This album was a bit of a shock to me, not musically but the last rumour I had heard about Teutonic Industrialists Rammstein was that they’d split up! I’m getting duff information from somewhere. “Reise, Reise” kicks off just where previous album “Mutter” left off. Loosely based on a phrase cried by fishermen as a wake up call. Dark, deep and a trudger of an opener, it stomps out the start of this incredible album. The only way I have of knowing this is by logging on to www.herzeleid.com where, conveniently, there is a full translation of the lyrics. And there’s some deep stuff going on I can tell you. However, the beauty of not knowing any more than rudimentary German, gives me the opportunity of judging this album as a piece of music, without the need to judge the lyrical content.  

And this is where Rammstein excel; they have a unique talent in the way they build mood and a huge dynamic quality to their music. It’s almost operatic, the mood setting keyboard swathes through the tracks, weaving an almost hypnotic idea. Lead Vocalist Till Lindemann, growls with menace, punctuating each vowel, spitting each word with force. This is where the German language is ideally suited to Metal. A raw, guttural language, each word is wrenched from Lindemann’s body, track 3 “Dalai Lama” is a stomper, classic Rammstein, muted guitar intro with the drums joining at marching pace, Lindemann builds the tension until the incredible crescendo chorus.  And crescendo is an understatement, when the guitars hit, they really hit and hard. The production quality is unrivalled and yet the softer sections don’t suffer, everything sounds huge without being overpowering (except where it’s Meant to be overpowering).

Track Four “Keine Lust” (Don’t Feel Like It) is a change of pace, machine gun guitars power the tune onward. This will be a great live tune, as most of the album could be, coupled with “Mein Teil” (My Part) for that bang-your-head moment. Apparently the translation reveals that the “My Part” the band is referring to, lies just south of the navel. Worth bearing in mind, when singing along in polite company. “Amerika” is fairly self explanatory, but shows an injection of humour. “We’re all living in Amerika/ Amerika ist wunderbar/ We’re all living in Amerika/ Coca-Cola, Wunderbra. Classic chorus.  

It’s difficult to choose stand out tracks, but “Mortgenstern” (Morningstar) locks into a groove, building to a dramatic choral section, the rhythm is almost funky up until the anthemic ending. The whole album is brutal yet emotional, sweeping keyboards and crushing guitar. I believe Rammstein are almost unique in the music the produce and “Reise, Reise” takes the ideas on “Mutter” and expands them to the next level. They can be an acquired taste due to the language, but to me this only adds a more mysterious quality. Utterly superb. 

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Track List

Reise, Reise
Mein Teil
Dalai Lama
Keine Lust
Los
Amerika
Moskau
Morgenstern
Stein um Stein
Ohne dich
Amour

Line Up

Till Lindemann - Vocals
Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein - Guitars
Paul H. Landers - Guitars
Oliver Riedel - Bass
Christoph Schneider - Drums
Christian "Flake" Lorenz - Keyboards