Rammstein
Zeit

I had said it, I wouldn't be surprised to hear Rammstein produce a softer work. Not that this is so in absolute terms but relatively speaking, in a certain sense, yes.

To be honest, I'm not exactly a great lover of the softer side of Rammstein. When they attempt a track that breaks the rhythm, the semi-ballad, or something close to it, in my opinion, it doesn't quite hit the mark. I never considered them great melody makers. On the contrary, I've always seen melody as their weak point; the melody in Rammstein is never really poignant. I don't rule out that the use of the German language might unconsciously influence my judgment. I've appreciated it and considered it suitable for their aggressive and flashy style due to its highly angular cadence, but for the same reason, I don't find it a melodic and very musical language. To be honest, Italian doesn't strike me as melodic either. Although it is appreciated worldwide and is even considered the language of music, it doesn't hold a candle to the musicality and malleability of English. Can you compare the sharp "l" and "r" in Italian with the rolling "l" or "r" in English? But beyond the linguistic discourse, even Rammstein's melody lines have always lacked something; they seem simplistic. Well, the entire instrumental structure of their songs is quite elementary, but when it comes to melody, they need to push harder.

"Zeit" might even seem like a suicidal album in this respect... and the reason lies in the fact that here the German sextet decides to give ample space to those melodic tracks that were certainly not their strong point. We count as many as 5, which out of a total of 11 are almost half the lot, numbers that remind me of Nickelback from 2005 onwards. The incredible thing is that this time they work wonderfully; it seems they're really working to elevate the melodies to a higher level. In these tracks, there's an unusual ambient and new age vein; at times, it really feels like composition by any atmospheric music composer. When you listen to the title track, "Schwarz," and "Adieu," and hear the sparkling and delicate piano notes, the hyper-deep bass, the dreamy choirs, you really feel like you're in an abyss, in the waters of an ocean. And "Meine Tränen" (still characterized by a very deep bass) and "Lügen," where the sounds are roughly those of an abysmal harp and the band even experiments with using autotune (in an absolutely intelligent and not tacky way), are no less. Practically, in this album, Rammstein has turned their weak point into a strong one, and this leaves you speechless. But the impression is that the band's choice is not random; the decision to propose "Zeit" as the first single seems deliberate, as if to tell us, "Look, there will be several things like this in the album."

However, there are other ideas capable of capturing attention, such as the opener "Armee der Tristen" with its prevalence of heavy electronics and metallic synth-pop; "Angst," with its bass line tinged with a very impoverished funk; or the amusing imperial marches of "Dicke Titten." And there are, of course, the certainties, with an eye to the group's origins: "Giftig," "Zick Zack," and "OK" are worthy of the best Rammstein, they have exactly the formula from the first two albums, combining metal and electronics to create simple, catchy, and direct tracks, perhaps the thing they do best.

"Zeit" is the qualitative leap I probably didn't expect. It's not a radical or total jump, because in the end, it still sounds classically Rammstein, but it happened, and it surprised me. However, it's better to stay grounded and not get carried away hoping for a further leap that might not come.