Demos: The road to Herzeleid

In 1994 and 1995, to promote the band or the release of Herzeleid, demos were distributed on audio tapes, a cheaper and easier to produce format. We invite you to take the road with us to Herzeleid, to discover the different demo tapes known to date, and even to listen to three of them exclusively!

  1. 4-Track Demo Tape
  2. 5-Track Demo Tape
  3. 6-Track Demo Tape 2
  4. 3-Track Demo Tape 1
  5. 3-Track DAT Demo Tape
  6. 3-Track Demo Tape 2
  7. 6-Track Demo Tape 3
  8. 9-Track Demo Tape
  9. Samplers

To find out more on deoms, go to RammWiki.

19.02.1994 - 4-Track Demo Tape

The band records their first demo tape while they were still called Tempelprayers. All songs were sung in English. The tracklist is completely unknown. Only the existence of "White Flesh" was confirmed by Flake in "It's the World's Birthday Today", but it's unknown if the song was on the actual tape presented at the Metrobeat Contest, which the band won, getting them a one-week recording session in a studio. Wydoks studio claim on their website that Rammstein's first demos were recorded at their place.

30.04.1994 - 5-Track Demo Tape

The demos on this tape were most likely recorded at Knaack Club, after Rammstein already won the Metrobeat Contest. This tape was used for radio arplay to promote the band's concert on the 6th May 1994 show at the Anker venue in Leipzig.

The original demo tape came with a self-made information sheet which was inserted inside of the case. The front of this info sheet reads as follows:

Born from the most beautiful men of Feeling B, The Inchtabokatables, Orgasm Death Gimmick and Die Firma, RAMMSTEIN unites an excellent ensemble of talented solo artists to resurrect a generation that will one day be named after them.

enticing german lyrics
banging guitars
bombast choirs
hard samples
loops

DANCE METAL

RAMMSTEIN
is the new hope of German culture in the trash can of chewed up music markets
FORM RAMMSTEINS ! FOUND FANCLUBS ! BE HAPPY !

The band's first logo consisted of a self-made rune representing the band's name. Rammstein also used a full-name logo written in runes.

An alternate version (6-Track Demo 1), a hand-written one without artwork exists, including an early instrumental demo song using the baby sample from Mutter as a sixth track. This tape was circulated by the band directly. It is said that this version of the tape was given by Richard to one of his friends.

Tracklist

  1. 1. Das alte Leid (misspelled on the tracklist as Das alte Lied) 5:38
  2. 2. Weisses Fleisch 3:23
  3. 3. Der Seemann 5:57
  4. 4. Rammstein 5:28
  5. 5. Jeder lacht 4:01
  6. 6. Instrumental (available only on back-up copy) 5:48

6-Track Demo Tape 2

This demo tape was sent out by the band's then manager, Emanuel Fialik to find a label that would sign Rammstein. At least one copy of this demo tape is known to have been issued without the band sticker on the front. Feuerräder and Schwarzes Glas are live studio recordings, the rest of the songs are identical to their previous demo tape appearances. The version of Feuerräder from this tape was later relesed on the Engel (Fan-Edition) single. Rammstein was cut before the guitar solo on this tape. The version of Schwarzes Glas on this tape is a different one than the version from the 6-Track Demo 3. This version is faster, features a guitar solo and in that structure was played live in 1994. The sixth track Matrose (alternative title for Seemann at the time) is written in brackets. It is speculated that this is because the song is not included on all copies of this tape. Up to this date one known copy sold on eBay is missing the song.

Some copies of this demo tape came with a self-made information sheet which was inserted inside of the case. The front of this info sheet reads as follows:

In December 1993 five men leave their impeccable bands for unknown reasons. As a result of this event they found RAMMSTEIN and from then on they dedicate themselves to DANCE METAL.

Luring German lyrics
Crashing guitars
Radiant choirs
Hard samples
Machine rhythms

FORM RAMMSTEINS ! FOUND FANCLUBS !

Born from the most beautiful men of Feeling B, The Inchtabokatables, Orgasm Death Gimmick and Die Firma, RAMMSTEIN unites an excellent ensemble of talented solo artists to resurrect a generation that will one day be named after them.

(Motorwelt 9 / 94)

A picture of the cassette tape can be found on Rammstein's official website, on the first entry of rammstein.de's "History" section.

Tracklist

  1. 1. Feuerräder 4:47
  2. 2. Hallo Hallo 4:52
  3. 3. Weisses Fleisch 3:23
  4. 4. Rammstein 3:50
  5. 5. Schwarzes Glas 4:53
  6. 6. Matrose 5:57

3-Track Demo Tape 1

This tape was most likely produced after the 5-Track Demo. It was most likely sent by Rammstein to various record labels. The artwork of the tape bares a telephone number, which was most likely a phone number owned by Rammstein themselves, or by their then manager, Emanuel Fialik. It is assumed, that the three songs on this tape are the same versions as on the 6-Track Demo 2. Since no copy of this tape surfaced yet, this is speculative and not known.

The tape features a new RAMMSTEIN logotype.

3-Track Demo Tape 1

Tracklist

  1. 1. Hallo Hallo
  2. 2. Feuerräder
  3. 3. Schwarzes Glas

3-Track DAT Demo Tape

This DAT tape was sent to a radio host by an anonymous sender. The version of Hallo Hallo on this tape is the same as on the New Industries sampler. Rammstein and Weisses Fleisch are the same demo versions known from the previous tapes.

Tracklist

  1. 1. Hallo Hallo 5:28
  2. 2. Rammstein 5:24
  3. 3. Weisses Fleisch 3:25

3-Track Demo Tape 2

This demo tape was sent out to promote the upcoming release of the debut album Herzeleid, when the band was signed to Motor Music. Der Riecher was later re-titled to Du riechst so gut. Rammstein and Seemann are the same demo versions known from previous demo tapes.

3-Track Demo Tape 2
  1. 1. Der Riecher 5:24
  2. 2. Rammstein 5:18
  3. 3. Seemann 5:57

6-Track Demo Tape 3

This demo tape was sent out to promote the upcoming release of the debut album Herzeleid.

All the songs except Schwarzes Glas are the same demo versions known from previous demo tapes. Rammstein is cut even earlier than on the self-released tapes by the band, and ends with a fade-out when Till is still singing. Schwarzes Glas is notably slower than the version found on the 1994 tapes, and ends with a fade-out shortly after the guitar solo begins.

Tracklist

  1. 1. Der Riecher 5:24
  2. 2. Hallo Hallo 4:52
  3. 3. Weißes Fleisch 3:21
  4. 4. Rammstein 3:23
  5. 5. Schwarzes Glas 4:07
  6. 6. Der Seemann 5:57

9-Track Demo Tape

This demo tape was sent out by Motor Music to promote the upcoming release of the debut album Herzeleid. The tape was first shown publicly in the German music magazine BreakOut in 2011. It is unknown which of the 9 tracks are complete mixes, and which are rough mixes, as the tape hasn't been heard since its release. After the article became more known among fans, fakes of the tape quickly surfaced on eBay. To this day the original tape has not been found.

9-Track Demo Tape

Tracklist

  1. 1. Laichzeit
  2. 2. Feuerräder
  3. 3. Asche
  4. 4. Herzeleid
  5. 5. Seemann
  6. 6. Fleisch
  7. 7. Heirate mich
  8. 8. Hallo Hallo
  9. 9. Rammstein

Samplers

1995 - Just Wanna Have Fun! (Tape)

  1. 7. Der Riecher 5:27
  2. 8. Rammstein (fade-out) 3:25

1995 - Metal Hammer - Time For a Cut (12 Natural Born Thrillers) (CD)

  1. 7. Rammstein (available only on back-up copy) 5:22

1995 - New Industries (CD)

  1. 7. Das alte Leid (available only on back-up copy, same version as on the 3-Track DAT Tape) 5:27
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