for ITDW will be released this week. The single (physical and digital) will be released early in the new year. Sounds good to me. I wonder if we will get a B-side...

Update 20091215 0712: The video will debut on visit-x.net and the media will get it on the 18th.

[discuss]

More ITDW Tease

This time it's not with TG though. I'm not sure what's up with that.

[discuss]

ITDW Live in Germany

Until now Rammstein have played ITDW with modified lyrics or not sung those that offend when in Germany, but their latest Facebook update says:

Von heute an wird auch die Instrumental Version von "Ich tue dir weh" in Deutschland nicht länger aufgeführt, da der Zugang zu den Konzerten Personen unter 18 Jahren andernfalls nicht gestattet wäre.

What this means is:

From today the instrumental version of "Ich Tu' Dir Weh" will also no longer appear in Germany, as otherwise people under 18 would not be allowed access to the concerts.

This makes me sad. What is there in the music to corrupt the youth of Germany?

[discuss]

ITDW Teaser

I reckon that's a guitarist (I've no intelligent idea which one, but suspect RZK) on a wire, with either the pyro sleeves from the Reise Reise tour on, or a new, similar set. They're not firing flames as they did on the RR tour, but sparks, and the guitarist is turning on the wire.

I may be a mile off. It's hard to tell with such a short clip, but that's what it looks like to me. Very cool, I must say. I do like pyro, and I hope it dominates the video.

Also, I am enabling comments again. The bulletin board isn't serving its purpose as I'd hoped, and as much as I hate the comments system it does at least enable you to communicate with me and other readers in an effective way.

[discuss]

Ich Tu' Dir Weh Teaser

TG has a teaser up of the ITDW video. You know I will post when the full video goes up.

[discuss]

More Bercy Pictures

I'm sorry I've been so brief and boring lately. My back's a bit buggered up again, and it's meant I spend as little time using my notebook as I can, outside work hours. This directly affects LILT, as all my posting is obviously done online. I'm seeing a physiotherapist to sort it out though, so hopefully I'll be all fixed up soon!

Some lovely pictures from the ninth may be found here. Thanks Epsilekt!

[discuss]

Bercy Snaps

w00! Pitchers! L'un et deux.

[discuss]

AOL Top 10

Rammlied has made the AOL top ten metal songs for the year list, at number six.

[discuss]

Postponement Confirmed

The shift of the Luxembourg show to January 31 has been confirmed on the official Rammstein site.

[discuss]

Sufistein?

A Turkish artist, who classes his work as 'Sufi Rock', says he's aiming to produce a sound like that of our German friends, but not exactly like them:

German industrial metal giants Rammstein was his example of the sound he intends to capture in future albums, “with better harmonies,” he added.

I'm guessing with less of the fucking, incest, sadomasochism, and Schnapps too.

[discuss]

New Rammstein Classification

Yes, Rammstein has been pigeonholed once again. Now they are 'Horny Metal'. Okay...

[discuss]

Luxembourg Concert Postponed?

Apparently Lindemann is having problems with his voice, so the concert is postponed. The tickets remain valid, but for a show now to be held January 31. Thanks Tempelhüter.

[discuss]

Community List

Mehr!

I need to ensure my fan community list is complete. I have a list of links on the Rammage Control site, but doubt that this is complete.

If you know of a Rammstein fan community can you please look at the list, see if it's there, and if it isn't let me know. Comments can be left on the RC site or I can be emailed either at lilt (at) rammstein.me or at theletter (at) rammstein.me.

[discuss]

LILT: Spieluhr 1.1

A tiny soul seems to have gone
But it just wants to be alone
Its little heart stood still for ages
Till all thought it had earned death's wages
So they inter it in wet sand
A music box still in its hand

First snow blankets the little grave
The small child slowly awakes
The winter night is very cold
And the tiny heart is bold

As frost flies all through the child
The musical box clockwork winds
With a melody on wings
From the cold ground a child sings

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
Down from high no angel sweeps
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
On this grave only rain weeps
hoppe hoppe Reiter
With a melody on wings
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
From the cold ground a child sings

The chilly moon while in full flight
Hears the crying in the night
Down from high no angel sweeps
On this grave only rain weeps

Between the cold hard oaken stays
With the musical box it plays
With a melody on wings
From the cold ground a child sings

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
Down from high no angel sweeps
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
On this grave only rain weeps
hoppe hoppe Reiter
With a melody on wings
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
From the cold ground a child sings

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter

They could hear on All Souls' Day
The melody in God's field played
So then they disinterred it
The child's heart, they preserved it

Hoppe hoppe Reiter
Down from high no angel sweeps
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
On this grave only rain weeps
hoppe hoppe Reiter
With a melody on wings
mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter
From the cold ground a child sings

I think all my poeticism has failed me today. I changed one word.
[lyrics][discuss]

Watchoo Think?

I'm not sure. No doubt more changes will come, but I prefer this to the right-hand navigation. I may have to learn how to use style sheets and develop my own template.

[discuss]

LILT Shift

I've moved the site to a new account, as I wanted to separate my sites. The new LILT site looked a little different, but not much. It actually looks like the old LILT site did before my last frenzy of foodling. I'm planning something of a face-lift in any case.

You might notice that the adult content warning has gone. The reason is simple. It's broken. Enabled it goes into an endless loop, so I will simply put my own warning at the top of the page at some point.

All the old content has been ported from the old site to the new, so there's no need to be sad. More soon...

For Cereal

Rammstein take themselves way too seriously. Thanks for the tip-off, rammsteinbrit.

[discuss]

The Chronicles of an Elephant Attendant

The first entry of 'the Chronicle' that has so tantalised us recently is up. Ich Tu' and its future are speculated on, illness in the camp is mentioned, and there's a shout-out to the people who have attended the tour thus far. I hope they post reasonably regularly. It's nice to get a little insight.

Tempelhüter has posted links to more tour pictures in the Herzeleid forum, the stand-outs being those of Caroline Traitler.

About a week ago I wrote a very badly proofread email to the BPjM regarding the indexing of the album:

To whom it may concern,

I'm sure there are many who would agree with the recent decision to index the Liebe ist für alle da album. These are probably the same people who would prefer you had indexed their entire catalogue over the years, and in retrospect perhaps you do too. From the outside, however, the latest move appears ridiculous. To index this album, when a precedent has been set to let the majority of their work slide, comes across as incredibly inconsistent and not a little calculated.

Aside from the obviously adult material that makes the whole Rammstein catalogue, the singling out of the particular track and image that have been listed smacks of desperation to 'be seen to be doing something' rather than a rational and considered decision, and does not flatter your organisation. While the front cover of the album shows men preparing to feast on a naked Venus the image that has been condemned as unsuitable for young eyes is one of an unmarked, healthy-looking women being spanked. It is tame, and represents a valid, if uncomfortable, form of intimacy in the real world. The track that has brought down the wrath of the BPjM is one ostensibly about the infliction physical pain, a valid metaphor for the way people view and treat one another. It makes little sense to act against this material in this way, given your historical response similar material.

I am aware that Pussy was also a contender for the 'corruptor' title, but again, for the wrong reasons. Since it is never once mentioned that prophylactics are not used how can it be said to promote unsafe sex? I've never heard a song of this type that did mention the application of a condom. It's preposterous to pick up on that detail. Pussy had better be indexed for the lousy use of German and English stereotypes than for irresponsible sexual congress.

I think this indexing should be reconsidered. While it has obviously got Rammstein a lot of press, and as such the attention of the youth you are trying to protect (thus cementing the album's success), nobody with a desire to support the sterling work the band do in promoting the German culture and language can be anything but exasperated that this happened in the first place. It makes the indexing process look farcical and does you no good in the eyes of the world, let alone in protecting the youth of Germany. They will get their hands on this material, and they will be all the more avid to do so because of what you have done; you have not actually protected anyone.

Please revisit this issue. It would be most sensible and responsible to do so.

Kind regards,
etc...

If you'd like to have your say their email address is info@bpjm.bund.de. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

Also, LIFAD has another update as of a few days ago.

[discuss]

LILT: Frühling in Paris 1.3

She came to me clad in light
So clearly I recall
I was so young
and felt such shame
But no regret at all

Throughout my head her voice purred
By her tongue lust was writ
I did not comprehend a word
But did not feel regret

Oh non rien de rien
Oh non je ne regrète rien

When I abandoned her skin
Paris bled with spring blushing

I did not know my own body
I dreaded the prospect
She showed all to me in the light
I did not feel regret

Lips redeemed again and again
Soft of touch and hold
when I left her mouth then
I began to feel cold

Throughout my head her voice purred
By her tongue lust was writ
I did not comprehend a word
But did not feel regret

Oh non rien de rien
Oh non je ne regrète rien

When I abandoned her skin
Paris bled with spring blushing

A murmur dropped into my lap
And brought a lovely sound
Many gentle words said nowt
I felt good to the ground

Throughout my head her voice purred
She then bowed down deeply
I did not comprehend a word
But no regrets for me

Oh non rien de rien
Oh non je ne regrète rien

When I abandoned her skin
Paris bled with spring blushing

In Paris

When I abandoned her skin
Paris bled with spring blushing

In Paris

When I abandoned her skin
Paris bled with blushing spring

[lyrics][discuss]

LILT: Haifisch 1.1

We hold with each other
We take one another's crap
We hold to one another
None will hold us back

We're holding true to you all
We hold true to that vow
We will hold true to the rules
If our rule is allowed

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

We hold to the tempo
We hold true to our faith
When one does not keep up
We hold up right away

We all hold our eyes open
We hold against the storm
Six hearts that are burning
Our fire holds such warmth

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

In the depths it is so lonesome
And so many tears run free
And that's why the ocean's water
Comes to be so salty

They can think what they want
To think about us all
We hold each other sound
We never will hold still

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

In the depths it is so lonesome
And so many tears run free
And that's why the ocean's water
Comes to be so salty

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

[lyrics][discuss]

Blabber

Blabbermouth has Full Metal Jackie talking to RZK. There's also a video of Haifisch on the same page (just below the media player for the interview).

Edit: By the way, what in hell is up with them beeping out the word 'Pussy'?

[discuss]

LILT: Haifisch 1.0

This is incredibly quick and dirty, because I've wrung the time to do it out of my day, but it's a good start, I think:

We hold with each other
We take one another's crap
We hold to one another
None will hold us back

We're holding true to you all
We hold true to that vow
We will hold true to the rules
If our rule is allowed

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

We hold to the tempo
We hold true to our faith
When one does not keep up
We hold up right away

We all hold our eyes open
We hold each other's arms
Six hearts that are burning
That fire holds such warmth

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

In the depths it is so lonely
And so many tears run free
And that's why the ocean's water
Comes to be so salty

They can think what they want
To think about us all
We hold each other safe
We never will hold still

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

In the depths it is so lonely
And so many tears run free
And that's why the ocean's water
Comes to be so salty

And the shark weeps so many tears
And they're running down its face
But the shark lives in the water
So nobody sees a trace

[lyrics][discuss]

Ich seh im Spiegel dein Gesicht

Spiegel.De has posted their take on the indexing. Thanks for the link, Rammchick.

[discuss]

One of 'Those Weeks'

I've had a week of creativity-smothering, mentally retarding crap. I feel about as constructive as a small heap of pine needles. I have to do a load of chores and then go to a party tomorrow. Sunday I plan to indulge in some serious Ramming. I'm just giving notice because LILT has been such a dry lake bed, and the next 30 hours will be more of the same. I don't want you lot thinking I don't care!

[discuss]

Burning Angel

Lindemann has cast himself in a new role. You may remember the studio report, and the 'And Till...' bits. One of them mentioned burning angels...

Have a rummage on YouTube for Basel Engel and see what you can find. It's drama, fattened on melodrama, and beefed up with a dash of DRAMA-DRAMA. Nice.

[discuss]

Another Review

Consequence of Sound has put up a review too. It's worth a read.

[discuss]

Paul Interviewed

ARTISTdirect has interviewed Paul. Thanks Rammchick!

[discuss]

Cat's Pilgrimage

Katvrou, a user on the Herzeleid.Com website, has kindly allowed me to reproduce the wonderful report she wrote after her recent trip to Europe to see Rammstein play three times. She's from South Africa, which makes her pilgrimage (pun definitely intended) all the more special. She includes some tips for those of you attending future shows at the end:

Following Rammstein for their first three shows is no joke. And it’s very hard to put down your thoughts on the shows immediately after you’ve ‘gone through’ a live show. It’s like you’ve been hit by a train. To me a Rammstein-show is like an orgasm of pain.

Now that I’ve returned to South Africa after nine exhaustingly exhilirating days, I can finally try to describe how it was for me.

In Lisbon I only queued for ten hours at the Pavilao Atlantico. I made friends with Pussy (who posted earlier on this thread with his cool pics of Paul and the guys), and some other girls from Lisbon. Pussy introduced himself to me and said I’m a brave girl, coming so far to see Rammstein. Heh heh. He is a true fan. I also met people from Australia. Yes, even from that far. We all ate bananas and sunflower seeds, drank mineral water and shared stories about our favourite songs and albums. We had to endure endless bouts of rain and icy gusts of wind. We bought black garbage bags from the Vasco Da Gama shopping centre and covered our bodies with it – very few of us had umbrellas. It was quite hard at times. But we held on until the security guards opened the gates at six to run through the gates downstairs to the stage. I was lucky enough to get second row.

I must just tell you that, no matter how much you read about the spoilers, nothing can really prepare you for the moment when the lights go off and the crowd starts screaming. And when Paul and Richard starts hacking through the wall with the axes, everybody goes apeshit. Then, of course, when the flame starts burning through the centre door and you KNOW it’s Till, all hell breaks loose. Especially when he waits for those slow few seconds before he kicks open the door. Seeing him strut down to the microphone, hearing everybody scream their lungs out, hanging on to the person in front of you so you won’t fall down, crying and laughing at the same time because this is Rammstein, finally you see your ultimate band on stage, LIVE, barely three metres away from you – it’s almost too much to bear.

Nevermind the sound problems with the intro. It’s incredibly irritating, especially for Till, you can just see it in his face, but just after that the song kicks into maximum overdrive, the drums roll like a truck over your body and the slashed black backdrop falls open. Everybody screams every word of Rammlied. You see Paul’s two tattoos (What?? Never knew he had any???) and you frown a bit over Richard’s hair. Weird. It’s quite emo, really. But then the guitars take over and you don’t really give a shit about any of that stuff anymore. The songs that you love are alive in front of you on stage. And that’s all that matters. The way Till kneels before the chorus in Waidmanns Heil. The pillars of flames that shoot up behind him. The flames that fly over your head, the way it feels as if your skin is melting off your face, the chorus in Waidmanns Heil, Richard and Paul chanting-chanting-chanting Waidmanns-manns-manns-manns HEIL!!!, the jumping, the moshing, the screams, the hands in the air, more screams, a neverending salute of loyalty and love to Rammstein.

The way Flake walks in THREE different directions on the treadmill (how the hell did they manage that??), his funny new dance, hahahahaha, then, the eery way the dolls get slowly dropped from the roof, those green laser eyes, Till’s voice like barbed wire being pressed into your skin with the chorus in Wiener Blut, the incredible beauty of Fruhling in Paris, the lights, oh my God the white lights that blaze open behind him when he sings the French chorus, how everybody behind and around me sings it with him, even though they say “I don’t really like it, it’s too sentimental…”

Paul’s interaction with the crowd, his cool jerky movements, when he and Richard meets in the middle with their foreheads against each other, exhanging a few quiet words, smiling, then retreating, Olli’s funny pants and hat, Flake giving us the middle finger salute after climbing out of the bath, being showered in sparks and explosions, Richard pacing in circles, pacing-pacing, then dropping onto his right knee with every insane guitar solo.

All the feeling leaves your feet. You can’t stand anymore. But you do. Somehow your body just copes with the fatigue and endless bursts of adrenalin.

It’s good that they do Seemann and Engel at the end. So you can come down from wherever you’re bouncing and just recover. I took the subway back to the hotel and wanted to cry all the time because the show was over. And because, for me, it was absolutely incredible. The timing and sound problems were forgotten. Even Finger walking around in the pit, with his pack of backstage passes, just smirking at my tattoo as if it’s nothing, that was all forgotten. I just wanted to replay the show in my head over and over again.

The next morning on our flight to Madrid, I saw Richard on our flight. After recovering from a near-fatal panic attack, I managed to grab some courage, walked to the front of the plane (before take-off) and asked him for a picture. He looked tired, but he got up, put his arm around my shoulders and posed. I almost fainted, but kept my cool and said that I thought he was awesome last night. He said "Thank you" and sat down again – I almost ran back to my seat. That was incredible for me, a simple girl from South Africa – what were the odds of me even meeting one of them???? I know they probably get tired of all the fans, but for me it was fantastic that he didn’t just blow me off. It will be one of my treasured pictures forever.

So then Madrid happened. I was at the Desportes venue just after six o’clock the morning, and there were already about 150 people in the queue. Next to their queue were about ten tents with girls, camping (some of them with their parents) for the Jonas Brothers concert the following day. They were looking at us with big eyes. We just laughed. It was like two different worlds on that pavement – two types of music that would (thankfully) never see eye to eye.

Madrid was awful for me. I could only get in about 20 metres from the stage. The shit already started with Combichrist, when I realised that lots of the people were really drunk and didn’t care if anybody next to or in front of them fell down. They just moshed and jumped and crowdsurfed. I panicked for a full half hour until I realised that I cannot fall down – the people are packed too tightly around me. So I tried to stay up, hang on to the person in front of me, and try to see some of the show. It was very hard, seeing the entire set, especially with the Rammlied intro – I am only five foot six and had to stand on my toes to see at least the upper half of Till’s body. The fast songs came in thick and hard – and people started to faint around me, mostly from heat exhaustion, and not from the flames – we were too far from the stage for that. It was so hot in-between all the people, it seemed as if every other minute, someone fainted and was carried away. I tried to move a little bit forward and managed to get a metre closer, before I was pummeled and bruised by the crowd. I cracked a toe and nearly lost my arm piercing. I wanted to leave – it was too hard to see the songs and still stay upright. I was truly afraid I’d get hurt. I wanted to cry, I felt like such a wuss. But then I just shoved back whenever a huge crowd wave came my way, and hung on to the guy in front of me for dear life. I managed to see Flake’s boat pass over my hands, and shouted with Christoph when he worked up the crowd in Links. I must say that the crowd spoiled my experience of this Rammstein-show. I wish they’d stop chanting “Puta-puta-puta!!” all the time when it’s obvious that this will not be performed, dammit. I do believe it would have been too risky here – the crowd would be totally out of control. And people were throwing up on the pavement in the morning already, running around drunken, cursing, – so I feel that a lot of them were giving Rammstein fans a bad name. I wish I met more of the nicer fans. And, the two cool girls that I did meet, fainted just after Fruhling in Paris. Dammit-dammit.

The same sound problems were evident with the few notes of Rammlied – and I was hoping that it would sort itself out before Till landed the newspaper headlines for beating his sound engineer to death with his mike stand.

My plan was to be at the venue early for the Barcelona concert. So I took a taxi at five o’clock the morning – it was still pitch dark, and very very cold. I met about twelve fans at the venue, some of whom slept there the previous night. So our 12-hour waiting shift started. I ate bananas. Quite a few of them. And I watched the sun come up while shivering from the cold – and most probably the excitement of seeing this band again live on stage.

The crowd grew rapidly throughout the day – with lots of people shoving themselves into the front row, which I thought was bad. In the end, at about 19:45, when the line of security guards came down the steps under thunderous applause from the crowd, the long wait was all worth it – all the pain in my feet and back just evaporated.

We were searched, briefly, before we broke loose and ran up the stairs, three at a time. We came to the upper level and the security guards said “Don’t run!!” but we RAN. And, together with most of the morning campers, we all got to the front row. It was evident that this set was smaller, without the side parts of the previous two shows – this was also a smaller venue, which probably led to the decision to have a smaller stage.

Combichrist was just a blur.

The adrenalin shooting through my body when the lights went off, was unbelievable. I wanted to faint, but held on to the railing. Next to me was a woman from Australia, whose children bought her the Rammstein ticket. Isn’t that just incredibly fantastic??? When Paul started hacking at the wall in his corner, you could see he was in a different, aggressive mood. He hacked and kicked, and kicked some more. Then he stepped out, just in a tiny pair of shorts and thick boots, and was handed his guitar. At the other end Richard was standing deadstill, with the axe in his right hand, bright white light streaming from behind them. Then Till started burning through the door. My heart wanted to explode. I knew what was coming, but the excitement was still like a living river of lava in my body. He kicked open the door. The crowd went MAD. He lifted up his arms, beckoning the crowd to scream louder. They bellowed, yelled, whistled, cried, and roared. It was one of the best moments of the show.

Then the first few notes. Nothing. Till’s mouth filled with that eerie light, but nothing. Then, thankfully, after a few painfully stressful moments, Rammlied started properly.

And the backdrop opened again with its slashed design under the thundering sound of “RRRRAMMM-STEINNNN!!!”

It was fantastic to see LIFAD become live on stage. Even Haifisch has its own charm, a song that I like a lot. Pussy was of course one of the highlights, what with Till riding this giant penis that spews foam over the crowd. Some of it got into my eyes, even though I ducked low when Till came past us, and it burned a little. But I must say, it looked very funny around me, with people covered in foam, grinning like loons, wiping it over their faces and hair. And with the confetti paper falling through the air – what fun!!! Also, the drumming in Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da is just incredible live. Christoph is an animal. He MAKES that song work, he just does.

Of course, when the sound died twice in Fruhling in Paris, it was AWFUL. I felt so bad for the band – and I thought it was inexcusable, that the sound guy could’ve done better. At least, when the sound died, the crowd sang very loudly with Till, just to make the awkwardness go away, and Christoph still beat the drums like a madman, even though his sound was gone, too. He and Olli just looked at each other, smiling, shaking their heads. Olli looked quite freaky with his white painted skin, with what looked like dirt smeared over the white. It was also good to see him come to the front of the stage every so often and receive his due recognition from the crowd.

At the end of Engel, when they came to the front of the stage and bowed, Richard jumped off the stage and landed awkwardly on the ground, it seemed as if he could’ve hurt his ankle, but he got up quickly and started to touch some of the fans’ outstretched hands. Finger was on him like a flash, gesturing wildly, probably telling him not to be so stupid and to move away from the crowd. I thought that was unnecessary. If Richard wants to touch the fans’ hands, bloodywell let him, dammit!!! Richard then ran to the back, past the right side of the stage.

In the speakers, the sounds of Roter Sand was coming through. The crowd mingled around, confused, hoping to hear some more from the stage. But the show was over, and the technicians came out, shooing us away, starting to break up the steel barriers that we were clinging to just a few minutes before. I immediately got a beer from one of the guys walking around selling beer, and didn’t even mind to pay the ten euros for it. I was so thirsty, I wanted to die.

But I was also ecstatically happy. I saw Rammstein live, up close, from the front row, I saw the sweat and flames and Till’s piercings, I ogled Richard’s legs (forgive me for gushing, but dammit, that studded leather band around his left leg looks SO good), I lost litres of sweat, probably put out my back forever, got flattened against the railing by jumping bodies, I hurt my neck while headbanging to Weisses Fleisch, and cried a little for Fruhling in Paris.

Things that I know now:

** If you have long hair, tie it back, or up on your head. It’s incredibly painful when your hair gets yanked and pulled by everybody around you who’s trying to hang on to you.
** The security guards in front won’t give you any water, no matter how many times you plead them for a sip. See that you have at least one bottle of water stashed away somewhere. It’s essential, especially after Benzin.
** Finger only hands backstage passes to pretty girls. Or the girls that Till blows kisses at. He doesn’t really see the true fans. I don’t know what he’s looking for while walking the pit – I really don’t know. I think he should come and find the true fans in the queue and camp tents at five o’clock in the morning before the show.
** The show is two hours, but if you bury yourself in every song, it will feel like two days. Trust me.

As I sit here, typing to you tonight, I’m incredibly sad. It feels as if I’ve dropped into an abyss of quietness after the exhiliration of experiencing Rammstein on stage. It will probably take me a while to recover from this. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Rammstein forever.

Thank you, Katvrou!

[discuss]

Swim With Me

Lindemann and swimmer Paul Biedermann were interviewed together by Welt.De. It's an odd, but revealing pairing, well worth the read. GLT doesn't cope well with the dialogue, but well enough to get an impression of the two men.

Original German. Thanks again to Tempelhüter for the link.

[discuss]

Mutter

Lindemann's mother, Gitta, is a writer, as was his father, but having now read my first Gitta Lindemann piece I find it easy to imagine that she is his muse. Her writing, even when butchered by a software interpreter, is fluent and vivid in the same way his is.

She offers insight to the rest of us. Even allowing for the bias of an affectionate mother she opens up all sorts of quiet little corners in his life for us to peer into, and she admits, interestingly, that she would love to have known her son as a friend, rather than as a mother. I can understand that, if he really is all she describes. He would be an intensely interesting man to know well. That said, the role she has played in his life means that had another been his mother, she would not know the man she brought into this world. He would be quite different.

Thank you for the link, Tempelhüter.

Note that the translation linked above is flawed, and you will want to put some tracts through the GLT text block translation individually to get the meaning. For those of you who speak German the original 2008 article is here.

[discuss]

Rammstein footage

A Rammstein autograph session in Bilbao has been posted by Emigrate fans Russia on MySpace. Yay.

[discuss]

LIFAD has a Blog

The LIFAD site has turned into a website, rather than just a portal to Facebook and Twitter. This could get interesting...

Thanks to SkeletonCrew for pointing this out.

[discuss]

The Agony of the Germ...man

Cystitis, acne, fucking, digestion, tears, death, defecation, cuddles, flatulence, kissing...I could go on forever, but I won't.

What do all of these things have in common? You know it.

Okay, now consider, just for a moment, that I am serious. My tongue, which is incidentally crawling with bacteria, is very firmly planted in my cheek, but I do have a point. I'm just going to rampage through and plant some ideas in your head. Jeremy's proper translation is there for you if you need to refer to it:

Bacteria live all over us, inside and out. Without them we would probably die. We have a symbiotic relationship with them, in that they form part of our immune arsenal (pun incidental) and they aid us in extracting nutrients from our food. We're riddled with bacteria, and every time we look at another living creature we are also looking at, if not seeing, vast armies of bacteria.

We are the entire world for our personal germs. They inhabit us, the way we inhabit this planet. We are theirs and they are ours. If a bacterium was as arrogant and self-aware as humanity I'm sure it would consider us here to service, house, feed, and care for it. We're their planets and they probably care for us as much as we care for the world we live in. They certainly harm us to a similar extent (I wonder if we will kill Earth in the end). They don't love us, but we're preoccupied with them.

I like the idea that I am a ship for a crew of germs to ride through oceans of life. I also get a kick from the knowledge that I am forever locked in a bacterial embrace, either fighting or benefiting from them. The bondage humanity is in is one of infection and disease, and even our greatest weapon, our immune system, isn't enough to beat them completely, and part of it is made up of the enemy's siblings.

They do major damage as the cause of Tetanus, they bring us agony through cystitis, they scar us via acne, and I won't go into detail about syphilis. They get into us via contact with animals, tools (blunt saw, anyone?) and weapons, with food, and because our own bodily functions rely on orifices, and damage to our armour (skin), opens up more.

They mark us up, and break us down. They torture us, help us, and ultimately they eat us. After you die you continue to live in all the little bastards that hasten your decomposition. Does that console you?

The line that might be a little odd in this context is the sticking of medals on faces. What is a medal if not a badge signifying what we have done? Is an acne scar a badge of honour for a bacterium? I don't know, but it's a laugh to consider it.

Anyway, I honestly do not believe that this is what Lindemann had in mind when he wrote the song. I just think it's interesting to come up with concepts that fit his words. Here endeth this one.

[discuss]

LIFAD Art

The LIFAD album art has been posted on Recuenco's site. Just keep hitting the arrows at the end to get the next section. These photos are beautiful. Thanks erikire, for posting the link.

Note the one with Richard spanking the chunky (apologies to the model - I couldn't pass up a cheap pun) is the one that is missing from the new 'clean' edition. I'm not sure how clean any album involving Till's poetry can be, nor one that includes these beautiful, but distinctly disturbing images. I guess the removal of these two offences makes it all okay though. Hah!

[discuss]

The Gauntlet & Schneider

The Gauntlet has just posted today's interview with Schneider. I liked the RZK interview, but this one tops it, I think. Great read!

[discuss]

Sarah Potkins Photos up on Rammimages

Minx has put up Sarah's photos from Lisbon. These are well worth a look. Thanks Hlynur.

[discuss]

New Version of LIFAD for Germany

The original, indexed album remains on the market, hidden behind counters, and advertised only to people over the age of 18 (naughty). What is coming for general release is a truncated version, sans Ich Tu' and Richard getting spanky. So sad...

Actually, not it isn't. The original is still available. The new edition is great news, really. There will be a general release in Germany for those who can't legitimately buy the full album.

[discuss]

Ariesgirl Review of LIFAD

My friend, Maggie, has posted her review of LIFAD for her paper. It's verbally sparkly and is full of zingers of the richest kind. I recommend you read it for her highly colourful prose as much as the actual review. It's scintillating.

[discuss]

Madrid Photos

Snap

Contest to See Live Show

Unfortunately for me this contest is only open to US entrants. You also get to meet the band. Nice. Entry will be via the official MySpace page.

Update: Here's the entry page. Thanks TG.

[discuss]

Bester Liveact

Rammstein has been nominated for a Best Live Act award, for which you can vote. Follow the link, and then follow the link from the link...

Pro Tip: Reload the voting page until you get an anti-spam question you can answer before filling in the form. It's all in German but the Google Language Tool is your friend.

[discuss]

Germ-ans

I've developed a wild theory that Ich Tu' Dir Weh is written from the point of view of a bacterium. No, I'm not completely barmy. I'll explain myself soon.

[discuss]

New LIFAD

Hello? What do we have here? I look forward to the track listing and art work for this new version...

[discuss]

Billboard on Indexing LIFAD

Billboard has posted an article about the indexing of LIFAD here:

Announcing this ruling, Petra Meier, the deputy president of the Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People, cited the track "Ich tue Dir Weh" ("I Want to Hurt You") as well as the artwork showing guitarist Richard Kruspe with a masked, naked woman on his knees. The Federal Office objected to the fact that the track includes lines such as "Bites, kicks, heavy blows, nails, pincers, blunt saws - Tell me what you want."

The German Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People in Bonn also criticized the single "Pussy," stating that it incites listeners to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse despite the risk of AIDS, although the single was not officially part of the ruling banning the album.

They highlight the inconsistency of this gently by pointing out that despite Rammstein material being generally fairly brutal this is the first Rammstein album indexed, but I really think this can't be emphasised enough. The Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People (clumsy) really does need a kick in the arse for their somewhat flaky application of the law. That said, the album speaks for itself and will continue to sell.

[discuss]

More Lisbon Photos

Plink!

Thanks Löwe.

Lisbon Photos

Thanks to demonseye on Herzeleid for this link to the Noticias site with photos from the first concert of the tour!

[discuss]

Lisbon Set-list

Sehnsucht.dk has posted the set-list from the concert in Lisbon that finished a short while ago:

01. Rammlied
02. B********
03. Waidmanns Heil
04. Keine Lust
05. Weisses Fleisch
06. Feuer Frei!
07. Wienerblut
08. Frühling In Paris
09. Ich Tu Dir Weh
10. Liebe Ist Für Alle Da
11. Benzin
12. Links 2 3 4
13. Du Hast
14. Pussy
15. Sonne
16. Haifisch
17. Ich Will
18. Seemann
19. Engel

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Bonus Disc Review Coming

I'm working on a review of the LIFAD bonus disc at the moment, but because I'm doing this initial review 'blind' I'm having to avoid translations and discussion of meaning. It's actually difficult!

I will also review LIFAD and the bonus disc with meaning in mind later on. I suspect the emphasis will change dramatically.

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LIFAD Model's Remarks

Cristina Serrato, the model from the LIFAD cover, has posted to her blog about the shoot. Thanks to erikire from Rammstein-MX for passing on this story from Rammstein Club (Spain).

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Rammstein Finally Goads the Morality Police

As reported by The Gauntlet LIFAD has been indexed in Germany. This is a first, amazingly enough, given that Rammstein have never been afraid to tackle our societal cess pits and less acceptable urges.

In fact, because this is the first time this has happened I have to consider the indexing system to be a bit farcical in terms of consistency and balance.

Oddly this will probably help with album sales in Germany, if it has any effect, since forbidden fruit is definition sweeter. Rammstein is all about forbidden fruit...

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Vasquez Rehearsal Gig Report

Vasquez was fortunate enough to attend a rehearsal show, and has written a comprehensive report about what went on:

The show started in darkness. Paul and Richard was standing behind black polysteryne screens. They started to chop their way through the screens with big axes which was very effective since it was backlit and the light started to shine through the holes they were making. Meanwhile in the middle. Till was blowtorching his way through the middle. Like in Aliens at the beginning when they find Ripley in the shuttle and they blowtorch a hole through the ship to get in.
The set looked like an industrial mix of Alien, Metropolis and Frankenstein.
Paul and Richard broke through and stepped through the holes they've made. Then the big middle hatch was also broken through and this big piece fell down and formed a ramp. Till marched robotically through the hole wearing a red leather butcher's apron and a red feather collar. he had a light in his mouth and a hairnet on his head. Weird, creepy and wonderful.
He marched up to the front where there was a very unusual microphone. Not slighly bent, but on a spring so he could pull it towards him.
Paul had a bare chest and black trousers with chains and Richard was wearing a long leather coat in a military style. Richard did not look well. He looked tired, white and puffy with silly geled hair. Looked like it had been glued to his forehead.
Till looked magnificient!!! He certainly has been working out. His arm muscles were bulging and his stomach was flat. He started the intro to Rammlied still with that weird light in his mouth. The backdrop fell down, and Oli appeared wearing a cowl, and black smeared make up over his torso. On the walkway next to the drums were Flakes keyboards. He was wearing a glittery disco suit, which i loved and White make up. He also had a very cool beatles hair cut. He had 2 keyboards between some frankenstein electricity poles that sparks were flying from. He also had a treadmill that he was walking on. Don't ask me why. It is not like he needs to loose weight, but it certainly was cool.
The lights were enormous like big jet engines. They were moving up and down. They also had smaller satellites with neon lights on them.
It sounded good, but it was not 100 percent tight. the timing was a bit off.

They proceeded with B*****. Till had now taken off his feathers, apron and light in the mouth. He was wearing a black vest with buckles and zips that showed off his gorgeous torso.

I can't remember the exact song order but they played Weisses Fleisch where Flake did his dance with fire works flying off his suit, Waidmanns Heil, Seemann, Liebe ist fur alle da, which I don't like. It is the only song on the album that I always skip.
On Fruhling for Paris Oli had removed his cowl and he sat down to play accoustic guitar by a little light bulb.
Then the effects started seriously. Of course Feuer Frei with the traditional flamethrowers on their faces. Richards did not work. He was not really with it all night. He looked distant from the rest of them, he didn't have any contact with the audience, and he also looked fat. The others took their shirts off, but he never did.
Their was an elevator that took Till up and down off the stage. He disappeared, and the we could hear the grammophone intro to Wiener Blut. He came up from the floor on the lift, looking very retarded crawling on his knees. The lift also had an old fashioned grammophone, a sofa and reading light.
When the song started hundreds of twisted dolls hanging on strings were lowered from the ceiling. Some of them had lasers shining from their eyes.
It was vey creepy and atmospheric.
Then came my favourite moment in the show. They started playing Ich Tu dir weh, and Flake started having a go at Till.
They had a bit of a pretend fight and Till threw Flake over his shoulders and threw him in a metal bath. He then elevated up in the air at least 20 feet on a very thin and not very safe looking column. He had a milk urn in his hand. He poured the contents of the urn in the bath. It was a shower of sparks. Fire works were also going off all over the stage.
Then it was time for Pussy. There weren't that many people there and certainly not that many girls standing at the front, so Till came up to me and Pandy and sang that song personally to us.

Then it was time for encore. Sonne!!! That I love. Haifisch that went down very well live, Benzin with a petrol tank that blew fire. A stunt man looking like a fan jumped up on stage, and Till sat him on fire. The guy was still jumping around headbanging while he was burning. They finally put the flames out, and they all pretended like it was a mistake and that the guy was seriously hurt. Well of course he wasn't and he jumped up and ran away. They finished with Engel.

All in all it was a great show, but it was a little bit disconnected. I think it will be better with a proper big audience. They also did some slight mistakes the timing was a little bit off. I will give it 3 stars out of 5. But I think it will improve and get a lot better. Stage set and visually it was a 5.

After the show we went to the after show party with Olis friend that had taken us to the gig. Had a very nice evening. Oli aksed me what they could change in the show, and I gave him my honest opinion. 4 years ago I met Schneider when I did an interview for a swedish magazine, and he recognised me, so I spent most of the night talking to him. Such a nice guy. What a great night.

My thanks go to Vasquez for the report, and Sinnlos from Affenknecht, who was kind enough to gain permission to reproduce this from Vasquez on my behalf.

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F1cking Great

I know it's completely irrelevant to this site, but I'm a huge F1 fan, and I have to put it out there that I'm really pleased with the outcome of this season. Brawn are the Cinderella story of the season, having started in the ashes with the loss of BAR Honda, then coming back to win it all. Also RBR, who fielded two of my favourite drivers, Vettel and Webber, interleaved with Brawn and took honours too. It was a year of drama and silliness, but the actual racing was great, and some under-rated people shone. Brilliant stuff!

Vettel is German, so maybe that can be my excuse for posting this...

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More Herzeleid Translations Up

We now have Haifisch, B********, and Frühling in Paris.

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Scooter FAIL

Warning: This YouTube video is not endorsed or in any way considered to have any value by LILT.

Okay, if you lasted the whole three minutes and something that farce took to play through you are probably now either feeling fairly appalled or are completely lacking in any sound judgment. That remix is what I generally refer to as a 'cluster-fuck', even in mixed company. Whoever entrusted these clowns with the Till track from Pussy needs a kick in the slats. That is not Pussy. It's a bunch of hackneyed, overused, and antique trance samples. The fact that they've overlaid some bastardised re-sampling of Pussy's vocal track over the top is irrelevant.

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