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Rammstein: Völkerball (DVD)

19/08/08 || theProphet

Germany has had quite a few good things going for them over the years; Oktoberfest, Klaus Kinski, top-notch eel porn, Franz Beckenbauer, Friedrich Nietschze and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. At the pinnacle of German creation, however, stands the Tanz-Metall phenomenon Rammstein, waving their penises at the trve metal kids. Germans now the value of these assets, for real, ‘cause since the thirties, Germany will always be struggling uphill, man. Anyways, genocide and warmongering aside, the latest anyone heard from Rammstein came with a fucking visual. That’s right, once again it’s time for a DVD to be reviewed here at GD…

Behold! It’s “Völkerball”!

This gargantuan release features footage from four different shows, we get the main event in Nimes, France, as well as a couple of songs from London, Tokyo and Moscow, countries common knowledge. What instantly strikes you is the incredible amount of hits Rammstein have at their disposal, and how tastefully they have chosen their setlist. The material spans over Rammstein’s entire career up until their 2004 release “Reise, Reise”, and every song is so fucking great it’s hard to single out the favourites. If I have to mention umm… four, I’d say that the highlights are the morbid eerieness that is “Stein um Stein” (link), the horrific “Mein Teil” (link), the monstrous, crushing “Sonne” (link) and the ominous “Rammstein” (link). These songs are the famous cream of the crop and all that that makes me spurt my own cream over the crop of some picturesque, rural Heimat in Bavaria.

When watching “Völkerball” it also becomes obvious that Rammstein is not only a very good band, they are also an incredibly rich band. Seriously, all the lighting and pyrotechnics surely must’ve used enough power to supply several small towns with electricity for a couple of weeks… Here we get a clusterfuck of lights and lasers, flamethrowers attached to the stage, flamethrowers attached to masks, flamethrowers attached to arms, to guitars etc. Flames shooting up from the floor, a burning bow, some short of shotgun and a huge fucking cauldron. However, Rammstein are skilled enough in employing their firepower so that it does not outshine the music, instead by accenting rhythms with strobes and whatnot, the pyrotechnics works almost as an instrument on its own, emphasizing the music and giving the songs a new dimension.

Musicwise, all of you who the slightest bit about Rammstein know that on this here DVD there’s no wankery to be found in the slightest. Just a riff-fest groovy enough to make you bang your head all the way to the bronze-age, and the sound of them guitars is absolutely massive. Furthermore, I think Rammstein may house one of the better rhythm sections in modern metal, with Cristoph Schneider being one of my fave drummers. He may not pull of anything overly complicated, but he’s so fucking steady and groovy and precise it’s ridiculous, all while Oliver Riedel’s steady bass, audible as fuck, anchors the show.

Christian Lorenz handles one of the most important aspects of the Rammstein sound, namely keyboards. Wearing some ridiculous goggles he kicks out some nice synthetic jams all over the place. Then, every once in a while, he walks away from his instrument and starts goofing off on stage, often at the receiving end of one of Rammstein’s many stage jokes, check out “Mein Teil” or “Los” for examples.

Last, and largest, Till Lindemann towers above the mic at the centre of the stage. From entering through a huge vagina to walking offstage after the last encore, he fucking OWNS the show. Theatrical to the extreme, he oozes of charisma and masculinity. Seriously, if there was ever anyone who’d make me feel like a woman it’d be him. He might not technically be the best singer since Pavarotti, but his deep, hoarse snarl fits Rammstein’s music like an eel in an unshaven cunthole.

A monumental effort, I recommend “Völkerball” to everyone with the slightest interest in Rammstein, or anyone that remember that they used to like them but haven’t heard them in a while, a live DVD doesn’t get much better than this. Also, I recommend everybody to spend the extra bucks on getting the (not so) limited edition, which includes two documentaries about the band.

9 German suplexes out of 10.

Information
Released: 2006
Label: Universal
Website: www.rammstein.com
Band
Till Lindemann: vocals
Richard Z. Kruspe: guitars
Paul H. Landers: guitars
Oliver Riedel: bass
Christian Landers: keyboards and goggles
Cristoph Schneider: drums

Tracklist
01. Reise, Reise
02. Links 2, 3, 4
03. Keine Lust
04. Feuer frei!
05. Asche zu Asche
06. Morgenstern
07. Mein Teil
08. Stein um Stein
09. Los
10. Du riechst so gut
11. Benzin
12. Du hast
13. Sehnsucht
14. Amerika
15. Rammstein
16. Sonne
17. Ich will
18. Ohne dich
19. Stripped

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