Mutter Review

07/13/2005 7:40 AM, AMG


How do say "brief stay in the American spotlight" in German? Rammstein, the German forebearers of keyboard-inflected Wagnerian speed metal, are at it again, with Mutter. True to their Teutonic roots, the lyrics remain almost exclusively in German, with only a few pithy expressions tossed in to add melodrama. Mutter is without a doubt the closest Rammstein has come yet to approximating the over-the-top silliness of Gwar, the only difference being that Gwar's doing it on purpose. "Feuer Frei" is capped off by nearly three minutes of torture noises, the final blow being lead singer shouting "bang, bang." A small part of me wants to think that all this would seem less tacky if it weren't in German, but a bigger part makes me think that understanding what they're saying would only make it worse. The Faith No More-esque keyboards are kicked up a bit, adding little to the final sound beyond an atavistic 80s feel. This album is for hardcore Rammstein and euro-metal fans only. ~ Kieran McCarthy, All Music Guide