Editing Rammstein (section)

==Musical style and lyrics==
{{quote box|width=23em|By comparison, American heavy metal bands seem clumsy, childish, and anemic.|salign=right|source=—Claire Berlinski on Rammstein<ref name=rammsteinreception>{{cite web|last1=BERLINSKI|first1=Claire.|title=RAMMSTEIN'S RAGE|url=https://www.berlinski.com/2016/09/12/rammsteins-rage/|website=www.berlinski.com|access-date=7 July 2019|archive-date=27 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027105605/https://www.berlinski.com/2016/09/12/rammsteins-rage/|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
[[File:Rammstein - 01.jpg|thumb|Rammstein's song "[[Mein Teil]]" is based on the [[Armin Meiwes]] cannibalism case. Live performances of the song feature Lindemann cooking Lorenz in a large pot (''pictured'').]]

''[[The Denver Post]]'' wrote that "[Rammstein] proved that they not only synthesized the {{Lang|de|[[Neue Deutsche Härte]]|italic=no}} genre, but that they successfully made it an art."<ref>{{cite web |last=Thieme |first=Billy |date=21 May 2012 |title=Rammstein at Denver Coliseum, 5/20/12 (photos and review) |url=https://theknow.denverpost.com/2012/05/21/rammstein-denver-colliseum-photos-review/50152/|access-date=18 April 2018 |work=[[The Denver Post]]}}</ref> Pioneers of the genre, Rammstein's style blended "[[alternative metal|alt-metal]], groove and [[electronica]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/rammstein-german-band-film-metal-paris-seventh-studio-album-interview-live-shows-a7868951.html |title=Rammstein interview: 'It's close to unbearable harmony in this band at the moment' |work=[[The Independent]] |last=Dedman |first=Remfry |date=31 July 2017 |access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote, "Ostensibly the world's biggest [[industrial metal]] band, Rammstein sound like a mixture of [[Laibach]]'s situationist anthems, [[Front 242]]'s '[[electronic body music]]', German drinking songs, [[opera]] [and] [[T. Rex (band)|T Rex]]-like riffs".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/02/rammstein-review |title=Rammstein – review |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2 March 2012 |access-date=13 July 2015 |author=Simpson, Dave}}</ref> ''[[Loudwire]]'' wrote that the band's "jawdropping, pyro-filled live shows have become as much a part of their identity as their gothy, distortion-saturated melodic electro-metal".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://loudwire.com/rammstein-made-in-germany-1995-2011-album-review/ |title=Rammstein, 'Made in Germany 1995–2011′ – Album Review |work=[[Loudwire]] |date=13 December 2011 |access-date=13 July 2015 |author=Wiederhorn, Jon}}</ref> ''[[IGN]]'' said that "The band alternates repetitive metal power chords and atmospheric tones for a mind-numbing blend of metal and [[electronic music]]."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/03/28/rammstein-rosenrot |title=Rammstein – Rosenrot |website=[[IGN]] |date=28 March 2006 |access-date=18 April 2018}}</ref> Rammstein were also described as a [[gothic metal]] band who are "[[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]] meets '[[Sprockets (Saturday Night Live)|Sprockets]]'".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/walkie-talkie-blog/2011/05/REVIEW-Rammstein-at-the-Tacoma-Dome/ |title=Review: Rammstein at the Tacoma Dome |work=[[Weekly Volcano]] |last=Jasmin |first=Ernest A. |date=16 May 2011 |access-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419053551/http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/walkie-talkie-blog/2011/05/REVIEW-Rammstein-at-the-Tacoma-Dome/ |archive-date=19 April 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Bulletin'' wrote that "Rammstein crank out the kind of [[symphonic metal]] you'd expect from a country that boasts [[Wagner]] among its favourite sons."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Bulletin |issue=6272–6280 |publisher=J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald |year=2001 |page=89 |quote="Best-known for their freaked-out live shows, which feature simulated sex and enough flames to interest the fire brigade, Rammstein crank out the kind of symphonic metal you'd expect from a country that boasts Wagner among its favourite sons."}}</ref> ''[[AllMusic]]'' described the band's music as blending "industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals".<ref name="Allmusic.com-sehnsucht" /> ''[[PopMatters]]'' said that Rammstein was "mistakenly lumped in with the [[nu-metal]] fad that was going on at the same time" as the band's debut.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/rammstein-rosenrot/ |title=Rammstein – Rosenrot |work=[[PopMatters]] |date=2 June 2006 |access-date=13 July 2015 |author=Begrand, Adrien}}</ref>

Rammstein was traditionally inspired by bands such as the Slovenian group ''[[Laibach]]'', known for its provocative songs, often citing political symbols of the far-right<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Peter |title=Frühsport bei Tiffany |journal=Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung |date=2010 |issue=50 |page=27}}</ref> and whose music style also combines different genres, or the German rock band [[Oomph!]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Biografie der Band Oomph! |url=https://www.laut.de/Oomph! |website=laut.de |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref> However, the band members do not see a real connection to ''Laibach'' – apart from the similarity in vocal style which Flake Lorenz admitted in a ''[[VIVA (German TV channel)|Viva]]'' interview from 1997. In the same interview Richard Kruspe said: "For me, ''Laibach'' is a very, very intellectual story. Rammstein is much more emotional for me – in the beginning. And I can't do anything with that intellect that ''Laibach'' uses."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK8EQqH1IM8&t=1552s ''Viva Jam: Rammstein''], Folge 176, 1997; retrieved via youtube.com 26 February 2017.</ref>

Unlike many bands from Berlin in the early 1990s, Rammstein did not want to imitate American or English bands. Flake Lorenz said in an interview: "We found the style by knowing exactly what we didn't want. And we just didn't want to do American funky music or punk or anything we can't do. We realized that we can only do this music that we also play. And it's just very simple, dull, monotone."<ref name="ZDF">Interview on ZDF with Rammstein from 199?, from ''Live aus Berlin'' (1999).</ref>

Rammstein's style has received positive feedback from critics. New Zealand's ''[[The Southland Times|Southland Times]]'' (17 December 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]]'' (9 January 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".<ref name="Allmusic.com-sehnsucht">{{cite web |title=SEHNSUCHT – Rammstein |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sehnsucht-mw0000031603 |access-date=10 July 2006}}</ref> "We just push boundaries", said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine ''[[Kerrang!]]'', "We cannot help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed".

Nearly all of Rammstein's songs are in German. Educated in East German schools, the members were all taught Russian as a second language rather than English. In 2019, Flake commented: "I saw a lot of East German bands that sung in very bad English to people who didn't understand English – it was absolutely stupid. But if you really want to tell your emotions, you have to speak in your mother tongue."<ref name="MHfeature"/> Songs they have recorded entirely or partly in English include: a cover of [[Depeche Mode]]'s 1986 song "[[Stripped (song)|Stripped]]" and English renditions of "[[Engel (song)|Engel]]", "[[Du hast]]", and "[[Amerika (song)|Amerika]]". The original version of "Amerika" as well as "Stirb nicht vor mir (Don't Die Before I Do)" and "Pussy" also contain some lyrics in English. The song "[[Moskau (Rammstein song)|Moskau]]" ("Moscow") contains a chorus in Russian, and Till Lindemann has an unofficial song called "[[Shtil (Calm)|Schtiel]]" (cover of song "Штиль" / "Shtil" by Russian popular heavy metal band [[Aria (band)|Aria]]) entirely in Russian.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |title =''Sunday Herald Sun'', Melbourne, Australia |newspaper= Sunday Herald Sun}}</ref> "[[Te quiero puta]]!" is entirely in Spanish, "Frühling in Paris" has a chorus in French, "Zeig dich" contains lyrics in Latin performed by a choir and "Ausländer" has lyrics in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Oliver Riedel commented that "[the] German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger".<ref name="auto"/> In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, when asked whether Rammstein would ever create an original song entirely in English, Till Lindemann stated that 'Rammstein will never write a song in English, it's like asking Buddha to kill a pig'.<ref name="Ultimate Guitar">{{cite web |title= Till Lindemann: 'Rammstein Will Never Write a Song in English, It's Like Asking Buddha to Kill a Pig' |publisher= Ultimate Guitar |url= http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/till_lindemann_rammstein_will_never_write_a_song_in_english_its_like_asking_buddha_to_kill_a_pig.html |access-date= 22 July 2015}}</ref>

The band's lyrics, as sung by Till Lindemann, are an essential element of their music, and shape the perception by fans and a wider public. Among other things that are seen as controversial, Rammstein also refers to classical German literature, e.g. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous poems ''[[Der Erlkönig]]'' (1778) and ''[[Heidenröslein|Das Heidenröslein]]'' (1771) for the songs "Dalai Lama" and "Rosenrot", respectively.<ref>''Lüke'', Lüke, Martina. "Modern Classics: Reflections on Rammstein in the German Class". Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German 41:1 (Spring 2008): 15–23.</ref> Several of their songs are related to controversial and taboo subjects such as [[sadomasochism]] ("Weisses Fleisch", "[[Bück dich]]", "Rein raus" and "[[Ich tu dir weh]]"), [[homosexuality]] ([[Mann gegen Mann]]), [[intersex]]uality ("Zwitter"), [[incest]] ("Laichzeit", "Tier", "Spiel mit mir" and "Wiener Blut"), [[pedophilia]] ("Weisses Fleisch", "Tier", "Halleluja" and "Hallomann"), [[necrophilia]] ("Heirate mich"), [[zoophilia]] ("Laichzeit"), [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] ("Mein Teil"), [[pyromania]] ("[[Benzin]]" and "Hilf mir"), [[religion]] ("[[Asche zu Asche]]", "Engel", "Bestrafe mich" and "Zeig dich") and [[sexual violence]] ("Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen", "Rein raus" "Stein um Stein" and "Liebe ist für alle da"). Also several of their songs are allegedly inspired by real-life events. These songs include "Rammstein" ([[Ramstein air show disaster]]), "Mein Teil" ([[Armin Meiwes|The Meiwes Case]]), "Wiener Blut" ([[Fritzl case]]) and "Donaukinder" ([[2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill]]). Their fourth album, ''Reise, Reise'', is loosely inspired by the crash of [[Japan Air Lines Flight 123]].<ref name="Metal Hammer">{{Cite magazine |last=Daly |first=Joe |date=1 May 2019 |title=Rammstein – The Ultimate Celebration – Bang Bangers! |magazine=[[Metal Hammer|Metal Hammer UK]] |page=55}}</ref> The band have also occasionally delved into politics with their lyrics. "Amerika" is a critique of the cultural and political imperialism of the United States all over the world. The lyrics of the song "[[Deutschland (song)|Deutschland]]" contain the lines "Deutschland! / Meine Liebe / kann ich dir nicht geben" (Germany! / My love / [is what] I cannot give you), which conveys the band's inability to have unquestioned patriotic feelings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=genius.com |title=Rammstein – DEUTSCHLAND (English Translation) |url=https://genius.com/16826344 |website=Genius.com |access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref>