Signed Band Of The Week
Rammstein – Liebe Ist Für Alle Da
Rammstein are a band that really need their own television show; eight sexually perverse German men with no qualms about poking fun at the most grotesque of things – Mein Teil’s hilariously grim look at the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case being one such example. Call me crazy (or sadistic, insane, immoral, I don’t care), but I’d tune in to that little piece of wholesome family fun as often as I could. But seriously, disregarding all the hoopla surrounding their, admittedly, questionable morals, if there is one thing Rammstein are good at it’s pumping out some seriously glorious industrial metal, and with their latest album Liebe Ist Für Alle Da – ironically translated into “Love Is There For Everyone” – they have not disappointed.
Funnily enough, in true German style, they seem rather proud of their achievements with this latest album, as vocalist Till Lindemann bellows “Rammstein! Rammstein!” in the opening track ‘Rammlied’. However, such confidence should not be scoffed at, as Liebe Ist Für Alle Da is a masterpiece of metal. Only eleven tracks long (the iTunes and Special Edition versions will buy you one and six more tracks, respectively), it’s a wonderfully succinct demonstration of a band continuing to hit their straps six albums down the track.
To be honest, I don’t want to say a great deal of anything about this album – purely because I’d rather you just believe me and get your hands on a copy of it. Every song on Liebe Ist Für Alle Da will kick you in the guts and send you spiraling into fits of head banging. After you buy this album – and you will, trust me – Rammstein will take you on a journey that, no matter what they seem to be doing with synths and strings, will always end up in a juggernaut of crunching guitars, booming drums and soaring hoarse vocals. Whether it be the explosion from the evil, synth-laden verse to the booming chorus of ‘Ich tu dir Weh’, the epic ‘B********’, the shredding of ‘Wiener Blut’, or the head banging delights of ‘Mehr’, Rammstein hit the back of the net in every song.
The relentless murder of silence that Liebe Ist Für Alle Da is home to makes the closing track ‘Roter Sand’ seem all the more brilliant – a softly spoken juxtaposition of death and love, (this is translated, so bare with me): “Red sand and two rounds/One dies in a kiss of gunpower/The second dies which didn’t spare its target/Now is stuck deeply in my chest.”
That’s beautiful, man. Now – here’s hoping the blood, urine and semen-soaked Rammstein live show will arrive ASAP to wash away any thoughts of goodwill.
Indie Band Of The Week
Richard In Your Mind
Have you ever wondered what Moby crossed with a few hits of LSD and a 1990’s video game would sound like? Me neither. Just in case you cared though, it sounds like this week’s indie band Richard In Your Mind.
It’s no coincidence the by-line on their myspace reads “THE MIND MAGGOTS”; RIYM’s music can and will penetrate the depths of your once-sane neurological workings and turn them into a mesh of confused and bewildered thoughts. RIYM’s mixture of electronic sounds with the natural on their Summertime EP creates a blend of tone colours that can be adequately captured in one picture.
This would be the perfect soundtrack to Jimmy Hendrix’s life.
Each song on the Summertime EP treats you to the workings of a songwriter who is unabashedly unafraid to try literally any piece of audio to further his artistic vision (see: the use of a plane sfx in the groove-athon that is ‘Make It Chill’). The beauty with this nonchalance towards what any, well, normal musical listener would deem appropriate is that it makes RIYM a truly unforgettable listening experience. Okay, so the space-age synths of ‘Rainforest’ aren’t exactly my cup of tea, nor is the reverb-laced sitar in the equally as oblique ‘Intranaut (Return of the Space Hindu)’, but RIYM balance these drug-induced moments with firey beats in ‘Summertime Boogie (Do The)’ and simply glorious west-coast hip-hop-esque beats in ‘Make It Chill’. Such is the variety of RIYM’s sounds, that the closing track ‘Follow Me’ conjures comparisons with some of Jane’s Addiction’s softer work.
At the end of the day, Richard In Your Mind’s Summertime E.P. can be summed up in the lyrics of the final minute of the aforementioned track, where a helium voice sings the following over a polka guitar rhythm:
Yeah me and my baby get hammered in the day time,
Me and my baby get hammered in the day time,
Me and mine, all the time.
Yeah me and my baby get hammered in the day time,
Me and mine, all the time.
I don’t know about anybody else,
I barely even know about my own self,
But to be there with me,
Darling don’t you leave me,
Oh please.
I’ll take you with me wherever I am going,
But I’m drifting around but at least I’m not drowned yet,
I don’t drown I just drink alot of ocean
You and me in a circular motion,
Me and my baby get hammered in the day time,
Me and mine, all the time.
…yeah I don’t get it either, but it’s still pretty damn memorable.
You can purchase the EP on their website or at their myspace.
