As one the last big guitar groups to pack out stadiums and dominate worldwide charts, Rammstein have become a fire-obsessed enigma. The Berlin six-piece’s initial mash up of industrial and metal has expanded throughout the years to include epic orchestral flourishes and live-built anthems. One key element to their success is the unwavering unity within the act – some three decades deep into their career, the band have retained an unbroken lineup with all original members.

Despite being one of the most internationally successful metal artists of the last 20 years, there are still a fair number of underrated Rammstein tracks littered throughout their back catalogue. With eight albums, and mountains of unreleased, remixed, b-side songs dotted throughout their career, there is an ample amount of material to pick through.

Having recently wrapped up their North American conquest, now is as good a time as ever to dig out their ten best, and most underrated songs. So what are they?? Read on and find out…

Okay, so we might be slightly cheating here as we previously included this banger on our deep cuts article for Meshuggah – but their remix of Rammstein‘s “Benzin” just too damn good to not include here as well. Essentially isolating the original Till Lindemann vocal take and dropping it onto a track loaded with crushing eight string riffs, the two parties are a perfect match. Released as a b-side on the original “Benzin” single in 2005, it’s an absolutely crushing effort – the ending downtuned breakdown is so heavy is borderlines on stupid. A great one-off collaboration more metal fans need to know about.

2004’s Reise, Reise saw the Rammstein boys turn up the guitars and turn up the epic-scale even more than it’s predecessor Mutter. It packs some massive singles, but one of the most overlooked songs is the relentless “Dalai Lama”. The wall of chugging guitars combined with creeping piano and Lindemann’s guttural and angelic vocals make for an ominous mix. Throw in the lyrics, which are something of modern-update on the German supernatural/horror poem “der Erlkönig”, and you’ve got one of the six-piece’s most haunting pieces of music to date.

The least streamed and well known song from Rammstein‘s 1995 debut Herzeleid, the near six-minute “Das alte Leid” is a writing, riff-friendly forgotten gem. The early days of Rammstein certainly was certainly packing a more industrial atmosphere that has perhaps been lost by their modern bombastic, stadium friendly material. The repetitive rhythms of “Das alte Leid” become almost hypnotising as the tune progresses, which leads to the eventual climaxing finale. A great song who’s only sin is being on a great LP with some of Rammstein‘s early classic material.

The 2007-2009 Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da writing sessions would wind up overly profitable for Rammstein, with a large number of great tracks not making the final, standard edition album. “Gib mir deine Augen”, “Halt” and in particular our choice “Donaukinder” is extremely strong material lesser bands would kill for. As for the massive “Donaukinder” – it’s the Rammstein classic that never was. Certainly deserves to be on the album’s standard edition – if not worthy of a single/film clip. The uber-fans know it, but it’s time for the casuals to embrace the brilliance of “Donaukinder”.

Taken from the untitled 2019 Rammstein album, it’s closer “Hallomann” – or “Kind Man” in English – is a big, slow burning track that is seemingly made for stadiums – yet has never been played live. That real drama-filled sound that Rammstein have been nailing on recent albums is extremely prominent, and it has a fantastic, slightly melancholic chorus. Things take a heavy turn with a nice big riff that rears up underneath the manic Christian “Flake” Lorenz keyboard. Rammstein promoted the hell out of their self/un-titled record, and played a lot off it live too – yet “Hallomann” never saw the stage. Something of a missed opportunity, as it’s one of the album’s finest moments. 

Incorrectly perceived by many as the ‘leftovers’ from 2004’s Reise, Reise, the following year’s Rosenrot packs some of Rammstein‘s best mid-career material. The opening trio makes for a powerhouse combo, but it’s some of the deeper cuts that stand up the most, especially the thunderous “Hilf Mir”. Boasting a ridiculously thick guitar sound, it’s a mid-tempo stomper, with a big, grandiose chorus – maybe not world’s away from their anthem “Sonne”. Regardless of that though, it – and the equally overlooked “Feuer und Wasser” – are two forgotten songs from an underrated Rammstein release.

Although Rammstein‘s 1997 cover of their countrymen’s Kraftwerk “Das Modell” is obscure enough, but we thought we’d go one step further with it’s b-side, “Kokain”. Composed in the Sehnsucht-era – the German’s second full length – the completely unsubtle “Kokain” is a straight-ahead track that would fit in perfectly with it’s parent album. Industrial elements, subtle electronic beats, keyboards and tightly gated guitars create the perfect bed for Lindemann‘s legendary vocals. 

Another non-album cut from the immensely fruitful mid-00s Reise, Reise/Rosenrot period, “Vergiss uns nicht” – “Don’t Forget Me” – was unearthed as the b-side to 2011’s one-off single “Mein Land”. A sweeping, instant-anthem, perhaps Rammstein simply created too many of these big, mid-tempo tracks and there simply wasn’t room for “Vergiss uns nicht” on an album proper. Fortunately for us it did escape the archives, and like the aforementioned “Kokain”, it is also available on the rarities compilation Raritäten (1994 – 2012).

A song with an interesting history, “Wilder Wein” is a track that appeared on Rammstein 1994 demo – yet never made it onto a studio album. It took until the Live Aus Berlin LP that the tune made it onto a full blown Rammstein release. The synth-heavy ballad packs none of the band’s signature muscle, instead it’s one of the more melodic forays. Make no bones about it though, Rammstein certainly do this style justice, with “Wilder Wein” a moody, Depeche Mode-style slower number – even introducing acoustic guitars at the end. A great underrated gem.

Mutter – Rammstein‘s immense third record –  is an absolute classic, but boy is she top heavy. Side A is where all the singles reside, with a lot of the back end of the album being outshone completely. “Zwitter” is the best of the bunch, with a thick riff anchoring the full throttle song. Unlike a lot of the tracks on this list, “Zwitter” was played live – albeit not for over 20 years. It’s real foot to the floor burner with a big simplistic rhythm driven by the whole band, and the ending half-time groove is particularly fist pumping.

With some of the most passionate fans in the heavy music world, we know that there are plenty of Rammstein fans out there that have their own favourite deep cut tracks – so what are they? Let us know in the comments!