In 2019, the mischievous Thil Lindemann struck on all fronts. After Rammstein's seventh studio album released earlier this year, he is now delighted his fans with a follow-up to his personal project composed with his faithful sidekick Peter Tätgren (Pain, Hypocrisy)! Will this new vintage be as enjoyable and crazy as the first one?
"Skills In Pills" had delighted us as much as frightened us. Til sang in English with his baritone voice some lyrics with corrosive black humour on wild rhythms. Again the two Swedish and German universes merge with however a small advantage for the last one. Stef Aufh' sung with a complicit voice brings an epic urgency. The impact and osmosis are immediate,'Ich Weiss Es Nicht' ("I don't know") or 'Gummi' are of implacable logic and use rather striking industrial metal strings.
Teutonic rigour and Swedish austerity did not dilute the potache spirit of the project. A major innovation is that the texts are now interpreted in German. He depicts an eccentric fauna: the bulimic character of "Allesfresser" or "Gummi" who gives the floor to a follower of the idiom (''latex is fantastic''). The joke takes on more flavour when our two men come to dynamite the genres from the inside. 'Knebel' (which speaks of a master-slave relationship) starts as an aerial 'folk' that evokes the great outdoors before exploding into the most complete carnage. Against all odds, the duo even put a piece of... tango ! "Ach So Gern" summons the spectrum of Carlos Gardel and his accordion rhythms on which Til sings in his most charming voice (the ultimate title will be a rereading of this piece in the 'Pain' sauce). 'Schlaf Ein' and 'Wer Weiss Das Schon' venture to the side of the starry ballad with large string reinforcements. "Platz Eins" lets us imagine for a moment what this band would look like if it became the creator of a hymn for the dancefloors.
"F & M" is spread over a period of fifty minutes, with two bonuses for the remaster version. The two artists at the best of their form made a muscular disc that certainly sometimes lacks flexibility and originality. But jokes, dark lyrics and willingness to go beyond the genres, however, provide moments of enjoyment.