<TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Rammstein is a German NDH-Metal band. The band is widely accepted as part of the Neue Deutsche Härte-scene, alongside bands such as Oomph! and Die Krupps. Their sound has been dubbed as Tanz-Metall (lit. &quot;Dance Metal&quot;). Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. Formed in 1994, they have sold over 12 million records worldwide. Rammstein&apos;s entire catalogue is published by Universal Music Group.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Although most songs are written in German, the band has had significant success outside German-speaking nations, in Europe as well as in the rest of the Western World, and Asia. It has been confirmed that the band is reunited from their vacation and has begun writing their sixth studio album, which will be released sometime in 2008.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Kruspe, Riedel and Schneider originally founded Rammstein following an attempt by Kruspe to compose American-influenced music with a West Berlin band called Orgasm Death Gimmicks. As Kruspe put it, &quot;I realized it&apos;s really important to make music and make it fit with your language, which I didn&apos;t do in the past. I came back [to Germany] and said, &apos;It&apos;s time to make music that&apos;s really authentic&apos;. I was starting a project called Rammstein to really try to make German music&quot;. He invited Till Lindemann, a former competitive swimmer and drummer for the garage-rock band First Arsch, to join the project as a vocalist. The four entered a contest for new bands and won, attracting the interest of Paul H. Landers, who knew them all and decided to join the band. Christian &quot;Flake&quot; Lorenz was the last member to join; he had played with Landers before in the punk-rock band Feeling B and was initially reluctant to come on board, but was eventually persuaded to join. Their first album was released a year later.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>History</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Rammstein was started by Richard Z. Kruspe. In 1989 he escaped from East Germany over the border between Austria and Hungary. He eventually ended up in West Berlin and started a band in 1993 (Orgasm Death Gimmicks). At that time he was very influenced by American music. After the wall came down, he moved back home to Schwerin where Till Lindemann worked as a basket weaver and played drums in the band First Arsch.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">At this time, Richard lived with Oliver Riedel (of the band The Inchtabokatables) and Christoph &quot;Doom&quot; Schneider (of Die Firma). Richard realized that the music he had previously made was not right for him. He envisioned something with machines and hard guitars together. The three started working together on a new project.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Richard soon found it hard to write music and lyrics at the same time. He got Till to join them as he had often heard him singing while working. A contest for new bands was announced and the prize was studio time. The four of them recorded the first Rammstein demo and won. Paul Landers knew them all and wanted to know what they were doing. After listening, he agreed to join. At this point, all they needed for the machine-sound was a keyboarder. They tried to get Christian &quot;Flake&quot; Lorenz to join, as he had played with Paul before in the band Feeling B. Flake was not entirely thrilled with the idea at first and didn&apos;t want to join for a long time. However, he eventually agreed.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="11" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"><B>Name</B></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">Rammstein takes its name indirectly from the western German town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, site of an airshow disaster in 1988. The band&apos;s signature song, the eponymous Rammstein, is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. At the show, three Italian air force jets collided on August 28, 1988 at the US airbase. About 40 spectators died in the first minutes, and several hundred more were injured. In the next two months, the death toll rose to 72. The extra &quot;m&quot; in the band&apos;s name allows the word to mean &quot;battering ram&quot; (literally &quot;ramming stone&quot;), reinforcing the image of the band&apos;s music as powerful and revolutionary.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0"></FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT><TEXTFORMAT LEADING="2"><P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT FACE="Verdana" SIZE="10" COLOR="#0B333C" LETTERSPACING="0" KERNING="0">The minor planet 110393 Rammstein is named in the band&apos;s honour.</FONT></P></TEXTFORMAT>