{"key":"1466","name":"Rammstein","bio":"Rammstein is a German metal band which was formed in 1994, in Berlin, and consists of Till Lindemann (lead vocals), Richard Kruspe (lead guitar and backing vocals), Paul Landers (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Oliver Riedel (bass guitar, \"Ollie\"), Christoph Schneider (drums and Electronic percussion, \"Doom\") and Christian Lorenz (keyboards, \"Flake\"). The band is widely accepted as part of the Neue Deutsche H\u00e4rte scene, alongside bands such as Oomph!, Laibach, and Die Krupps. Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. They have sold over 22 million records worldwide. Rammstein's entire catalogue is published by Universal Music Group. Since its formation, Rammstein has had no changes in lineup.Although the majority of their songs are written in German, Rammstein has had success across the world. NameRammstein takes its name indirectly from the West German town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, the site of the flight show disaster on August 28, 1988. The band's signature song, the eponymous Rammstein, is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. The extra \"m\" in the band's name makes it translate literally as \"ramming stone\" to convey the Teutonic sound of their music. In a short period before the band became well known, they performed using the name \"Rammstein-Flugschau\" (literally meaning Rammstein-Airshow.)FormationRammstein was founded by guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe. In 1989, he escaped to West Berlin and started the band, Orgasm Death Gimmick. At that time, he was heavily influenced by American music, especially that of 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 \"Apex Ass\"). At this time, Richard lived with Oliver Riedel, of the band The Inchtabokatables, and Christoph \"Doom\" Schneider (of Die Firma). Richard realized that the music he had previously created did not properly suit him. He envisioned something that would combine machines as well as the sound of hard guitars. The three started working together on a new project. Richard soon found it extremely difficult to write both music and lyrics at the same time, so he persuaded Lindemann to join Rammstein. Richard first discovered Till when he overheard him singing while he was working.Early Years (Pre-Herzeleid Era - 1994)A contest was held in Berlin for amateur bands in 1994, the winner of which would receive the opportunity to record a four track demo CD in a professional studio. Kruspe, Schneider, Riedel, and Lindemann entered and won the contest, which sparked the attention of Paul Landers, who wanted in on the project upon hearing their demo. To complete their sound, Rammstein then attempted to recruit Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz, who had played with Paul Landers previously in Feeling B. At first, Lorenz was hesitant, but eventually agreed to join the band.Herzeleid (1995 - 1997)Rammstein began to record their first studio album entitled Herzeleid in March 1995 with producer Jacob Hellner. They released their first single Du riechst so gut on August 17th and later released the album on September 24th 1995. Later that same year, they toured with Clawfinger in Warsaw and Prague. Rammstein headlined a tour of their own through Germany from December 2nd to December 22nd consisting of 17 shows which helped to boost the band's popularity. They then went on several tours throughout early 1996, releasing their second single entitled Seemann on January 8th 1996.On March 27, Rammstein performed on MTV's Hanging Out in London; their first performance in the UK. Rammstein's first major boost in popularity outside of Germany came when music director Trent Reznor chose two Rammstein songs, namely Heirate Mich and Rammstein, for David Lynch's new film, Lost Highway. The soundtrack for the movie was released in the US in the fall of 1996 and later in Europe April 1997.Rammstein then went on to tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland from September to October 1996, doing an anniversary concert on 27th September called '100 years of Rammstein'. Guests to the concert included Moby, Christiane Herbold (of Bobo) and The Berlin Session Orchestra, Berlin director Gert Hof was responsible for the light show.Sehnsucht\/Live aus Berlin (late 1996 - 2000)Rammstein started recording Sehnsucht in November 1996 at the Temple Studios in Malta. The album was again produced by Jacob Hellner. The first single off the album, entitled Engel was released on April 1 1997 and later reached gold on May 23. This prompted the release of a fan edition of the single, appropriately named Engel: Fan Edition. This contained two previously unreleased songs Feuerr\u00e4der and Wilder Wein. Release of the 2nd single off the album \"Sehnsucht\" was Du Hast which hit the German single charts August 1997 at number 5.Rammstein then continued touring in the summer whilst Sehnsucht was released on August 22nd 1997. The album reached number 1 after only two weeks in the charts. Simultaneously, Herzeleid and both the singles off Sehnsucht (Du Hast and Engel) were in the Top 20 of the German charts. Rammstein continued to headline sold out shows throughout Europe in September, October and November 1997 before releasing their cover of the Kraftwerk song, Das Modell. The single included another unreleased song entitled Kokain. On December 5th 1997, Rammstein embarked on their first tour of the United States, with support from KMFDM. On August 22nd and 23rd 1998, Rammstein played to over 17,000 fans at the Wuhlheide in Berlin; the biggest show the band have ever played there up to that date. Supporting acts were Danzig, Nina Hagen, Joachim Witt and Alaska. The show was professionally videotaped, intended to be released on their upcoming live DVD, Live aus Berlin. Rammstein embarked on a live tour with Korn, Ice Cube, Orgy and Limp Bizkit called the Family Values tour in September through to late October 1998. To further continue their success in the US, Sehnsucht received Gold record status on November 2nd. The Band was nominated at the MTV European Music Awards for Best Rock Act and performed Du Hast live on November 12th of that year.Rammstein had further success in 1999, starting off the year in February with a nomination for Best Metal Performance at the 42nd-annual Grammy Awards. A year after it was filmed, the Live aus Berlin concert was released on CD on 30th August 1999, with a limited edition double CD also available. Two weeks after it was released, Live aus Berlin went to number one in the German Album Charts. On September 13th and November 26th 1999 the video and DVD versions of the concert were released respectively.Mutter (2000 - 2002)Rammstein's album Mutter recording took place in the south of France between May 2000 and June 2000, and was later mixed in Stockholm in October of that year. During the Christmas holidays 2000, Rammstein released an MP3 of Links 2 3 4 as a taster for their new album. 2001 was a busy year for Rammstein, starting out in January and February with the band playing the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. January also heralded the shooting of the video for their upcoming single Sonne, recorded in Potsdam at Babelsberger Filmstudios from 13th to the 15th. The video was released on 29th January 2001. The single for Sonne was released on February 12th 2001 in Europe, featuring an Instrumental version of the song, two remixes by Clawfinger, and Adios off the upcoming album. Mutter was released on April 2nd 2001, sparking another Rammstein tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On May 14th, the second single off the album Links 2 3 4 was released, along with a video of the single on May 18th. After a tour throughout Europe in June, the band then toured USA, Canada and Mexico from June 2001 to August 2001. Ich Will, the third single from the album was released on September 10th 2001 and a Tour edition of the Mutter album was released, featuring alternative artwork and live versions of Ich Will, Links 2 3 4, Sonne, and Spieluhr. Between January 8th and January 12th 2002, Rammstein travelled to Prague to participate in a minor scene from the movie 'xXx'. The band is seen in the opening scene of the action movie performing a concert with their song Feuer frei!. Feuer frei! was released across Europe as first single from the xXx Soundtrack on 14th October 2002. Rammstein released two remixes of the song, Furthermore, the single's tracklisting included Du Hast and B\u00fcck Dich cover versions by Battery. The single cover was an artwork by New York artist Robert Longo. The video for the single was cut by Rob Cohen, which is partly the Rammstein performance at the beginning of the movie and partly snippets from the movie itself.Reise, Reise (2003 - 2005)Rammstein recorded Reise, Reise at the El Cortijo studio in southern Spain between November 2003 and December 2003, it was later mixed at Toytown studio in Stockholm, Sweden in April and May 2004. The first single off of the album was Mein Teil, released on 26th July 2004. The shooting for the video is shot in the Arena, in the Treptow district of Berlin. Outdoor shooting takes place at the Deutsche Oper (Opera House) U-Bahn station on Bismarckstrasse. The director is Zoran Bihac, who was also behind the Links 2 3 4 video. The Amerika video is filmed on the 6th and 7th of August 2004 in the ruins of the former chemical factory in R\u00fcdersdorf near Berlin, Germany under the direction of J\u00f6rn Heitmann (who also directed the Ich will video, among others). The spacesuits for the moon scenes were borrowed from Hollywood and 240 tons of ash was needed to create the moon landscape. The video premiered on 20th August 2004.The second single from Reise, Reise was Amerika, released on September 13th 2004. With the album released on September 27th, it went straight to top 10 charts throughout Europe. According to the Billboard charts, Rammstein were now the most successful German-language band of all time. Rammstein then toured Germany through November and some of December 2004, releasing the single Ohne Dich on 22nd November.In February 2005, Rammstein tour Europe again. Ending on February 28, 2005, Rammstein will have played 21 concerts in front of more than 200,000 spectators in 10 countries. Keine Lust was the fourth single released from Reise, Reise on 28th February 2005. From May 27th 2005 to July 30th 2005, Rammstein play festivals all around Europe and in Russia. Footage from these concerts eventually end up on Rammstein's live DVD V\u00f6lkerball, released later in November 2006.Rosenrot\/V\u00f6lkerball (2005 - 2006)In August 2005, Rammstein revealed the name of their latest studio album, Rosenrot. Their first single from the new album, Benzin, was released on October 5th 2005, with its video premiere on 16th September 2005. The album Rosenrot was released worldwide on October 28th 2005. Directly following the release, the album continues the success-story of forerunner Reise, Reise and takes the top 10 charts in 20 different countries. December 16th 2005 spelled the release of the title track on the album Rosenrot. The video for Mann Gegen Mann was released on 6th February 2006, with the single being released on March 3rd. On February 19th 2006, Rammstein had the honour of having an asteroid named after them, 110393 Rammstein. Some believe their name was chosen because of the music video for Amerika, which displayed the six members of the band floating above the moon sporting NASA's astronaut suits. On November 17th the first Rammstein Live DVD since Live aus Berlin from 1998 is released. V\u00f6lkerball shows concert-performances by the band in England, France, Japan and Russia. The Special Edition is extended by a second DVD, which contains the documentaries \u201cAnaconda in the net\u201d by Mathilde Bonnefoy and the \u201cMaking of the album Reise, Reise\u201d by Rammstein guitarist Paul Landers. The limited Edition is released as a large black\/white photo-book with photos by Frederic Batier, who had accompanied the band through their recent tours. The Photo-book edition contains 2 DVDs and 2 Live albums.Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da & Tour (2007\u20132011)The band took a time out in 2006, and began work again in 2007. The band didn't tour during 2007 due to album production. The recording process took reportedly two years.In July 2009, the title track \"Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da\" leaked onto the internet, along with promotional materials. This has led Universal Music to take action against certain fan sites.The single \"Pussy\" was released on September 16, 2009, especially for the adult website Visit-x. The video contains graphic scenes of male and female nudity as well as women engaging in sexual activity with the band members, although the actual sex scenes were performed by body doubles. The women featured in the video are German porn stars.The album Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da was released October 16. On November 8, 2009 Rammstein began the first leg of the Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da Tour In Lisbon, Portugal.The video to \"Ich tu dir weh\" was released on December 21, 2009 on the adult website Visit-x, just like the video to \"Pussy\", after advertisement on the band's official German website; it depicts the band on stage in a similar configuration as the one on their 2009\/10 tour. Any references to the video on the official website have since been deleted. The single has been released on January 15, 2010.On April 23, 2010, Rammstein released their video \"Haifisch\". Unlike the video to \"Ich tu dir weh\", it contains more of a storyline rather than a performance. The single was released during May and June 2010.As part of their European summer tour, Rammstein performed at the 2010 Rock AM Ring Festival on Friday 4th - Sunday 6 June 2010. They also headlined several shows across Europe on the Sonisphere Festival, including their first ever outdoor UK performance at Knebworth Park, performing the day before Iron Maiden. On Sunday July 18, 2010, Rammstein played in front of more than 130,000 people in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham as the closing show for the Festival d'\u00e9t\u00e9 de Qu\u00e9bec. It was their first North American appearance in 9 years. The band have confirmed that their last tour dates of 2010 will be in the Americas. After several South American dates the band will perform a show at the famous Madison Square Garden in New York- their first US show in nine years, Tickets sold out within 30 minutes of being on sale. It is also confirmed that they will be playing at Big Day Out 2011 in Australia and New Zealand.Made In Germany 1995\u20132011 (2011\u2013present)On November 11, 2011 Rammstein released the single \"Mein Land\", on December 2 the album \"Made in Germany 1995\u20132011\".StyleAlthough Rammstein is often generalized as Neue Deutsche H\u00e4rte, its music spans a variety of related styles, including industrial hard rock, heavy metal and electronic music with influences of punk rock, pop music and gothic rock, due to their use of keyboards to emulate strings, choirs or pianos. The band was influenced by Laibach, a Slovenian neo-classical and industrial group. Other influences include, Oomph!, and Ministry, but the contrast between individual songs such as Du riechst so gut, Bestrafe mich, Ohne dich and Te quiero puta! makes the band difficult to classify, though most simply refer to them as industrial metal. The band's diverse range of influence has made them appealing to tastes of all kinds, but they are chiefly renowned in industrial, electronica, and heavy metal circles.The band has a flair for costumes of all sorts, both in live shows and in videos. In the Keine Lust video, all members of the band except Flake were dressed in fat suits. In the Amerika video, all members of the band wore space suits. Live, the band experiments even more with costumes. In the Volkerball concert, among others, Till would change constumes in between songs, dressed accordingly for each song. For example, in Mein Teil, he was dressed as a butcher, in Reise, Reise, a sailor. The rest of the band each wears their own preferred costume, but none as outlandish or themed as Till's.Rammstein's style has tended to divide critics, some of whom have responded with memorable comments. Jam Showbiz (April 2001) described Mutter as \"music to invade Poland to.\" New Zealand's Southland Times (Dec. 17, 1999) suggested that Till Lindemann's \"booming, sub-sonic voice\" would send \"the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors,\" while the New York Times (Jan. 9, 2005) commented that on the stage, \"Mr. Lindemann gave off an air of such brute masculinity and barely contained violence that it seemed that he could have reached into the crowd, snatched up a fan, and bitten off his head.\" Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic commented that \"their blend of industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals is staggeringly powerful.\" \"We just push boundaries,\" said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine Kerrang!. \"We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed.\"LyricsNearly all of Rammstein's songs are in German. However, the band did record Engel (English version) (Angel), Du hast (English version) (\"You have\", which is most commonly confused with \"You hate\", since 'hast' and 'hasst' sound phonetically identical. In the English version of the song, the lyric is translated to \"You hate\" for stylization purposes.), and Amerika (English version), as well as covers of the songs Stripped (Depeche Mode) and Pet Sematary (The Ramones). In addition, the songs Amerika, Stirb nicht vor mir (Don't Die Before I Do) and Moskau (\"Moscow\") contain not only German verses, but also English and Russian choruses, respectively; Te quiero puta! (\"I love you, whore!\") is entirely in Spanish. Oliver Riedel commented that, \"German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger\".The lyrics of Rammstein and above all their talk by singer Till Lindemann are an essential element of music and shape the perception by fans and a wider public. This is, among other things that are often very controversial, and taboo subjects such as sadomasochism (B\u00fcck Dich, Rein Raus and Bestrafe Mich), homosexuality (Mann gegen Mann), incest (Spiel mit mir and Tier), pedophilia (Tier and Halleluja) , Necrophilia (Heirate mich), Pyromania (Benzin and Hilf mir), cannibalism (Mein Teil), the game with religious images (Asche zu Asche, Engel) having sex and violence (Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen?).Wordplay is a fundamental component of Rammstein's lyrics. In many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways. The song Du hast, for example, is a play on German marriage vows (Willst Du, bis der Tod euch scheidet, treu ihr sein f\u00fcr alle Tage? - \"Will you, until Death separates you, be faithful to her for the rest of your days?\"). In the song, the traditional affirmative response, Ja (\"Yes\"), is replaced by its negation Nein (\"No\"). The final repetition of this line further perverts the meaning of the original vows through a minor change in the wording Willst Du, bis zum Tod der Scheide \u2026 (Will you, until the Death of the vagina \u2026). The song starts, in fact, with a play on words: Du\u2026 Du hast\u2026 Du hast mich\u2026 meaning \"You have me\". This line is often mistaken for \"You hate me\", because in German, there is no clear distinction between the pronunciation of Du hasst which means \"you hate\" and Du hast which means \"you have\". The word game is later resolved as the line is completed; Du hast mich gefragt (\"You asked me\"). Confusingly, the band did also make an English version of the song named You hate which was not translated directly from Du hast. While many arguments about 'Du Hast' are around, it is known that Rammstein used this wording to mislead and create humour in the song. It was a play with the pronunciation of words, causing many non-native speakers of German to be confused.Live PerformancesRammstein has achieved particular fame (not to mention notoriety) for its hugely over-the-top stage show, using so many pyrotechnics that fans eventually coined the motto \"Other bands play, Rammstein burns!\" (a quip at Manowar's song \"Kings of Metal\", which states, \"other bands play, Manowar kill\"). After an accident in the Arena in Berlin where some burning decoration parts fell on the audience (September 27, 1996) the band took to employing professionals to handle the pyrotechnics; Lindemann himself is now a licensed pyrotechnician who spends entire songs engulfed head-to-toe in flames. He has suffered multiple burns on his ears, his hair and his arms.The heat is so intense that on occasion, people have been carried out of Rammstein concerts suffering from heat exhaustion, and lighting gantries have been seen glowing red-hot from repeated fireball hits. The variety of the pyrotechnics can be seen in a recent concert playlist, which includes such items as \"Lycopodium Masks\", \"Glitterburst Truss\", \"Pyrostrobes\", \"Comets\", \"Flash Trays\" and \"Mortar Hits\".The band's costumes are equally outlandish. During the Reise, Reise tour they were wearing Lederhosen, corsets and vague military uniforms with steel helmets, while during the Mutter tour the group kept to the themes of the album artwork and descended onto the stage from a giant uterus while wearing diapers.According to Kruspe, the on-stage wackiness is entirely deliberate (Rammstein's motto according to Schneider is: \"Do your own thing. And overdo it!\"). The aim is to get people's attention and have fun at the same time: \"You have to understand that 99 percent of the people don't understand the lyrics, so you have to come up with something to keep the drama in the show. We have to do something. We like to have a show; we like to play with fire. We do have a sense of humor. We do laugh about it; we have fun\u2026 but we're not Spinal Tap. We take the music and the lyrics seriously. It's a combination of humor, theater and our East German culture, you know?\"Their onstage antics have led them to trouble as well. During their stint on the American Family Values Tour 1998, alongside acts such as rapper Ice Cube, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Orgy, the band was arrested for indecency. In one of the more infamous moments, Rammstein's vocalist, Till Lindemann engaged in simulated sodomy with the keyboardist, Christian Lorenz, during their performance of \"B\u00fcck dich\" in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were subsequently arrested and fined $25 and spent the night in jail. The band attempted to appeal the fine, but spent more in legal fees and court fees than the $25 fine.Covers and AdaptationsRammstein's songs have been covered by a number of other artists, These include: * Engel : The group Gregorian reworked Engel as a Gregorian chant for their album The Dark Side. The same song has been covered by Belgian girls choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, resulting in a very quiet, brooding version; contrary to the original.The Chilean aggrotech\/industrial metal band Vigilante also covered this song on their 2008 remix album. * Mein Herz brennt : The German composer Torsten Rasch has produced a classical symphonic song-cycle entitled Mein Herz brennt (\"My heart burns\"), based on the music of Rammstein. * Seemann : by Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica. This cover impressed Rammstein so much that they took Apocalyptica as co-headliner on tour with them in Spring 2005, and invited the band on stage to perform \"Ohne dich\" (\"Without you\") and \"Mein Herz brennt\" (\"My Heart burns\") together. The \"Benzin\" single also featured a remix of the song, called Kerosiini by Apocalyptica. * Ohne dich : by Laibach. * Wei\u00dfes Fleisch : by the German death metal band Debauchery covered the song for their Back In Blood album. * \"Mein Teil\" : A bluegrass version appears as a bonus track on the band Hayseed Dixie's 2007 album Weapons of Grass Destruction.Rammstein has also done several covers themselves, including Das Modell (\"The model\") by Kraftwerk, \"Stripped\" by Depeche Mode and \"Pet Sematary\" by Ramones (sung by keyboardist Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz). A cover version of Schtiel (\"Calm\") by Aria (\u0410\u0440\u0438\u044f) was released by Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe as a side project, due to disagreement with Universal records label.It was recently announced that the German pop singer Nena, author of 99 Luftballons (\"99 Air Balloons\"), will be doing an album of covers named Cover Me in which it will feature a Rammstein cover of the song Ein Lied. Till Lindemann appears as a guest singer along with Richard Kruspe on guitar on the Apocalyptica album Worlds Collide. They took on David Bowie's song Heroes, which was released in German as Helden. Lindemann sings the German version, making his song the only German-language song on Worlds Collide.Rammstein singles traditionally also have a great quantity of remixes, particularly often from Clawfinger and Meshuggah.ControversiesImageryDescribed by the New York Times as a \"powerful strain of brutally intense rock\" who \"bring gale-force music and spectacular theatrics together\", Rammstein has been a band with a highly controversy-prone nature. Rammstein have not been shy about courting this controversy and have periodically attracted condemnation from morality campaigners. Their stage act earned them a night in jail in June 1999 after a liquid-ejecting dildo was used in a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back home in Germany, the band has faced repeated accusations of fascist sympathies due to the dark and sometimes militaristic imagery of their videos and concerts, including the use of excerpts from the film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl in the video for Stripped. Their debut album Herzeleid, released in Germany in 1995, originally had a cover featuring the band members' upper bodies without clothing; critics accused the band of trying to sell themselves as \"poster boys for the Master Race\". Rammstein have vigorously denied this and said that they want nothing to do with politics or supremacy of any kind. Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz, annoyed by the claim, has remarked that it's just a photo, and should be understood as such. Herzeleid has since been given an alternate cover in the United States, depicting the band members' faces.The song Links 2 3 4 (Links being German for \"left\") was written as a riposte to these claims. According to Kruspe, it means, \"'My heart beats on the left, two, three, four'. It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song\". On the other hand, this is also an allusion to a military marching cadence since \"Links, 2, 3, 4\" is typically heard during marching practice in the German army with \"links\" referring to the left foot. The song is also a reference to the saying \"the heart beats left\", repeatedly used by Oskar Lafontaine, in 2001 a famous member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), now leader of the Left Party (Die Linke), and almost the title of a book written by him (the title is Das Herz schl\u00e4gt links instead of Mein Herz schl\u00e4gt links \u2013 \"The heart beats left\" instead of \"My Heart beats left\")..According to the German online music magazine Rammstein, through this song, positioned themselves on the side of Oskar Lafontaine. They write: Rammstein binden den Lafontaine-Spruch \"Mein Herz schl\u00e4gt links\" in ihren Text ein und zitieren eine Zeile aus einem alten Hannes Wader-Arbeitersong (\"Links, zwo, drei, vier; links, zwo, drei, vier; wo dein Platz Genosse ist, reih Dich ein in die Arbeitereinheitsfront, wenn Du auch ein Arbeiter bist\"). (Rammstein embed the Lafontaine saying My heart beats left into their lyric and cite a line of an old Hannes Wader workers' song (\"Left, 2, 3, 4; left 2, 3, 4; where your place is comrade, line up into the Workers' United Front, if you are a worker\").)Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz recently stated on an on-line chat that the song was created in order to show that the band could write a harsh, \"evil\", military-sounding song that was not about Nazi ideals.Relation To Violent EventsRammstein were cited in relation to the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999, when photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wearing Rammstein T-shirts were revealed. Though there was no evidence to correlate the two events, the band felt obliged to issue a statement: \"The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behaviour. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values\".Coincidentally, on September 10, 2001 the single and video clip of Ich will (\"I Want\") was released which portrays the band as terrorists who want to get a message across and receiving a kind of terrorist award for their \"actions\". In the United States the video clip was broadcast only late at night after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City although many media officials and politicians requested the video to be pulled from broadcast completely.Following the tragic conclusion of the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in September 2004, the Russian authorities claimed that the terrorists had \"listened to German hard rock group Rammstein on personal stereos during the siege to keep themselves edgy and fired up\". The claim has not been independently confirmed.Band members said this about the issue: \"There's been a lot of talk about that, but if there are radical feelings in people anything can wake them \u2013 a painting, a picture, whatever. It's just a coincidence that it happened to be our music. It's important to think about what caused them to make their decisions, how they became animals, not their taste in music. Whenever something like this happens it's like 'Okay, let's blame the artist'. Such bullshit. (Till Lindemann). \"Our music is made to release aggression, and people listening to it are also needed to do that, but it's not our fault. Should we stop making hard music because bad people might like it?\" (Christoph \"Doom\" Schneider).Pekka-Erik Auvinen, the perpetrator of the Jokela school shooting in November 2007 also included Rammstein in one of his favourite bands. He noted though that, the music among other things was not to blame for his decisions.VideosIn October 2004, the video for Mein Teil (\"My part\") caused considerable controversy in Germany when it was released. It takes a darkly comic view of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, showing a cross dressed Schneider holding the other 5 band members on a leash and rolling around in mud. The controversy did nothing to stop (and may even have helped) the single rising to No. 2 in the German charts. Meiwes (who was convicted of manslaughter in 2004, then retried in 2006 and found guilty of murder) brought suit in January 2006 against the band for infringement of rights to the story. The outcome resulted in a loss for the band of $5.5 million.The band's own views of its image are sanguine: \"We like being on the fringes of bad taste\", according to Paul H. Landers, while Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz comments \"The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive\".Not all of Rammstein's videos feature excess and pushing the limits of conventional taste. The video of Ohne Dich (\"Without You\") from Reise, Reise can only be described as lushly filmed and touchingly melancholy.The video for Mann gegen Mann (\"Man against man\") from their studio album Rosenrot may have caused some controversy, as most of the band members are naked in the video. The lead singer Till Lindemann is wearing what can best be described as a \"latex panties\" - most likely because he does not have an instrument with which to cover his genitalia. In addition, there are multiple naked men in the video, with clearly visible buttocks, though genitalia could be seen at 32 seconds into the video on Christian \"Flake\" Lorenz through the arm of the guitarist (Richard Z. Krupse) and below the keyboard. He is wearing a flesh-colored thong to prevent this. The video has been played uncensored on MTV. The video has been rated FSK 16 in Germany and therefore can be played on television only after 10pm. The first single from Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da, \"Pussy\", shows body doubles of the band members having sex in the uncensored version of the music video.Discography * 1995: Herzeleid * 1997: Sehnsucht * 2001: Mutter * 2004: Reise, Reise * 2005: Rosenrot * 2009: Liebe ist f\u00fcr alle da * 2011: Made in Germany","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1466_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"150,000 - 300,000"}

{"key":"71264","name":"Lindemann","bio":"Lindemann is a musical project founded by Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann with Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter T\u00e4gtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain, Bloodbath, Lock Up).","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/71264_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"6116","name":"The Prodigy","bio":"The Prodigy are a Braintree, Essex, UK, electronic music group (aka Prodigy), formed by Liam Howlett (composition, keyboards), in 1990. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide, which is almost unequalled in dance music history.Their music consists of various styles ranging from rave and breakbeat hardcore in the early 90s to alternative rock and big beat, with punk vocal elements in later times. Other current band members include: Keith Flint (dancing, vocals), Maxim (MCing, vocals) and live guitarist Rob Holliday (Marilyn Manson, Gary Numan, Curve, Sulpher).Leeroy Thornhill (dancing, occasional live keyboards), was a member of the band from 1990 to 2000, as well was a female dancer \/ vocalist Sharky, who left the band during their early period. Other notable former live members include: Gizz Butt (guitar - English Dogs, Janus Stark, Sabbat) - toured with the band for three years throughout the late '90s, Kieron Pepper (drum - Realtv, Happy Gilmore) - played for the group from 1997 to 2007 (also contributing to the solo projects of Maxim and Flint's band, Flint), as well as Jim Davies (guitar - Pitchshifter), who also performed in Flint.The Prodigy first emerged on the underground rave scene in the early 1990, releasing their d\u00e9but LP Experience (1992) and have since then achieved immense popularity and worldwide renown. Some of their most popular songs include \"Charly\", \"Out of Space\", \"No Good (Start the Dance)\", \"Voodoo People\", \"Firestarter\", \"Breathe\" and \"Smack My Bitch Up\".The name displayed on album covers changed from 'The Prodigy' to 'Prodigy' between Music for the Jilted Generation and The Fat of the Land (1997) and back again with the release of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (2004). However, Howlett has attested the title has always been 'The Prodigy' and the change was made only to fit within the displayed logo.Maxim originally began as an MC for the band before doing vocals on \"Poison\", a track on their second album Music for the Jilted Generation and then several others on The Fat of the Land. He remains a member, MCing at the live shows.Flint began as a dancer for the band before moving on to become a vocalist initially on the track \"Firestarter\" but then for several others on the third album The Fat of the Land. Flint is probably the most visually recognisable member of the band and considered by many to be the front-man though he has very little input to writing the songs. He still sings with the live show but has virtually no input on the albums however, he did write the single \"Baby's Got a Temper\".Following the relative commercial and critical failure of 2004's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned the band released a greatest hits Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005 before 2009's return to form Invaders Must Die.After the release and success of The Fat of the Land, Howlett was feeling down as he could not produce any songs up to standard up until one of his friends showed him the program Reason from Propellerhead Software. This program inspired him who instantly went to the studio and started producing tracks using it; he decided he did not want to use it for baselines though, as he prefers the analogue sound.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/6116_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"8414","name":"Mindless Self Indulgence","bio":"Mindless Self Indulgence (or MSI) are an American Industrial rock band that found its origin in New York City, NY in 1997. The current lineup is Jimmy Urine (vocals), Steve Righ? (guitar), Lyn-Z (bass) and Kitty (drums). Though considered electropunk, they are heavily influenced by jungle, industrial, electronic dance music, and hip-hop. Intentionally iconoclastic, James Euringer (who uses the stage name Little Jimmy Urine) owes sartorial influence to the New York Dolls, wearing fishnet shirts at concerts, and is occasionally seen in shorts or pants with the inside cut out similar to how a skirt looks, and neon stockings. Before starting the band Mindless Self Indulgence, James Euringer launched a solo album in 1995, called Mindless Self-Indulgence, which he had produced by himself and was limited to 500 copies. Contrary to popular belief, this was not an album by the band Mindless Self Indulgence, however, Steve Righ? played guitar for the track \"Bed of Roses\".Another large influence in the band's music comes from early 1980s culture. Frequently the music contains samples of early 80's hip-hop or rock, as well as Atari-style beeps and tones. Their second album as a band, 1999's Tight, was even allegedly mixed on Atari equipment. Many of Urine's dress styles consist of the juxtaposition of popular 1980s clothing or bastardized versions thereof.Later in 1999, MSI launched the album Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy, featuring 30 tracks that were sorted alphabetically. Kitty (Drummer) designed and ran the official site of MSI when the album came out.After Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy , Vanessa YT (Bass player) decided to leave MSI to start a family. Her replacement in the band was Lyn-Z (Bass player), who married My Chemical Romance's lead singer Gerard Way in September 2007.Mindless Self Indulgence is distinguished from mainstream punk, however, by their incorporating lyrics about being gay and related topics into nearly all of their songs - even titling one of their songs Faggot. Also, Euringer and Steve, Righ? (Guitarist) possess wide vocal ranges, stretching from tenor to high falsetto. The band also has no qualms about using words deemed offensive by some, such as nigga (Jimmy Urine argues that he doesn't say the word out of anger, and often it is more or less used in the sense that it is used in the hip-hop world), and faggot heavily in many of their songs. Many critics have used their word choice to dismiss the band as juvenile.And although this may be the case, with some songs being of a 'juvenile' subject and tone, they also use clever lyrics and stance to give meaning to songs, such as You'll rebel to anything, which is a song that talks about how punk culture is being exploited by misdirected youths as a way to be unique or get noticed.In keeping with their confrontational posture, Euringer has been arrested for pulling his penis out of his pants and attempting to set his pubic hair on fire, allegedly succeeding on one such occasion. Other notable stage antics include him drinking his own urine, inviting audience members to punch him in the face and\/or throw objects at him, making out with both genders during the show, and roaming through the audience after the set blaring hip-hop music from a boom box perched on his shoulder.The band's energetic live shows have gained them much recognition. The band is known to stay after the show has finished, signing whatever fans want until not one person is left wanting an autograph. They also take photographs with all desiring fans. They have opened for a number of popular bands, including System of a Down, KoRn, Staind, Sum 41, Mushroomhead, Insane Clown Posse, My Chemical Romance, and Rammstein. They have also played many large musical festivals including Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans in October of 2003 (and in Memphis, TN after Hurricane Katrina in 2006), as well as headlining the Mojave tent at the 2004 Coachella Festival, and the main stage of 2007's Give It A Name. They also headlined the second stage of the Projekt Revolution tour in Summer 2007.Their DVD, called Our Pain, Your Gain, was released on September 11, 2007, featuring one of their concerts in New York.On 29th April 2008, their 4th studio album, If, was released. The standard edition contains 15 tracks, the deluxe edition has the same tracklist and a bonus DVD. The Clean version has 16 tracks, Uncle being the additional track. The International edition (UK version) has 21 tracks; 3S as bonus track and four Never Wanted To Dance remixes.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/8414_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"1459","name":"Rob Zombie","bio":"Rob Zombie was born as Robert Cummings in Haverhill, Massachusetts on January 12, 1965. He was the former lead singer for the rock\/metal group White Zombie, and later became a successful solo artist, disbanding the group after his first solo album, the 1998 release Hellbilly Deluxe, sold more in the first week than any of the band's albums ever did. Remixes of some of its tracks were released on 1999's American Made Music To Strip By, followed up by the studio release The Sinister Urge in 2001. In 2003 he made his directorial debut with the release of the film 'House of 1000 Corpses' to a lukewarm reception, though it garnered quite a cult-following. Its sequel, 'The Devil's Rejects,' was released in 2005. It was received much better than the first film, even getting the 'thumbs up' from well-known film critic Roger Ebert. Also in his films is his wife Sheri Moon Zombie.In March 2006, he released his newest album, entitled \"Educated Horses\". The album was a more stripped down, raw rock record, and quite a departure from the techno-industrial feel of the old Zombie albums. While this change, along with Zombie's change of appearance (he lost the dreadlocks and went back to his natural hair color, blonde), upset many of his fans, it allowed Rob to experiment with his style without deviating from his core fan base.The new album also featured two new band members. John 5, of Marilyn Manson fame, and Tommy Clufetos, the former drummer for Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper, replaced Mike Riggs and John Tempesta, who had left the band in 2003 to work on other projects.Hellbilly Deluxe 2, released in February 2010, is the first release where Rob Zombie worked with his full touring band. Previous albums were written and recorded by Rob Zombie himself and a rotating set of musicians. Commenting on the change, Zombie stated, \"I've always had a revolving roster of studio and touring musicians, but the three guys in my band now have been on tour with me for years. So we're making it as a band. It's called Rob Zombie, but we're treating it like a band.His half-brother, Michael Cummings is the lead singer of Powerman 5000.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1459_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"50,000 - 100,000"}

{"key":"101337","name":"Chris Vrenna","bio":"Chris Vrenna (b. February 23, 1967, Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, Grammy-winning producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna also formerly drummed for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails (1989 \u2013 1997).In the mid- to late-'80s Chris moved to Chicago, quickly becoming a part of the Chicago industrial music scene and briefly becoming a member of Die Warzau and Stabbing Westward.He later reconnected with Trent Reznor, whom he met in the early 1980s, when they both were in Cleveland, Ohio's local band the Exotic Birds. Chris also toured as a live drummer for KMFDM during the Money era tours in 1992. He is currently recording under the name Tweaker, and has released two albums under that name, The Attraction To All Things Uncertain and 2 A.M. Wakeup Call. Tweaker toured select North American dates with Skinny Puppy in 2004.As a producer, remixer, or engineer, Vrenna has worked for Rammstein, The Rasmus, U2, Weezer, P.O.D., David Bowie, Cold, Underwater, Scarling., The Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Green Day, The Wallflowers and the J-rock band Dir en grey. He has also worked with the underground industrial group Pigface, and produced songs and albums for underground groups TCR, Jack Off Jill, and Rasputina.Vrenna has also worked on music for several video games, including Doom 3 (as producer with Clint Walsh), Quake 4, American McGee's Alice, Enter The Matrix, Sonic The Hedgehog, Area 51, and Need for Speed Most Wanted. In 2004 he started soundtrack work on Tabula Rasa, a massive multiplayer online game. He also helped compose the theme song to the animated series Xiaolin Showdown.He can be seen performing in the music videos for the songs Gave Up, Wish, and March of the Pigs on the Nine Inch Nails video compilation Closure, and also makes a brief appearance in The Perfect Drug.Vrenna won a Grammy award as a member of Nine Inch Nails for \"Best Metal Performance\" for Happiness in Slavery in 1995.Vrenna was Billy Corgan's programmer for four months in 1997. While he was on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, Vrenna got a call from Axl Rose, who invited Vrenna to spend time with Guns N' Roses. \"I did for a couple weeks, but then decided I didn't want to join the band\", said Vrenna.Vrenna was chosen to take over the drumming responsibilities for Marilyn Manson after Ginger Fish was injured in 2004. He is currently the live drummer for Gnarls Barkley.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/101337_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"1481","name":"Fear Factory","bio":"Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band that from Los Angeles that formed in 1989. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, combining death metal, groove metal, thrash metal, with industrial metal. Fear Factory proved to be enormously influential on the metal scene in the mid- to late-1990s. The band disbanded in March 2002 following some internal disputes, but reformed later in 2002 without founding member Dino Cazares, adding bassist Byron Stroud, and casting then-bassist Christian Olde Wolbers as guitarist.In April 2009, a new lineup was announced with Cazares returning and Gene Hoglan as drummer. Bell and Stroud are both reprising their respective roles, and the band completed a seventh studio album entitled Mechanize. Former members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera (both currently playing in Arkaea) dispute the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle is underway from both parties. The band has performed at three Ozzfests as well as the inaugural Gigantour and has had singles in the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums in the Billboard Top 40, 100, and 200. The band has sold more than 1 million albums in the US alone.Current * Burton C. Bell \u2013 lead vocals (1989\u2013present) * Dino Cazares \u2013 guitar (1989\u22122002, 2009\u2013present) * Gene Hoglan \u2013 drums (2009\u2013present) * Byron Stroud \u2013 bass (2003\u2013present)for more info: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fear_factoryOrigin: Los Angeles, California, USA","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/1481_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"10415","name":"VNV Nation","bio":"VNV Nation is an electronic music group formed in London in 1990, now based in Hamburg, Germany, that combines elements of trance, synthpop and electronic body music (EBM) into what they call Futurepop. VNV Nation began as a one man project from Ronan Harris. In 1995 Mark Jackson joined the band permanently as a live drummer.VNV Nation's inspiration was originally the clash of the modern and classical European cultures, where mythology and technology live in an uneasy fusion, but this has since broadened to encompass a world view. The music ranges from electronic dance music to ballads and classically inspired music. Inspirations are taken from a wide range of styles including contemporary underground club culture, industrial, trance and classical music. The lyrics draw on philosophy, religion, literature, art, politics and different forms of symbolism, although VNV Nation does not advocate any ideology. It is a metaphor for expression. The letters VNV stand for \"Victory Not Vengeance\". The meaning behind this stylised motto is that one should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret.VNV Nation's first releases were in 1990 with two self produced vinyl releases, \"Body Pulse\" and \"Strength of Youth\" (which are now long deleted with Ronan Harris himself not having a copy). After working on some VNV Nation tracks and supporting Nitzer Ebb on tour whilst living in Toronto, Canada, Ronan returned to London and released some tracks on sampler CDs. This caught the interest of German label Discordia and in July 1995, \"Advance and Follow\" was released. At around about the same time, Mark Jackson joined the band.In January 1998, VNV Nation signed with the German label, Off Beat Records, releasing their second album \"Praise the Fallen\" in June 1998 and the EP \"Solitary EP\" in September 1998. With VNV Nation increasing in popularity, they began their first headline tour in Germany in September 1998.In 1999, the Off Beat label collapsed, leading to VNV Nation (along with other artists such as Covenant, Suicide Commando and Velvet Acid Christ) collaborating with Stefan Herwig (a former A&R manager with Off Beat) to create Dependent Records. In late 1999, the album \"Empires\" was released, staying at number 1 in the German Alternative Chart (DAC) for seven weeks, and winning the award for DAC Album of the Year.From \"Empires\" two singles were released \"Darkangel\", which tops the DAC for 5 weeks in mid 1999 and \"Standing\", which stays at no.1 in the DAC for 8 weeks in early 2000 (the maximum a single can remain in the DAC) winning a German Alternative Music Award for most successful single of 2000 and sharing the place for most successful single in the DAC's history with the Chemical Brothers. A limited edition of the \"Standing\" single was also released entitled \"Standing \/ Burning Empires\" which contained alternate versions and remixes by VNV Nation of tracks from \"Empires\". This remains one of the most sought after VNV rarities, fetching large sums on auction sites, although it has recently been released on iTunes to allow casual listeners to purchase it.In March 2001, \"Advance and Follow v2\" was released as a limited edition, which was a remastered and partially re-recorded version of the original 1995 album \"Advance and Follow\". The band were never particularly happy with the first album due to it being recorded in less than a week, so the release was seen by the band as a way to put that right. In October 2001, VNV Nation embarked on their \"Futureperfect\" tour of Europe and North America, promoting the album \"Futureperfect\" which was released in January 2002. It reached number 25 in the full German Album Charts, with the single \"Beloved\" reaching number 60 in the full German Singles Chart. Following the release of \"Beloved\", VNV Nation part ways with Dependant and create their own label \"Anachron Records\".In June 2003, the Honour 2003 EP is released, promoting the \"Pastperfect\" live DVD, which following many delays and problems was finally released in May 2004. Following this the rest of 2004 and beginning of 2005 was spent producing the album \"Matter and Form\", which was released in April 2005. Preceeding the album release, one of the tracks \"Chrome\" was sold in March 2005 as a download on the VNV Nation website, as well as iTunes.In April 2007, the album \"Judgement\" was released, and an extensive world tour in support of the album followed. In January 2009, VNV Nation published their plans for 2009 on their website, indicating that the long delayed \"Reformation\" EP would be available, but now as a full \"CD Pack\". Also due for release in 2009 is the new album entitled \"Of Faith, Power and Glory\".To read more about Ronan Harris and his motivations behind the band and 2009's \"Of Faith, Power and Glory,\" please visit http:\/\/www.dieselpunks.org\/profiles\/blogs\/interview-ronan-harris-of-vnv","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/10415_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"54337","name":"Combichrist","bio":"\"Combichrist\" is an aggrotech group, formed in Norway and currently based in the United States.In 2003 Andy LaPlegua of \"Icon of Coil\" wrote a few power noise\/techno cross over tracks under the name of \"D.R.I.V.E.\". This was changed to \"Combichrist\" when the debut album, \"The Joy of Gunz\" was set to be released on Out Of Line. The name Combichrist originates from a hardcore fanzine LaPlegua made during the late 90s, with \"JR Ewing\" guitarist H\u00e5kon Mella.The follow up EPs, and the clamour for live shows, sent Combichrist out on the road where they would become known for their strong and energetic performances.Their second EP, \"Sex, Drogen und Industrial\", spent 7 weeks at number one in the DAC charts.In March of 2007 they released their third album \"What The Fuck Is Wrong With You People?\". \"Today We Are All Demons\", was released on January 20th, 2009.The band had been selected to support industrial metal band \"Rammstein\" for their 2009 European tour and continued to support them during the 2010 part of the tour.August 2010 saw the release of \"Making Monsters\", which had full tracks available for streaming on the website, each track being rolled out for a new one. Combichrist undertook a tour in support of the new album in late 2010, with \"Aesthetic Perfection\" and \"iVardensphere\" as the support bands.Their most recent album, \"No Redemption\", was released in January of 2013 in both single and 2CD versions. This album was the official soundtrack album for the video game \"Devil May Cry\". The limited edition bonus CD was essentially a greatest hits compilation.March 2014 will see the release of a new album titled \"We Love You\", with an accompanying tour of North America starting in April. \"William Control\" and \"New Years Day\" have been announced as the support bands.Combichrist have had much more success than many of the other acts emerging from the electronic underground and the band have become one of the dark electro scene's most popular live acts. The roster of live members is currently Joe Letz (ex \"Genitorturers\"), Mr Petersen, Z_Marr (ex \"Hell Trash\"), Kourtney Klein (who also played drums for the reformed \"Nitzer Ebb\") and Trevor Friedrich who was the drummer for \"Eighteen Visions\" and \"Imperative Reaction\". Past live members include H\u00e5kon Mella, Bjoern Petersen, Syn M, Shaun Frandsen & Jon H.The band's website is at: www.combichrist.com","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/54337_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}