Rammstein
Reise, Reise

THE REVIEW

Imagine standing on the bow of a ship, drifting off the North Sea: the wind blows icy and fierce, and the waves rage, stirring the water that blends with the iron-grey sky. These are the sensations you experience listening to the title track and opener of Rammstein's fourth album, more than just a band, a real force of nature, capable of creating songs with a very simple structure yet powerful, communicative, and never banal in terms of content. In "Reise, Reise", our heroes add darker, more gothic brushstrokes to their soundscape, with targeted and judicious use of orchestral elements that marry with a heavy-industrial (there's really little tanz-metall here) devoted to a true spiritual elevation, perfectly delivered by Shaman Till Lindemann, whose beautiful, deep voice becomes, depending on the occasion, almost spoken, then harsher, anthem-like, or sweet and tenor-like.

Among the most classic Rammstein tracks, we find "Mein Teil", with its powerful and perverse progression that explodes in the incendiary chorus, where our heroes confirm their particular attitude in dealing with shock themes (in this case, cannibalism), seasoning it all with one of the most beautiful and ingenious videos in metal history, my absolute favorite. Another textbook single is "Keine Lust", a classic industrial performance with steamroller guitars and a triumphant chorus that flows into a joint solo by the Lorenz-Kruspe duo, or "Stein Um Stein", dreamy and decadent, almost psychedelic, where nothing foreshadows the insane explosion of the chorus, which again fades into melancholy, with Till perfectly conveying all these sensations.

Other album highlights include the hypnotic "Dalai Lama", masterful in its use of the piano in the spectral choral chorus, "Amerika", a stunning anti-anthem very catchy, to be sung at the top of your lungs, with a very spacey keyboard solo and a children's choir overdubbed in the finale, or for fairness "Moskau", the only tanz-metall track on the album, in duet with a childish Spice Girl-like female voice and tainted with Sabbathian influences. An authentic rare gem is the stunning "Morgenstern", introduced by a Cradle Of Filth-style choir, the highest point of spiritual elevation and gothic appeal of this album, memorable in the claustrophobic atmosphere that opens up in all its magnificence in the chorus, epic and mysterious where Till Lindemann proves to have lyrical abilities absolutely not inferior to Eric Adams or Fabio Lione.

Pure experimentation instead is "Los", with an almost obsessive acoustic guitar and very discreet keyboards. A minimal experiment that never explodes but is pleasant and very hypnotic. The album closes with two ballads: the first, "Ohne Dich", is very sumptuous and symphonic, becoming a sweet lighter-waving march from the stage; it almost certainly inspired Manowar for "Blood Brothers", while the second, "Amour", is entirely unusual for Rammstein, very beautiful and delicate with its barely perceptible arpeggios and its light-as-a-breeze keyboards, that increase the decibels only at the end. Till always gives the best of himself, interpreting the song with a whispered and very sensual tone.

Summing up, this time too (and with the subsequent Rosenrot), the Rammstein have fully confirmed their killer instinct and immense talent, acquiring a new wild grace that makes them even more unique in their genre. Buy their records, it's truly worth it.