Rammstein’s Fire-Powered Excess Covers for Its Heavy-Metal Faults

Is Rammstein just a German rock band, or are they evil foot soldiers in the battle for the souls of America’s youth? The sextet came under media scrutiny after revelations that it was a favorite of Columbine High School killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, and it’s true that the band revels in the kind of dark, aggressive antics that can put a chill into the fainthearted.

But Rammstein plays heavy metal, a genre that keeps a discrete distance from reality. At the Shrine Expo Hall on Wednesday, the group from an area of what used to be East Germany borrowed metal’s cliches and ratcheted them up to a point where they undermined its sneering menace. The band members, dressed like dissidents from the “Road Warrior” films, stamped out hulking, dunderheaded metal riffs over processional techno beats and steely synthesizer riffs.

If Rammstein’s appeal was limited to its music, it probably wouldn’t sell as many tickets. Fortunately for its bank account, burly lead singer Till Lindemann has a fetish for pyrotechnics, and for many of the fans Wednesday the songs were just interludes before the next conflagration. Mike stands imploded, drumsticks shot out showers of sparks, and for the coup de gra^ce, Lindemann’s trench coat burst into flames. As extreme theater, it was too silly to shock.