Rammstein have always been a band whose visual components mattered just as much to them as the music they've created together. Impeccably versed cinephiles with an appetite for the outré, the German progenitors of Neue Deutsche Härte have spared no detail or expense when creating their extravagant, daring and often disturbing music videos.
Whether indulging in their Robert Rodriguez fascination or testing the limits of acceptable nudity, the group have always managed to take a fresh approach to the standard performance-based video and manipulate it into their own perverse brand of art. Never happy to simply churn out a visualizer that will make the publicity rounds or stand starkly lit on a barren stage for a half-assed lip synch, the clips outlined in no particular order below showcase Rammstein at their finest, weirdest and downright craziest.
Mein Teil (2004)
Heavy on the perverse and filthy BDSM-centric imagery, the video for "Mein Teil" (as well as the song itself) is inspired by the gruesome true-crime story of infamous German cannibal Armin Meiwes — who found a voluntary victim that allowed him to dismember and consume him over the course of several months, eventually leading to the man's death. "Mein Teil" features many crazy scenes, including singer Till Lindemann ripping the feathers from the wings of an angel pleasuring him (echoing details of Meiwes' crimes: the first appendage sacrificed during the infamous tale was the victim's penis) and guitarist Richard Kruspe's violent fight with his own doppelgänger.
But perhaps the most disturbing segments are of drummer Christoph Schneider cross-dressed at the mother of Meiwes, which culminates with Schneider's stern figure leading the other five men out of a subway station on dog leashes as they claw and bite at one another, crossing a busy street on their hands and knees in a public display of advanced kink and derangement.
Mann Gegen Mann (2005)
Rammstein issue a beautifully twisted ode to the benefits of, and hardships faced in, homosexuality for their "Mann Gegen Mann" video — in which the band appears almost completely naked (save for Lindemann's bizarre hair extensions/reverse mohawk and matching latex panties and boots combo) slathered head-to-toe with glistening lubricant. Rounding out the homoerotic imagery is an undulating orgiastic pile of fully nude beefcakes, coated in oil and wrestling with ardent passion. Rippling muscles and wandering hands add a lusty layer of unadulterated smut, forming a stunning feast of flesh and unbridled deviance.
By the video's finale, the band has been sucked into the writhing pile of men, with only Till standing firm at the center — like a hardened deity — as the other participants gaze longingly at his impressive figure. The compelling clip toys with the notions of gender expression and sensuality and plays out like a love letter to the indulgent side of human sexuality in all its complex, frenzied and raunchiest forms.
Mein Herz Brennt (2001)
With an emotional opening focused on Till Lindemann's ruggedly handsome face singing with a single tear streaming down his cheek, this video mimics the distraught timbre of the evocative track. This ode to children's nightmares (the first line is a reference to German kids' bedtime show Sandmännchen or "Mr. Sandman") may start off dark and slow with heavy-handed sadness, but the melancholy atmosphere quickly turns to paralyzing horror when the band members transform into demonic cellists whose every swelling orchestration becomes an exaggerated gesture meant to elicit unease.
The scenes that follow are composed much like a demented nightmare — shape-shifting landscapes, caged children, clawed haunting figures — reaching peak chaos with Lindemann playing both a shirtless character eating his own heart, and the powerful, sad, suited gentleman standing firm amid a burning room. A final shot sees the once-suffering minor players running from a burning home, happy to escape the torment inside.
Mein Land (2011)
Yet another pairing between Rammstein and director Jonas Åkerlund (who helmed "Mann Gegen Mann," "Pussy," "Ich tu dir weh," Rammstein: Paris and has signed on for the band's current cinematic exploits as well) "Mein Land" is a Technicolor throwback fantasy in which the uncharacteristically cheery sextet star in a modernized Beach Blanket Bingo–inspired party on the coast. Complete with Hawaiian shirts, groovy dance moves, bikini-clad girls and slow-motion Baywatch-style shots (see: Till with his brawny bronze physique doing his best David Hasselhoff–esque beach run) — it's the most fun the group has ever appeared to have in a video.
But, as day turns to night, so do the band and their cohorts turn more toward the imagery we've come to expect from Rammstein. Naked breasts thrash wildly about, instruments catch fire as the sextet transforms back into their darkened, leather-wearing selves and revel in the hedonistic evening activities.
Sonne (2001)
In this clip Rammstein transform themselves into soot-covered worker dwarves whose output goes to serve their overlord: a giant and gorgeous Snow White figure who periodically appears to gather her golden treasure and dole out corporeal punishment in the form of over-the-knee spankings for her pint-sized servants. The song was originally meant to be Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko's entrance music (and the lyrics point to as much), but in the context of this clip, the choral refrains that compare a woman to the sun can be transposed to refer to the faithful worship the small workers thrust upon their beloved.
"Sonne" plays out like a twisted fairy tale as the men mine the treasure to feed Snow White's increasing habit: she quickly graduates from sniffing the gold powder to injecting it. Her appetites eventually get the best of her though, and she overdoses in the bathtub. Undeterred, the men quickly clean and care for her body, positioning it in a glass coffin before carrying her to a snowy mountaintop where they mourn. But all is not lost: as an apple falls from a mysterious source we see the queen spring to life — and immediately put the dwarves back to work mining her treasure.
Engel (1997)
Directly inspired by the 1996 Robert Rodriguez–directed and Quentin Tarantino–written vampire film From Dusk Till Dawn, "Engel" is a lurid take on the film's sexiest sequence in which Salma Hayek appears as a scantily dressed dancer who slithers onto the stage wielding an enormous snake. Following that format, the guys assume the role of the vampire club house band while congregates gather for the show. An especially creepy touch takes place with the addition of two small children with blackened eyes who sit placidly in a hanging cage while they mouth the feminine vocals originally tracked by German pop musician Christiane "Bobo" Hebold.
They even recreate Dusk's infamous foot fetish scene in which the dancer shoves her toes into an onlooker's mouth and pours liquor down her leg, filling the mouth of the eager man — portrayed in this clip by keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz. Fellow watchers cheer on this fetishistic act, and the revelry begins to spin wildly out of control as a techno-based breakdown interjects in the music, which builds to a climax as Till Lindemann breaks out a giant flamethrower and begins to terrorize the crowd until total pandemonium ensues.
Rosenrot (2005)
The video for Rosenrot's title-track is a disturbing look at what can happen to a man in the throes of lust for an inappropriate object of affection. The band plays a pack of traveling monks who enter a remote Romanian mountain town when the leader, played by Till Lindemann, falls hard for a local teen girl much too young for his matured age. The girl — played by the then 14-year-old model Cătălina Lavric — eventually uses her new suitor's intense feelings to convince him to murder her parents. But a surprise awaits when he exits their home after committing the bloody deed only to find himself surrounded by a mob of angry villagers ready to exact revenge on the pedophilic monk for his ghastly actions.
Interspersed throughout the clip are scenes of the monks congregated in a circle, each kneeling and whipping their own backs in a show of self-flagellation as religious atonement. It isn't difficult to read social commentary into this act: implying stringent self-denial and repressive practices breed an especially vile sexual appetite in many. Perhaps what Rammstein attempted to do here was shed light on this in an abstract sense, but also to point to frequent offenses as wrought by clergymen in every religion. The unsettling effect of seeing a graying man prey on a child is nauseating, but his bloody punishment and eventual burning at the stake serves as satisfying reparation for his dastardly conduct.
Ich Will (2001)
In a hostage situation–turned–media frenzy, Rammstein showcase the hypocritical deification and attention paid to violent criminals in their eerie yet sleek video for "Ich Will." The band star as bank robbers who intentionally trigger the alarms in order to call attention to their crime. Cool and collected, they terrorize patrons and hold press conferences in stylish fashion.
The characters eventually exit the bank, proudly surrendering themselves to the authorities, and the crowd goes wild — just in time for Flake, who has remained in the bank with a bomb strapped to his chest, to flip the switch and blow the building to pieces. A harsh criticism of celebrity culture and the lengths some people will go to become canonized within it, "Ich Will" is one of Rammstein's most aggressive social commentaries.
Pussy (2009)
The video for "Pussy," much like the song itself, is actual porn. Just shy of penetration, that's all it is: literally tits and pussies and a fair amount of spanking. And it might be the first time any band has so explicitly and directly exhibited the source material for such a raunchy, delightfully fun song. No more context is needed to explain this video. Seeing is believing. Long live Rammstein.
Deutschland (2019)
Fans knew after an eight-year wait, Rammstein weren't going to come back with just any old video, but the breathtakingly elaborate cinematic masterpiece the group unveiled with "Deutschland" is an emotional roller coaster for which no one could prepare. Venturing throughout German history with an unflinching confrontational eye toward the often imperialist country's darker times, the bandmates portray numerous characters: from barbaric warriors from the early middle ages to opulently outfitted 20th century mobsters and more. They even take on the roles of Nazis and concentration camp prisoners in a controversy-causing scene that reaches cathartic glory when the latter turn the guns around on their captors for vengeance.
Extending well beyond the song's original five-minute run time, "Deutschland" is inarguably a work of art — a miniature epic filled with intersecting plot lines, thrilling action and stunning visuals from a band who can't stop out-doing themselves.
