Rammstein

Rammstein is my new addiction.  

It's an unlikely attraction for me.  An often hyper-masculine industrial metal band who perform almost entirely in German.  Grit and grime and sex and violence are the primary themes of thier videos and songs.  

I like ponies and rainbows and fluffy kittens . . . so why am I so hopelessy addicted to this group?  Other than the fact that it's a way to get better at my German, of course :P 

Whatever the reason, I can't seem to get enough of them.  I've been familiar with thier song "Mutter" for several years now, but have never really thought I'd be able to get into thier other, heavier stuff.  Friday I asked my friend Josh, a long-time fan, if he could recommend some more songs from them that might be similar in style to "Mutter," figuring that listening to them might help me practice my German.  Instead, he just loaned me a CD and sent it home with me to listen to on my own.  Saturday afternoon, I put it in while cooking . . . and quickly found that I really liked several of the songs! After letting the CD go through twice, I had to hear more.  I plugged Rammstein into youtube, and came up with several long playlists.  I pressed play, and I was done for.  

The songs themselves were one thing, but the videos were completely captivating.  So dark and gritty and often gruesome . . . and always telling a story of some sort.  And it doesn't seem to matter how many times I've seen the video, there are several of them that I have to stop and watch when they come on.  It's decreasing my productivity exponentially.  

A couple of good examples (these are also examples of thier lighter stuff) are: 

Rosenrot

Ohne Dich

Another thing that strikes me about them, is how much thier look changes from video to video, especially that of the lead singer, Till Lindemann.  From a shaved head, to slicked back hair, to a mohawk.  From interesting leather get-ups, to business suits, to birthday suits, to flaming trench coats.  I can't imagine thier shows being anything less than amazing.  

And after listening to thier music and becoming completely enraptured by them over the last week, it came as a surprise to me last night as I was reading through Till Lindemann's Wiki, and I discovered that, aside from being the frontman for an industrial metal band, he is also a published poet.  His book, Messer, sells new on Amazon.com for $70!  

I want it.  

All said, I'm not really sure I mind this addiction.  I'm glad I finally made the leap and explored more of thier music.  I'm looking forward to eventually reading Till Lindemann's poems, as well, becuase I will get that book! :P 

Oh, and one final note . . . if you decide you'd like to watch some videos, too (other than those posted above), be sure to do it when no kids are around.  Much of thier stuff is not kid safe!