Line #43 Music/Oomph


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oomph.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Robert, Dero, Andreas-]]]
3	Oomph! (sometimes rendered [[CapsLock OOMPH!]]) is an IndustrialMetal band (even though their first album, ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Oomph!]]'', was an [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness EBM album]]) founded in 1989 in Wolfsburg, UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}, consisting of Dero Goi, Andreas Crap and Robert Flux. Their second album, ''[[NewSoundAlbum Sperm]]'', released in 1994, is widely considered the UrExample of Neue Deutsche Härte (or [=NDH=], "New German Hardness"), a German subgenre of IndustrialMetal with influences from EBM, featuring such bands as Unheilig, Eisbrecher, Megaherz, Music/{{ASP}} and a certain little band that you may have heard of going by the name of Music/{{Rammstein}}.
4
5	Even though they were very influential, they didn't make their big mainstream breakthrough in Germany until 2004, when "Augen auf!", the first single from their album ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht'', was #1 on the German singles chart for 8 consecutive weeks. Moreover, the success of Music/{{Rammstein}}, whom they have themselves inspired, contributed to popularise [=NDH=] even outside the German-speaking public, and was indeed of help for Oomph! as well.
6
7	The sound of their music has varied '''a lot''' over the years -- just compare "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_epdNOPN3s Wunschkind]]" (''Wunschkind'', 1996) with "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY2o_U0cQ10 Kleinstadtboy]]" (''Des Wahnnsinns fette Beute'', 2012). While the first album was strictly EBM, the following albums mostly enstablished themselves within the [=NDH=] genre. The turn of the millennium saw the band "softening" their sound and adapting a more Gothic imagery, while TheNewTens had the band experimenting with a wide range of genres.
8
9	After 32 years, the LongRunnerLineup of the band came to an end. In 2021 Dero Goi announced his departure from the band. The reason appears to be his recent conversion to Christianity and his belief that a "rockstar life" no longer suits him. Dero is currently working on a solo project, while both Crap and Flux fully intend to keep the OOMPH! band alive, working on a new album and looking for a new singer.
10	----
11	!!Band Members:
12	* Andreas Crap (Thomas Döppner) - lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
13	* Robert Flux (Rene Bachmann)- rhythm guitar, samples, bass guitar, backing vocals
14
15	!!!Former Member
16	* Dero Goi (Stephan Musiol) - lead vocals, drums, programming, live backup percussions (1989–2021)
17
18	!!!Live Members:
19	* Hagen Godicke – bass, backing vocals
20	* Patrick Lange "Okusa" – percussions, electric drums
21	* Michael Merkert "Silvestri" – main drums
22	* Felix Vonk – keyboards, backing vocals
23
24	!!Discography:
25	!!!Studio Albums:
26	* ''Oomph!'' (1992)
27	* ''Sperm'' (1994)
28	* ''Defekt (Malfunction)'' (1995)
29	* ''Wunschkind (Wishchild)'' (1996)
30	* ''Unrein (Impure)'' (1998)
31	* ''Plastik (Plastic/Sculpture)'' (1999)
32	* ''Ego'' (2001)
33	* ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht (Truth or Dare)'' (2004)
34	* ''[=GlaubeLiebeTod=] ([=FaithLoveDeath=])'' (2006)
35	* ''Monster'' (2008)
36	* ''Des Wahnsinns fette Beute (Fat Booty of Madness)'' (2012)
37	* ''XXV'' (2015)
38	* ''Ritual'' (2019)
39
40	!!!Compilation Albums:
41	* ''3 + 1'' (1994) - An EP containing 3 remixes from ''Sperm'' and the bonus track "Fleisch".
42	* ''1991–1996: The Early Works'' (1998) - Their first compilation album; includes also three remixes.
43	* ''1998–2001: Best of Virgin Years'' (2006) - A compilation of songs from the albums released under the Virgin label.
44	* ''Delikatessen'' (2006) - A double record containing some of the band's favourite tracks, b-sides, remixes and never-heard before bonus tracks.
45	* ''Truth or Dare'' (2010) - A compilation of older songs re-recorded in English.
46
47	!!!Videography:
48	* ''Rohstoff (Raw stuff)'' (2007)
49	----
50	!! ''Ready or not, I'm troping'':
51	* AbusiveParents: The Protagonist of "Das letzte Streichholz" was frequently abused by her father when she was younger, and her mother didn't do anything to stop it.
52	* AlbumIntroTrack: "Mutters Schoß" ("Mother's womb") for ''Unrein'', so far the only example in the band's discography.
53	* AlbumTitleDrop: "Augen auf!" ("Eyes Open"[[note]]the German name for Hide and Seek[[/note]]) has at one point Dero Goi mentioning the game of Truth or Dare, "Wahrheit oder Pflicht" in German, the album's name. This applies also to the translated English version "Ready or Not (I'm coming)".
54	* AntiLoveSong: "Kein Liebeslied" ("Not a love song") unsurprisingly: is a song praising hate, wrath, vengeance, deception; any negative and destructive feeling.
55	-->''Dies ist kein Liebeslied[[note]]This is not a love song[[/note]]\
56	es ist kein schönes Lied[[note]]it's not a nice song[[/note]]\
57	dies ist kein Liebeslied[[note]]this is not a love song[[/note]]\
58	und trotzdem werdet ihr es lieben![[note]]And yet you will love it![[/note]]''
59	* ArmouredClosetGay: The Three protagonists of "Kleinstadtboy".
60	* ArtifactOfAttraction: "Mein Schatz" is about the attractive power of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The One Ring]], told from Gollum's perspective.
61	* BasedOnATrueStory: "Mary Bell" refers to the case of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell a British woman]], with a ''seriously'' messed up childhood, who killed two little kids when she was barely ''eleven''.
62	* BookEnds:
63	** ''Plastik'' ends with "Das weiße Licht (Refraction)", a reprise of the chorus from the first track "Das weiße Licht".
64	** ''Ego'' ends with a reprise of the chorus from the seventh track "Atem" ("Breath"), called "Träum weiter" ("Keep dreeming").
65	*** Averted with the 2019 Reissue of the Album, which features two Bonus Tracks playing after "Träum weiter".
66	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The music video of the song "Beim ersten Mal tut's immer weh" ("The first time always hurts") has two versions: the original explicit, showing the story of a pedophile being tortured and mutilated by a girl, and a censored version, showing for the whole video only the band playing.
67	* CheshireCatGrin: Dero pulls this ''very'' often in music videos, in official art, or in concert.
68	* ColdBloodedTorture: In the music video of "Auf Kurs", each band member is tortured in turn by the other two: Dero is forced to TheLudovicoTechnique; Flux has a sort of NeuralImplanting drilled in his neck; Crap has his [[{{Fingore}} fingernails removed]] and suffers ElectricTorture.
69	* ConceptAlbum: ''Wunschkind'' is based around the theme of child abuse.
70	* CoverVersion:
71	** From ''Augen auf! (Limited Edition)'': "Eisbär" by ''Grauzone'';
72	** From ''Delikatessen'': "The power of love" by ''Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood''; "Zauberstab" by ''[=ZaZa=]''; "Der Präsident ist tot" and "Polizisten" by ''Extrabreit''; "Eiszeit" by ''Ideal'';
73	** From ''A Tribute to Die Fantastischen Vier'': "Ernten was wir säen" by ''Music/DieFantastischenVier''.
74	* CrapsaccharineWorld: The village in the music video for "Das weiße Licht" ("The white light"), which is revealed to be inhabited by [[RoboticReveal humanoid robots]].
75	* CreepyChild: The music video for "Augen auf!" is full of them.
76	* CreepyChildrenSinging: In "Augen Auf", a child gives the Hide and Seek countdown in the chorus, with a very raspy voice.
77	* {{Crossover}}:
78	** In ''Plastik'', Dero Goi duets with Music/NinaHagen in "Fieber".
79	** "Brennende Liebe" crosses over Oomph! with the Austrian duo L'Âme Immortelle.
80	** From ''[=GlaubeLiebeTod=]'': the single version of "Die Schlinge" crosses over Oomph! with Music/{{Apocalyptica}}, while the single version of "Träumst du?" becomes a duet of Dero Goi and Czech singer Marta Jandová.
81	** "Land ahead", the English version of "Land im Sicht", includes of Sharon den Adel from Music/WithinTemptation as backing vocalist.
82	* DontYouDarePityMe: The protagonist "Ice-Coffin" insists that he deserves no love nor pity, as he already hurted enough whosoever is trying to save him, and begs to be left alone in his "[[TitleDrop ice coffin]]".
83	* DownTheRabbitHole: The music video for "Labyrinth" is based on Literature/AliceInWonderland, so naturally.
84	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Oomph! reached mainstream popularity with their eighth album, ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht'', when the band settled with a softened NDH sound. The numerous newcomers may find very puzzling their album from the 90s, with their harder sound, grittier vocals and overall more violent imagery. But their very first album ''Oomph!'', an EBM album with barely electric guitars, takes the cake.
85	* EvilLaugh: Heard during the interlude in "Willst du Hoffnung?", while a plead to God his recited repeatedly.
86	* GenreShift: Oomph! are the living embodiment of this trope, thanks to the numerous experimentations during the course of their career. Their first EBM album ''Oomph!'' was immediately followed by the more IndustrialMetal ''Sperm'', which is considered by many the establishing album for the NDH genre. ''Plastik'' represented a turning point by noticeably softening the band's sound, and ''Wahrheit oder Pflich'' introduced GothicMetal elements which have been kept so far, although at a varying level.
87	* {{Gorn}}: The music videos for "Beim ersten Mal tut's immer weh" and "Auf Kurs".
88	* GratuitousGreek: The old version of "Gekreuzigt" had Dero Goi invoking "Kyrie eleison" ("Lord, have mercy") during the chorus. This was removed in "Gekreuzigt 2006".
89	* GratuitousLatin: From "Unsere Rettung" ("Our salvation"):
90	-->''Ave Satani et stupor et Christi![[note]]Hail to Satan, stupidity and Christ![[/note]]''
91	* {{Guyliner}}: Dero's customary makeup since the release of ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht''.
92	* HiddenTrack: In ''Wahrheit oder Pflicht'', the final track "Im Licht" ("In light") is over 11 minutes long, but the actual song ends at around 4:10 minutes; a bonus track, "I’m going down", begins at around 6:40. However, later releases of the album had the tracks separated altogether.
93	* HotTeacher: Marta Jandová's character in the music video for "Träumst du?".
94	* {{Instrumentals}}: It was common for older albums, up until ''Ego'', to have a couple of instrumental tracks: ''Sperm'' had "Kismet"; ''Defekt'' had "Zeitweilig Incontinent" and "Decubitus Vulgaris"; ''Wunschkind'' had "Wälsungenblut" and "Filthy Playground"; ''Unrein'' had "Zero endorphine"; ''Ego'' had "Serotonin" and "Dopamin".
95	* HumansAreFlawed: "Mutters Schoß" from ''Unrein'':
96	--> ''Wir werden unrein geboren[[note]]We're born impure[[/note]]\
97	Und vom ersten Augenblick an[[note]]And from the first moment[[/note]]\
98	Klebt an uns die Schuld[[note]]Guilt is clinging to us[[/note]]\
99	Wie das Blut aus Mutters Schoß[[note]]Like the blood from mother's womb[[/note]]''
100	* IntercourseWithYou: "Sex" from ''Sperm''.
101	--> ''GIB MIR SEX!''
102	* KillItWithFire: "Das letzte Streichholz" ("The final match") tells of a girl on her way to burn down her house, to take revenge on her AbusiveParents, likely with the intention of killing them as well. The music video downplays it, as the girl only burns a big pile of family portraits and possessions, under the hysterical reaction of her abusive mother and siblings.
103	* LastNoteNightmare: "Mein Herz". Not that it is a pleasant song to begin with, but it closes with a heartbeat, footsteps, and a woman yelling. Then it fades.
104	* LeadDrummer: Until 2021 Dero Goi, though in concert a session drummer was employed.
105	* LongRunnerLineup: Until Dero's departure in 2021, the trio had no line-up change for over 32 years since its formation (excluding personnel for live performance).
106	* LyricVideo: For "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMYbXN5DHsA Kein Liebeslied]]", their first and only one so far.
107	* {{March}}: "Gleichschritt" ("Lockstep") is a weird electronic military marchlike song, both in lyrics and melody.
108	* MoodWhiplash: "Seemannsrose", a bawdy accordion-filled folk music parody, is immediately followed by a doleful song about grieving for a suicide victim.
109	* MortalityPhobia: "Der Alptraum der Kindheit" ("The nightmare of childhood"), the spoken outro of ''Wunschkind'', describes in rather morbid details the physical decay, the illnesses brought by old age.
110	--> ''You can only pray that when that happens you have someone who loves you...''
111	* MultilingualSong:
112	** The first version of "Der neue Gott" ("The new God") has a few sentences in English. This is changed in a "bonus version" which has entirely German lyrics.
113	** "Ready or Not (I'm coming)" mantains the word "Eckstein" (that means "cornerstone") in German, to keep the rhyme. Also the countdown from the CreepyChild in the chorus remains in German.
114	* NarrativePoem: "Eine Frau spricht im Schlaf" has one of these as lyrics, the text being a well-known work by a German poet Erich Kästner.
115	* NestedStoryReveal: The girl in the music video of "Labyrinth", attempting to escape from, well, the labyrinth? It turns out to be all an imagination of a mentally ill Dero Goi, stuck on a wheelchair and playing with a wooden labyrinth, accompanied by Flux and Crap as his nurses.
116	* NewSoundAlbum:
117	** ''Sperm'' takes the first steps into IndustrialMetal and shows some GrooveMetal influences, moving (partially) away from the previous EBM album ''Oomph!''.
118	** ''Plastik'' represents a turning point in the band's sound, which gets significantly softened, featuring less aggressive instruments and vocals and more prominent synthesizer riffs.
119	** ''Wahrheit oder Pflich'' introduces substantial GothicMetal elements.
120	** ''Des Wahnnsinns fette Beute'' abandons the previous gothic influences but also distances itself from the more traditional [=NDH=]; this album experiments a lot by blending together different and contrasting genres and sounds, sometimes within the same song.
121	* NonAppearingTitle: The TitleTrack from ''Ego''. The word is never pronounced during the song.
122	* PrayerOfMalice: The second verse of "Gott ist ein Popstar" is a corruption of ''Lord's Prayer'', in which Dero Goi prays to God to have mankind's whims realised, but to have them granted his grace nevertheless.
123	* RagsToRiches: "Jesus" in "Gott ist ein Popstar" music video starts as a hobo sleeping in the trash; he's taken by Oomph! members, cleaned up, shaved, and made a supermodel.
124	* RearrangeTheSong: "Gekreuzigt" from the album ''Unrein'' was rearranged in a new single version in 2006, called (unsurprisingly) "Gekreuzigt 2006", later included in ''Delikatessen''. It differs from the original version for softened riffs and vocals, more in line with the current band's sound, and the removal of the Greek language choir in the chorus.
125	* ReligionRantSong:
126	** "Feiert das Kreuz" ("Celebrate the Cross") ironically ''instigates'' people to turn to religion and praise God, but is clearily a type 2.
127	** "I.N.R.I. vs JAHWE" ("Jesus vs God"), a type 1, tells in first person of someone calling out God for never rewarding the sacrifices they endured nor the crimes they commited in his name.
128	** "Gott ist ein Popstar" is type 2 by comparing God to a popstar, who merely provides the masses with something to obsess over without giving any actual relief from worldly problems.
129	** "Menschsein" ("Mankind"/"Being human") is another type 2, stating that humans only use religion as an excuse to destroy each other.
130	* RobotMe: Dero in "Das weisse Licht".
131	* RockTrio: An unusual one, since each member plays a wide variety of instruments in studio (as indicated above); it's no surpise that they employ many other stage musicians in concert.
132	* RomanticizedAbuse:
133	** "Come and kick me" is sung from the perspective of someone who enjoy the abuses and the beatings they receive, begging for more.
134	** "Alles aus Liebe" ("Everything out of love") tells of a man who's prepared to suffer any physical violence, any pain, any torment "out of love for her".
135	--->''Ich will mich verletzen, will alles wagen[[note]]I want to injure myself, want to dare everything[[/note]]\
136	Grausame Schmerzen werd' ich ertragen[[note]] I will bear horrible pain[[/note]]\
137	All das nur aus Liebe zu ihr[[note]] All that only out of love for her[[/note]]''
138	* TheSandman: "Sandmann" is a song about the poverty and the bad situation of children. The chorus invokes The Sandman to put the singer to sleep and end his suffering.
139	--> ''Sandman, Sandman! Please put out the light, The truth is a big scam, So let me dream tonight.''
140	* TheScream: The cover art of ''Ego'' has the trio with their faces dipped in water up to their nose... and on the back cover it's shown that they're screaming underwater.
141	* SelfAbuse: Hilariously spoofed in "Deine Eltern".
142	* SelfDemonstratingSong: The song "Defekt" ("Defective"/"Faulty") ends with a loop which sounds like a phonograph glitch.
143	* SelfTitledAlbum: Their first, self-produced album, ''Oomph!''.
144	* ShoutOut:
145	** "Brennende Liebe" music video is loosely based on ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein''.
146	** "Beim ersten Mal tut's immer weh" music video is one to ''Film/HardCandy'', which is in turn one to ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood''[[note]]A BilingualBonus if you understand German: the video starts with a chat between the pedophile and the girl he's trying to seduce, and the latter's username is "rotkäppchen15", "littleredridinghood15"[[/note]].
147	** "Kleinstadtboy" takes up the title and, partially, the melody and the text of "Smalltown Boy" by Music/BronskiBeat.
148	** "Tausend Mann und ein Befehl" ("A thousand men and an order") shouts out "Hundert Mann und ein Befehl" ("A hundred men...") by Freddy Quinn, an anti-war song which, in turn, is a reinterpretation and loose German translation of the ''patriotic song'' "The Ballad of the Green Berets".
149	* SpoofAesop: "Deine Eltern" starts out like a song about parents always knowing better, but the advice they give their child turns out to be "don't touch yourself or [[SelfAbuse you'll go blind]]", even though they have [[BrokenAesop bad eyesight themselves]].
150	* TitleDrop: "Zwei Schritte vor" ("Two steps forward") music video has a big "OOMPH!" dropped on screen at the end of the video.
151	* TitleTrack: ''Defekt'', ''Wunschkind'', ''Unrein'', ''Ego'' and ''Truth or Dare'' include one, but otherwise the trope is mostly averted.
152	* TooKinkyToTorture: The music video for "Träumst du?" shows male students misbehaving on purpose so that they can get caned by their teacher.
153	* TheTopicOfCancer: "Hello my name is Cancer" is from the first person of the Cancer itself, as it presents itself to its victim, mockingly asking them to surrender to their fate.
154	* TranslatedCoverVersion:
155	** "Der neue Gott" from ''Oomph!'' is sung in German but has a short interlude in English. Later releases of the album included a "bonus version" completely in German, with the interlude translated almost precisely.
156	** The compilation album ''Truth or Dare'' contains some of their most important songs re-recorded in English language.
157	* WeAllDieSomeday: "Geborn zu sterben" ("Born to Die") is about life's fleetingness.
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Context Music / Oomph