Review of the Zurich concert – Rammstein, the eternal return of the supermen of metal

It took less time than Top Gun to see the return of the tide of iron and fire that Rammstein has mastered better than anyone. Three years have passed, and here they are to ignite the jets of letziration again, so that they ignited the reactors of the Stade de Suisse Berne on June 6, 2019. “Boom!” So. The opening song has changed (“Armee der Tristen”, from the new album the sextet has since composed and released), but not the Germanic-retrofuturistic decoration, nor the pyrotechnic excess, nor the size of the crowd dressed in Rammstein-T- Shirts whose anthracite-colored mass meandered through the streets of Zurich as soon as they arrived at the train station.

So apart from the set list it’s sort of a repeat of their 2019 concert, which saw the biggest German formation in history (sorry Scorpions) on Monday 30th. No big deal: the fans filled the stadium, they will the next day for a second round, 94,000 spectators in total, an unbelievable feat for an extreme metal concert. In the crowd no dissatisfaction. Because the group has an excuse: A global pandemic put them through it and placed them under glass like all artists, big and small. And because a Rammstein show, even when cured (with a flamethrower), remains a hair-raising show whether you enjoy it, discover it, or suffer it. In any case, as Reich Minister Ludwig von Apfelstrudel said in memory of pre-war Munich: “We do not regret his evening!”

47,000 fans in unison

Carried by a masterful battery and the dull attack of the two guitars, the sound is absolutely phenomenal. On their fireproof stage, the six come and go, taking turns with the sheer assault of their scalpel-wielding anthems and the scenography of their most expressive songs: the miasma-spitting pram, whose black germs, blown to every corner of the stadium, darkening skies; the crazy kitchen boy who uses a flamethrower to get past the pianist hidden in his saucepan; the dinghy cruise carried on the arms of the crowd to the sound of a dying piano… And the stage that keeps exploding in flames and smoke.

Some will take this praise of power literally, as a setting ofsuperman Nietzschean, who has seduced lovers of monumental art since Wagner. Rather savor the theater of the grotesque there, which Rammstein masters best in all its mockery and excess, holding up a distorted mirror to society, overplaying the warlike pose and the male punch in order to better show the flaws. Till Lindemann sings (in German) as if telling a story or blowing a lullaby, and his big voice is as startling as it is soothing…

But more than the show of force at the scene, it was the sight of 47,000 people gathered in front of her that caused goosebumps. Last big open air of the “before” world, this Rammstein show was the first of the “after” show … assuming that it exists. The fans had regained all their enthusiasm, the merchandising stands were lined up, as were the beer and sausage stands. The mask was just a vague memory worn by a few concerned people. The explosions on stage sometimes reminded of a war at the gates of Europe. A yellow and blue flag fluttered above the crowd for a few moments before sucking them in. Nietzsche, in turn, had theorized the idea of ​​eternal return, dooming man to experience the same spectacle indefinitely: like the voice of Till Lindemann, there was something soothing and frightening about that thought, captured in Rammstein’s robotic mechanics.

Posted today at 11:30am

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