XML FeedsExtreme Idol: Rammstein's Till Lindemann
By Faye on Jul 12, 2010 | In features, Features | Send feedback »
The Wretched Spawn pays homage to the Rammstein frontman and Germany’s finest metal maniac.
Born Till Lindemann on 4th January 1963 in Leipzig, Germany, he grew up in the village of Wendisch-Rambow. Despite an alcoholic father and the divorce of his parents in 1975, Lindemann demonstrated promise as a youth champion swimmer and later explored a number of jobs, including carpentry and basket weaving. While his early career moves hardly smacked of rock stardom, Lindemann would join punk act First Arsch in 1986, which led to his first collaboration with current bandmates Richard Z. Kruspe, Christoph “Doom” Schneider and Oliver Riedel. Having overheard Till singing at work, Kruspe insisted that he should front the band who entered and won a competition in 1994. Named after the site of an airshow disaster, Rammstein was founded that same year and swiftly gained a reputation for no-holds-barred industrial metal.
Introducing Till Lindemann’s booming vocal talents, debut album ‘Herzeleid’ (1996) revealed a revolutionary fusion of dance and metal. As the band’s dazzling and obscene live shows began to circulate, follow-up offering ‘Sehnsucht’ (1998) proved an international breakthrough. This electronic assault was brought vividly to life with pyrotechnics and the simulated buggery of keyboardist “Flake” by Lindemann, which, during a US tour, resulted in arrest and the beginning of a rocky relationship with the authorities.
On Rammstein’s shock-rock tactics, Lindemann told Kerrang, “We just push boundaries. We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed.”
2001’s ‘Mutter’ boasted an incredibly polished appeal, as hit single ‘Sonne’ invaded cable TV networks across the globe. With its violent grooves and kinky, Snow White-themed music video, the song soon became an essential feature of the band’s back catalogue. Perhaps their most groundbreaking release to date, ‘Reise, Reise’ (2004) features pummelling riffs finished with Lindemann’s sneeringly sarcastic verses. Leftover cuts from the ‘Reise, Reise,’ sessions were assembled into 2005’s ‘Rosenrot,’ along with a little-known guest appearance from Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri.
More explicit and aggressive than ever before, Rammstein rocked the metal world once again with 2009’s ‘Liebe Ist Für Alle Da.’ Furnished with Depeche Mode-like synths and brutal hooks, the album’s extreme sound was accompanied by a string of edgy live shows in which Till rode atop a gigantic, cock-shaped cannon.
Though best known for his crazy, onstage antics, Lindemann is also a qualified pyrotechnician and designs many of Rammstein’s fiery special effects. In 2007, he lent his monstrous vocals to Apocalyptica’s cover of David Bowie hit ‘Heroes.’ When not penning lyrics for Rammstein, Lindemann is an avid writer of poetry, and in 2002 published a collection of works entitled ‘Messer.’
Soon to lay waste to the UK, Rammstein are among Sonisphere’s hotly anticipated headliners. Led by insane ringmaster Till Lindemann, this heavy metal circus is set to unveil the greatest show on earth.
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