Rammstein (German pronunciation: [ˈʁamʃtaɪn]) is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band, formed in 1994 in Berlin. Throughout its existence, Rammstein's six-man lineup has been unchanged—singer Till Lindemann, guitarists Richard Z. Kruspe and Paul H. Landers, bassist Oliver "Ollie" Riedel, drummer Christoph "Doom" Schneider and keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz.
The majority of their songs are in German, but they have also performed songs entirely or partially in other languages including English, Spanish, French, and Russian. Rammstein's award-winning live shows are renowned for their pyrotechnic elements and both on and off-stage theatrics. Rammstein's entire catalogue is published by Universal Music Group.
In 1989 East German guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe escaped to West Berlin and started the band Orgasm Death Gimmicks. At that time, he was heavily influenced by American music, especially that of rock group Kiss. After the Berlin Wall came down, he moved back home to Schwerin, where Till Lindemann worked as a basket-weaver and played drums in the band First Arsch (loosely translated as "First Ass" or "First Arse"). At this time, Kruspe lived with Oliver Riedel of the Inchtabokatables and Christoph "Doom" Schneider of Die Firma. Kruspe had come to realize that the music he had previously created did not really suit him. He envisioned something that would combine machines as well as the sound of hard guitars. Kruspe, Riedel and Schneider started working together on a new project in 1994. Finding it difficult to write both music and lyrics, Kruspe persuaded Lindemann, whom he had overheard singing while he was working, to join the fledgling group.
"Rammstein" is a song by the German industrial metal band Rammstein. It is the eleventh and final track on their debut album, Herzeleid, and was the first song written by the band. It is about the Ramstein air show disaster. According to an interview with rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, the sound of the main riff of the song is made by him and lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, each playing a similar riff at different octaves (Richard plays the middle and Paul plays the lower). The song was featured in the 1997 David Lynch film Lost Highway.
In the Live aus Berlin performance of the song, lead vocalist Till Lindemann ascends from underneath the stage via a trap door. He wears a burning coat, and special goggles from which a laser beam is projected from one of the lenses. When they performed the song in the 2004–05 Reise, Reise tour, Lindemann no longer wore the flaming jacket, opting instead for dual arm mounted flame throwers.
Rammstein has been a part of every tour setlist since the song's inception, including the Pre-Herzeleid years. The only tour it has not been included in is the tour for Liebe ist für alle da and Made in Germany 1995–2011, although in the last Made in Germany tour/unofficial tour name of the Made in Germany tour Wir halten das Tempo tour, the introduction of the song has been used to tease the audience as they performed the intro with guitar flamethrowers cutting into "Bück Dich", just before the vocals enter and after the Rammstein intro with guitar flamethrowers before "Bück Dich" gets performed, the crowd say Rammstein.
The discography of Rammstein, a German Neue Deutsche Härte band, consists of six studio albums, two live albums, and four video albums. Rammstein has also released twenty-five singles, twenty-four of which are accompanied by music videos. The band was formed in the mid-1990s by six musicians from East Berlin and Schwerin: singer Till Lindemann, guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers, keyboardist Flake Lorenz, bassist Oliver Riedel, and drummer Christoph Schneider.
Rammstein debuted with the single "Du riechst so gut", released on 17 August 1995 in a scented digipack format. A month later, the band issued their first studio album, Herzeleid, which peaked at number six on the German Media Control Charts and remained there for 102 weeks. Before the release of its second studio album, Rammstein issued the single "Engel" is was featured on end credits in the 1997 film Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation and from in the music video was featured From Dusk Till Dawn, on 1 April 1997. It reached the top three on the German singles chart and was certified gold by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) for the sale of more than 250,000 copies.