Over the course of three decades and eight celebrated studio albums, with 2022’s ‘Zeit’ the most recent, Rammstein – the great Berlin-based collective – have spectacularly redefined the worlds of heavier music and darker, alternative culture.

 

What’s more, their unique reinvention of these worlds has been achieved by the same musicians (take a set-closing bow Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, Paul Landers, Oliver Riedel, Christoph Schneider & Flake Lorenz – the line-up is unchanged since the start), employing their own language and their own logic ‘n’ lore, with zero concessions made to prevailing trend an’ fashion.

 

When the so-called ‘tastemakers’ are moving one way, Rammstein will already be heading in the opposite direction, arms linked, making fresh footprints in the snow.

 

As in any enduring relationship, there have been times when the six have seen things differently, and made no secret of the fact; however, binding everything together is a core set of practices and beliefs – let’s call it ‘The Rammstein Way’ – that remain resolute and undisturbed, underpinning a career trajectory that now sees this iconic brotherhood testing the structural worth of larger stadiums across the planet.

 

Here is a group who don’t just tear up the rule book, they give it a ritual cremation using the more powerful of Till’s flamethrowers, the one usually reserved for bringing a rebellious Flake back into line; a group who have never adhered to the traditional album / tour cycle, releasing new music and playing incendiary live shows to millions of fans according to their own personal calendar (let’s call this ‘Rammstein Time’); a group whose visual approach, spanning artwork, photos and videos, has consistently challenged accepted views of what a hard rock band – a German hard rock band – could or should be…

 

As a result, they are now well drilled when it comes to closing ranks and making their voices heard, pushing back against prejudice, petty authority and outmoded ways of thinking; they aren’t a political band, but they do carry a strong set of beliefs, and if they feel it right to venture where others might fear to go, they have the artistic and intellectual gravitas to launch a united head-on assault, supported by a degree of dusky humour.

 

Simply, as anyone who’s ever attended a Rammstein show will be aware, and these are acknowledged rites-of-passage events, there is no other concert-going experience that easily compares; no-one else treading the same hot coals, breathing the same smoke-filled air with the same smell ofbenzin in their nostrils…

 

If you use the term ‘Rammstein-esque’, it effectively means, well, Rammstein.

 

That’s it.

 

And, peering back through the smoke, it’s clear that the ingredients that make the East Berliners the stand-alone proposition they are were already there and playing a key role right from the start, from debut album, ‘Herzeleid’, onwards…

 

Released in September 1995 and rising to the No. 2 spot on the German charts, ‘Herzeleid’ (‘Heartbreak’) was the official point of entry for both band and brand; the start of a record-breaking, chart-topping, award-winning, outrage-inducing, thigh-slapping, Grammy-nominated, David Lynch-approved journey that has consistently broken new ground, sometimes the internet, and achieved multiple gold and platinum sales on a global basis; a journey that is now in its 30th year, surely an occasion, atrue milestone in musical history, to be marked in time-honoured Rammstein style.

 

During the making of ‘Herzeleid’, it was noted by the production team that when big decisions had to be taken, the band members would call a “German Conference”, which could run for up to two hours. How long the meeting lasted on this occasion is not known, or indeed what potential forms of celebration were discussed (a 12 month long Spartakiad, perhaps?!), but there’s no question that the final verdict ticks all of the boxes when it comes to quality, collectability and supreme attention to detail; a bespoke, career-spanning item put together with full band involvement, plus the desire to create something that fans, especially longstanding fans will truly appreciate…

 

Damen und Herren, please welcome the ‘XXXIII’ limited edition collector’s vinyl box set, genuinely a project 30 years in the making…