RAMMSTEIN
- Lichtspielhaus
The six-man German electronic metal machine known as Rammstein
is one of the most creatively dark frontrunners of their genre. If you haven't
heard them before, Rammstein's
identifiable sound contains elements of Ministry
and Laibach
- metal guitars with synth loops and a deep voice, often with spoken lyrics. This
impressive DVD is filled with style from start to finish, packaging and 3D menus
included. What you get is a dual presentation. 12 music videos and extracts from
6 live shows. While they don't show some of the more controversial live antics
(like Buck Dich seen on the Family Values Tour), their prominent
fire theme does get a lot of coverage. The shows were filmed over 1996 - 2001.
On the video clip front, Du Richst So Gut gets two versions, its original
studio shoot and the more elaborate one made in '98 with a Victorian werewolf
theme (reminiscent of Neil Jordan's Company Of Wolves). The shady, black
suited Reservoir Dogs styled characters they portray in three of the videos
include the club scene of Engel, the warehouse interrogation session of
Du Hast and the very classy and dark Ich Will, where they become
celebrities in the wake of a bank robbery. The styling and camerawork fits the
music so well. The song Seemann is an arty studio set-up and one of the
more static promos. Their cover of Depeche
Mode's Stripped (the
only English song on the disc) gets a Leni Riefenstahl Olympia look. Links
2-3-4 is a digitally animated video, ants bring the lead characters - very
cool. The track Rammstein, used to great effect in David Lynch's Lost
Highway utilizes clips from
that movie and live footage featuring vocalist Till's burning chainmale coat.
Mutter is the most toned down of the bunch with Till in a rowboat and dingy
cellar. Sonne gives the Snow
White & the Seven Dwarves
tale a morbid spin with the lead girl a nasty piece of work. Feuer Frei!,
used in the Vin Diesel vehicle xXx
sees their live performance from the movie's club scene with clips from the flick,
again fire drenched. Even if you don't understand the German lyrics, the music
still has a great impact. Lichtspielhaus is an amazing, explosive package,
putting a spin on the same old stale MTV routines. 6 / A - PB
click
below for the Mutter album review
|