Sex scandal breaks out around German cult heavy band Rammstein

The beginning of the summer turned out to be difficult for the main German rock band Rammstein. Allegations of sexual harassment of female fans rained down on the musicians, the German national press is choking with fears that this is the beginning of the end of their great group. The artists themselves justify themselves with restraint through their management. All this is happening, of course, against the backdrop of a full soldout European tour. It is unlikely that in this situation it would be otherwise, because the entire popularity of the outrageous group was originally built on frank speculation by various porn clichés, practically one of the fundamental spiritual bonds of the cheerful mother of Germany. For any sane person, this only causes a smile, which the famous rockers have successfully used so far. But everything ends sometime.

Formed in Berlin in 1994, the heavy metal band Rammstein has become widely known for its provocative lyrics, performances and videos. Their songs touch upon shocking themes from cannibalism to necrophilia, among other things, sarcasm, irony and topical brutality, and the very name of the group is reminiscent of the disaster at the air show in the city of Ramstein in 1988, which killed 70 people and injured more than 1000.

The song Pussy in 2009 topped the charts in Germany, despite the scandalous video, which showed explicit pornography against the background of the national flag of Germany, by the way. And the heavens did not collapse to earth there, although the amusing brawler raged a bit, and mostly not in Germany itself, but in the world around it. In the “native house” there were no complaints and requests from deputies (Deutsche deputies, apparently, were busy with real state affairs), prosecutorial checks (Deutsche prosecutors, apparently, fought real crime) and dances of the offended public with the demands of indispensable punishments of sovereigns and gentlemen with burning at the stake ( Deutschesobshchestvo, apparently, made some evolution since the obscurant Middle Ages).

During concert shows, soloist Till Lindemann repeatedly used rubber devices that looked like male genitalia (protruding from his pants), from which he poured a suspicious viscous liquid on his fans, his musicians and drank it himself. During a concert show, Lindemann mounts a huge metal cannon, calling it “dick”, and sprays the fan zone with streams of white flakes from it. This joy was experienced, by the way, by the Moscow fans during the band’s tour, but this wonderful memory is already from the story of days completely gone. All this fun is filmed on phones, enthusiastic cries of watered fans are heard, no one runs away.

The entire aesthetics of the group, their videos, costumes and accompanying design solutions are somehow connected with the BDSM subculture, which apparently emphasizes the harsh nature of heavy music itself. However, in the aesthetics of heavy metal, such expressive means are the foundation of the genre, used by bands everywhere – from, sorry, some Russian “Aria” to American KISS, but in Rammstein’s version everything has acquired a very exaggerated “chic and brilliance”. Someone takes it seriously, someone – as a caustic parody of the genre itself on the part of unbridled Germans. All this was considered freedom of creativity and did not bother anyone until the present moment, until a person was found who accused the group not just of a “cult of shame” (such “accusations” about the fate of Rammstein accumulated on folios in ten volumes of “War and Peace”), but of harassment and drugging of gullible female fans.

Last year, the album Zeit (“Time”) became the best-selling album in Germany, in addition to recordings, millions of merchandise were sold – T-shirts, wine, chocolates, rugs with group prints. The exact numbers are kept secret, but Rammstein are considered the most profitable in German show business. Now, as a result of the scandal, Rammstein branded perfumes with provocative names (“Cocaine”, “Sex” and “Pussy”) are being quickly removed from sale, and the book publisher, which successfully sells Till’s poems (he is considered the best-selling contemporary poet in the country), refused print more of his books. Various authoritative music publications write that the group almost ended its existence.

It all started with the fact that one Irish fan accused Rammstein of deliberately drugging her and inappropriate sexual proposals. Hard rock lover Shelby Lynn spreads through her social networks a story about how at the end of May she received a free ticket to a concert of her favorite band and an invitation to a party with Lindemann, and how it all ended. According to Lynn and other “caring” women who joined later, who allegedly had a similar experience (there is no Loboda on them, however!), there are people in the Rammstein team who, through social networks, invite beautiful girls to watch a concert for free in the so-called row number zero in front of stage, and then, if Till, of course, wants to talk with them, vigilantly choosing “victims” during the concert, visit the party after the concert.

I must say that such practices in the history of not only unbridled rock and roll, but even the pious Soviet stage, not to mention Russian pop music, are rooted in the legends and practices of ancient times. And how many of them, these trustingly thirsty girls, fell into this abyss, do not count. But suddenly the most banal rock-pop story received the freshest development …

A 24-year-old girl (that is, clearly not of the age of airy innocence) describes in detail how she sent her photos in the hope of getting into row number zero, how she was chosen and how she was shown to the lead singer of the group, who was drinking tequila at that moment and offered it to the girls. Tequila for free from the hand of an adored rock idol! Yes, for this, any fan will hang herself …

But the vigilant Irishwoman Lynn suspects this tequila of allegedly mixing something into it, as a result of which she was dizzy the whole concert. She, however, does not specify how much of this tequila she snorted. Interestingly, under this tequila, the soloist Till himself cheerfully worked out the entire program, and later it turned out that Shelby Lynn’s blood test for the presence of “foreign substances” allegedly mixed in tequila was negative. But the noise and din had already erupted. Because of these accusations, other stories surfaced like dominoes, in which suddenly emboldened girls attacked the lead singer of a provocative group for his allegedly excessive use of his popularity and real harassment at parties (God, they don’t have Loboda again!).

For this kind of fans, a special term “groupies” has long been coined, they are also called “starkers” or “girls for band”, girls for a group. They go after idols and show them their love in every sense of the word. The management of artists since the 60s (when this phenomenon flourished with all the colors of the rainbow) has been trying to somehow organize the fans so that they do not behave too unpredictably. Apparently, it is about such an “organization” on the part of the Rammstein group that we are talking about.

It’s hard to believe that adult girls who send their beautiful photos somewhere, trying to portray themselves in them as “invitingly” as possible, receiving free tickets and going to a party with an artist, having gone through a humiliating, in fact, “exterior” casting, have never admit the thought that they may be allowed or invited to come closer to the idol. At the same time, as Lindemann’s accusers now write, some girls after the party found themselves in bed with the artist, but now, after a while, they suddenly realized that, perhaps, violence and abuse were present in his actions. Be that as it may, while there are no official investigations and evidence of alleged cases of violence against these women, Rammstein continues to play concerts, and 60-year-old Till continues to “irrigate” fans with a giant metal cock cannon.

However, the administration of the group still posted their message to the fans on the official website. “The accusations hit us all very hard and we take them very seriously. We tell our fans that it’s important to us that you feel comfortable and safe on our shows – front and back. We condemn any violations and ask you not to engage in public prejudice of any kind against those who have made allegations. You are entitled to your point of view. But we, the group, also have the right not to be prejudiced.” So in this ultra-politically correct treatment, the group is actually protecting the women who made their accusations from the possible wrath of more aggressive fans, which certainly does them credit in this whole messy story. As much as it’s even possible.