martindavey87 2001’s ‘Mutter’ solidified German industrial rockers Rammstein as global megastars, and while it’d be an impossible task to top, 2004’s ‘Reise Reise’ was a more than worthy follow-up which maintained the bands high standards. So what went wrong here?

‘Rosenrot’, released just one year later, is essentially a “leftovers album”. Despite containing a number of singles which were given music videos, the album, mostly consisting of tracks that didn’t make it onto its predecessor, came out to minimal promotion and advertising. But understandably, when the quality of the material doesn’t live up to what the group had released prior, perhaps that’s why.

The thing is, while ‘Rosenrot’ isn’t a terrible release, it’s just not very memorable. Most of the tracks are pretty generic and bland, and they all tend to sound pretty similar. The monstrous anthems of ‘Mutter’ or the electronic dance grooves of ‘Sehnsucht’ are nowhere to be seen, and there just generally seems to be a huge lack of keyboards here, compared to earlier albums, anyway. Most of the songs tend to plod along with the same monotonous guitar riffs and baritone vocals. Still, the music itself is heavy and pounding, and when the band is on top form there’s a couple of decent numbers here.

‘Benzin’, ‘Rosenrot’, ‘Mann Gegen Mann’ and ‘Te Quiero Puta!’ are all respectable highlights, and fit well in the bands discography, but none of these hold up all that well to the likes of ‘Sonne’, ‘Du Hast’ or ‘Mein Herz Brennt’. Arguably the weakest album the band have put out at this point, ‘Rosenrot’ is still worth a listen or two if you’re a fan of Rammstein, but if you’re a newbie then you’re better off going with anything the band released prior to this.

AtomicCrimsonRush Rammstein’s Rosenrot has very good packaging particularly the striking image of the Icelandic North and a shipwrecked Rosenrot ocean liner trapped in the ice. The Cd box opens out to 4 sections and the artwork is consistent in the booklet complete with ghostly images of the band members in weird makeup looking like ghosts of the liner performing hideous experiments. One might think looking at this exquisite packaging that the music might match. Unfortunately this is a huge disappointment. I had loved the early albums of the band with the dynamic German vocals mixed with razor sharp energetic killer metal riffs. However the band have lapsed into a very droll style with forgettable droning riffs and atmospherics. The effects are Ok on their own but they are not backed by anything innovative in the form of riffs that lock in to the senses.

The album is simply dull due to the lack of innovation, and for the most part it is in fact crawling along with only the occasional burst of metal. The sound has become industrial and not to the standard of the earlier Rammstein compositions such as Du Hast, Engel, Tier or Sehnsucht, all from that album admittedly. The thing that drew me to the band was that precision riffing that just cracks your back every time and it is an awesome sound the band generate. But now the band have shunned that style and even opt to use romantic female vocals such as on Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don’t die before I do). The English lyrics by Sharleen Spiteri are quite tranquil, in fact, and it is a highlight. They return to breakneck power metal on Zerstoren, with a great melody and way too many vocals sounding like a rap at times. The lead break on this is excellent however and ponce again a highlight after a mediocre start. The ending of this sounds like an old German radio broadcast. There are some ambient effects in Hilf Mir, melancholy but dark, it crawls along patiently with bursts of loud metal chords. I didn’t mind this track either due to the atmosphere it generates; moody and ethereal, even majestic in its structure.

Te Quiero Puta! Is a great track with some Spanish flavour brass and female vocals. The melody is Spanish too and it has an awesome riff. This is the type of innovation that makes Rammstein one of the cutting edge industrial metal bands, it was just frustrating that the first few tracks of the album are so dreary.

It also ends with two interminably dull songs. It is little wonder 6 of these songs were originally omitted from Reise Reise. Rammstein would have done better rewriting new material. A huge disappointment from the innovative Kraut metal masters.