German industrial metal masters Rammstein worked hard through the months of 2018 to produce their seventh studio album, their first in 10 years. Upon release in May 2019, Untitled Rammstein Album was praised by critics and fans alike. The cover—a simple unlit match on a white background—heralded the pending re-ignition of the immensely popular band after a decade of touring, but no new product.
The band’s European Stadium Tour in support of Untitled got off the ground in early-2019, with a second leg and North American tour in the offing. But later in 2019 the first cases of Covid-19 emerged out of the Wuhan Province of China, proving deadly or life-changing for people with comorbidities, and devastating to global economies and societal infrastructures. The initial reaction to the viral outbreak, due to what George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld might have called unknown unknowns, and the restrictive overreaction that followed wrought by governments many now believe capitalized on the crisis, mark a dark chapter in history. The band had no choice but to indefinitely postpone all dates.
Rammstein’s oeuvre is drawn from life. Unlike the symbology explored by other metal bands, there are no dragons, wizards, mythologized Satan, and no clashing feudal armies in their repertoire. Reality’s confronted across tableaus of social unrest, the futility and necessity of love, sexual powder-kegs, and existential Nietzschean hope and despair. Their punishing, often poignant, and unique sound is driven by strident guitars, the siren-song of techno keyboards, and the unmistakable delivery of vocalist Till Lindemann. If a word of English escapes Lindemann’s lips, it’s exception by design—all songs are sung in German. Despite this language barrier and no tour in support, Untitled spent time in the #1 position on the 2019 US Billboard Top 100 Hard Rock albums chart, and #2 on the US Billboard Top 100 Rock albums chart. Amid an outpouring of industry acclaim, Rammstein was at the top of the heap in their homeland, with the #1 German album of 2019.
With the pandemic stalking the planet and their tour ground to a halt, Rammstein pondered the options. They went back in the studio, and produced another masterwork, Zeit. Released in April 2022 as the pandemic began to abate, Zeit would duplicate the success of Untitled, with showings at positions #1 and #2 on the US Billboard rock and hard rock charts, and as the year-end #1 record in Germany. Keyboardist Christian Lorenz stated that the sessions were spontaneous, and that the lockdown caused the band to "have more time to think of new things and less distraction."
When the totalitarian strictures finally lifted, Rammstein was able return to stages across the continent, now armed with top-shelf new material and backed by a gargantuan industrial tower the likes of which, even in the realms of the mega-groups, is impressive. The result was a cry out of the darkness, a triumph, in a language understood by all.