Looking for Rammstein chords? Look no further. Chords for guitar, piano and ukulele for all of Rammstein’s hits can be found below! If you ask Rammstein what kind of music they make, chances are they’ll answer: Tanzmetall. The Berlin-born metal band is known for its heavy characteristic sound. A combination of gloomy electronics, theatrical horror vaudeville, and controversial lyrics by frontman Till Lindemann turn their live shows into true pieces of art.
Neue Deutsche Härte
The band consists of vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe, bassist Oliver Riedel, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, keyboard player Christian Lorenz, and drummer Christoph Schneider. Critics have labelled their style the Neue Deutsche Härte (new German hardness/loudness). The term alludes to the Neue Deutsche Welle, which refers to German electronic rock music influenced by new wave and post-punk.
With the controversial German lyrics and heavy chords Rammstein gave birth to this genre with their album Herzeleid in 1995, with tracks like “Rammstein” and “Heirate Mich.” The album became a hit after Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor - who was working as a music director at that time for director David Lynch - used the songs on the soundtrack for the movie “Lost Highway.”
Where it all began
Back in the day, when East and West Berlin were still separated, guitarist Richard Kruspe fled the communist part of the city. He ended up in the West and started exploring American music, Kiss in particular. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the artist returned to the city of Schwerin, where he met Till Lindemann who was a basket weaver at that time and drummer of the band First Arsch.
Kruspe, looking for a place to stay, ended up living together with Oliver Riedel and Christoph Schneider. Roommates soon became friends and they actively participated in the German music scene. Together with Lindemann, Kruspe and his roommates decided to form a band and participate in a Berlin talent show contest in 1994. Which they won!
From demos to demigods
The first prize for winning the talent show contest was a whole week of studio time. After a week of recording and mixing, the band ended up with a four-track demo. The songs on the demo were English versions of tracks that would later appear on the final edit of Herzeleid. When guitarist Paul Landers - playing in a band called Feeling B at that time - heard the songs, he was very enthusiastic and wanted to join the band.
Together with his Feeling B band member Christian Lorenz, they finalized the sound we now associate with Rammstein. By the way, the band name is inspired by a catastrophic airplane show in 1988, at Ramstein Air Base. Three Italian airplanes collided during a performance and crashed in front of a crowd of 300,000 people. As you might have noticed there’s a little inconsistency here; Paul Landers once admitted in an interview that the double “m” was a typo.
Fire starters
As we know, not everything is about sound when it comes to Rammstein. Their over-the-top shows made the band world famous. One thing we can say with certainty: Rammstein loves combining theatrics with pyrotechnics, lots of it. So much so that on Sept. 27, 1996, they almost burned down the stage of Arena Berlin.
After that incident, frontman Lindemann decided to become a licensed pyrotechnician. Which was probably a good idea, since he burned himself on a regular basis when performing the song “Rammstein,” while covered in flames from head to toe.
Same but different
Over the years, the band hasn’t made any changes to their members. Rammstein remains Rammstein. Chords, vocals, beats, riffs, and theatre might have changed a bit. But the unique sound is going strong. Controversial lyrics and heavy Tanzmetal with a lot of drama on stage is what you can expect when visiting their concerts.
Interested in the chords for Rammstein classics like “Heirate Mich,” “Klavier,” “Mutter,” and more? Find them here at Chordify.
