After struggling to come up with a release date for their upcoming project, Rammstein has announced the release of their upcoming seventh, studio album is due on May 17th under Caroline Records, marking their first album release in a decade. Along with the announcement of their untitled album, they release a short, cinematic feature film promoting their leading single “Deutschland.”
The new track is a combination full of industrial guitars and electronic effects that have a dense and dance-like rhythm to them. All the lyrics to the song are sung in German, but a little translation through various music outlet will have listeners understand the message they’re trying to coney. It’s all about telling the history and future of Germany in times of human conflict. One of the lyrics goes, “Germany / My heart in flames / Want to love you want to damn you / Germany / Your breath is cold / So young / And yet so old.”
The part that has left fans and critics alike divided is the accompanying music video to the new song. The video itself takes viewers on a journey through German history, having members of Rammstein appearing in different eras, including a medieval battle and Industrial Revolution fight. However, in the teasers leading up to the new feature film, there were images of prisoners with nooses around their necks, and awaiting death. Officials, wearing the Nazi symbol, are then shown to kick off the stool the prisoners are standing on, leaving them hanging.
The news of these teasers left Jewish leaders in Germany to believe this new video was trivializing the Holocaust, according to Blabbermouth. Former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and Holocaust survivor told German newspaper Bild, “with this video, the band has crossed a line. The instrumentalization and trivialization of the Holocaust, as shown in the images, is irresponsible.”
The video was directed by Specter Berlin. The upcoming album was produced by Olsen Involtini and mixed at a Santa Monica studio with Rich Costey, a well-known American producer.
You can listen to the song and watch the new feature film below.