Rammstein

It should surprise absolutely no one, but Rammstein's CD/DVD live set Volkerball is one for the fan, but what a gluttonous and delicious feast of industrial Teutonic metal they're in for. First off, there's the visual element on the DVD. Not that Rammstein's studio albums are lacking but you have to see their intense stage show to truly appreciate them. Fritz Lang's grungy vision of the future mixes with a stately Laibach kind of detachment while flame throwers, explosions, and hundreds of lights get abused with such abandon that Kiss must be jealous. The DVD features a full show from 2005 in Nimes, France plus shorter versions of the same set from England and Japan plus a quick snippet from a 2004 gig in Russia. The cameras do a wonderful job of capturing everything important, Rammstein do a fine job of delivering their dramatic vision, and the producers do a wonderful of overdubbing (or maybe Rammstein are really the tightest band to ever inhabit the earth). The casually curious will find the DVD too overstuffed with redundancy and the CD no different than the studio albums, but for fans this is beyond essential. [A 2 CD/DVD 'Special Edition' version was also released.] ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide