Rosenrot

After "Herzeleid", "Sehnsucht", "Live aus Berlin", "Mutter" and "Reise Reise", Rammstein yesterday released their newest album "Rosenrot".

I considered myself a die-hard Rammstein-fan, mainly due to the first two albums, which featured a sophisticated mix of Electronica and Neue Deutsche Härte in an industrial fashion.

However, from "Mutter" to the present, the Electronica-elements became more and more uncommon, and the overall industrial-feel disappeared.

Rosenrot marks the endpoint of this development. Electronica-elements entirely disappeared. Rosenrot is a monotonous collection of Neue Deutsche Härte tracks. All tracks sound like the same - there are just these muddy guitars and no more tech-loops, processed drums or freakin' Electronica-stuff.

A big focus is on the lyrical part this time. Many songs tell long stories, even longer than in the previous albums IMO. However, this is too much story me. You cannot say that the frontman - Till Lindemann - has a beatiful voice when it comes to poetry. I liked him better with furious texts, as it was the case with the first two albums. Some of the addressed topics are really outdated IMO - though some people may argue, that they are timeless.

The real big problem with this album was the fact, that there was no motivation to listen to it a second time. I even didn't have an opinion when it came to the question of my favorite track of the album. There is not really a remarkable track.

If I had to pick some tracks, I'd say that "Hilf Mir" features the best composition, "Spring" has the most thrilling theme, and "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir/Don't Die Before I Do" is special, as it is a duet.

In the end, the best part of the album is the cover/booklet-photography. This is really excellent. The rest is really not remarkable.

Rosenrot will force me to re-declare myself as "1st Generation Rammstein Fan". This new stuff, in particular Rosenrot is nothing I could identify myself with - though it is probably interesting from the poetry-standpoint.