Rammstein's New Album Banned From Display in Germany

Posted on Nov 10th 2009 7:37AM by Spinner Staff
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German metal band Rammstein are the victims of censorship in their own country, the Guardian has reported. Their latest album, entitled 'Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da' (loosely translated: 'There is Love for Us All') has apparently been banned from public display in German shops.

The reason for the ban -- given by the German Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People -- is that the band's sixth studio album features provocative artwork, lyrics and song titles which are 'harmful' to young people.

The ruling takes effect from tomorrow (Nov. 11) and will see the album only sold 'under the counter' with one track, 'Ich Tu Dir Weh' ('I Want to Hurt You') banned from live performances. Restrictions have also been placed on the advertising of the record and it will effectively be given an 18 Certificate, with access to fans below that age also banned. The order to remove the release was made under section 18 of the Youth Protection Act.

Seemingly fuelled by the controversy they create, Rammstein's latest cover art features a less than subtle painting of the band preparing to feast on the flesh of a naked woman.

Song lyrics include the lines, "Bites, kicks, heavy blows, nails, pincers, blunt saws -- tell me what you want." There is even a 'special edition' of the album which is a box set including six pink rubber replicas of the band-member's penises.

Despite the outrage -- or more likely because of it -- there is a ready audience for the band's shock horror metal with their last five albums hitting number one in Germany. Their controversial new opus has done the same in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands. It was number two in France, 13 in the US and 16 in the UK upon release last month.

The band who've warned fans via Facebook to 'take proof of your age with you when you go to buy the album', are not the first to fall foul of the Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People. The office banned 116 albums in 2008 and 131 in 2007. A spokesman told Billboard this was due to a sharp increase in releases that "glorify violence or are of a racist or pornographic nature."