Zeit

Zeit (English: Time) is the eighth studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, released on 29 April 2022 through Universal Music. Produced by the band with Olsen Involtini, the album was unplanned and recorded as a result of the band's tour being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns enforced due to the pandemic spurred the band's creativity, resulting in spontaneous writing and recording sessions. Rammstein recorded the album in late 2020 and early 2021 at La Fabrique Studios in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, where they recorded their previous album. The album's title track was released as the lead single on 10 March 2022.
Background and recording
Following the release of their sixth studio album, Liebe ist für alle da (2009), Rammstein dedicated nearly a decade to touring and performing live at festivals, with band members Till Lindemann and Richard Kruspe releasing music with their respective side projects Lindemann and Emigrate during this period as well. Rammstein's untitled seventh studio album was released in May 2019, ending their lengthy recording hiatus. To support the album, the band embarked on their Stadium Tour. Kruspe originally predicted that the band would spend three to four years touring in support of the album. The band announced dates for two legs in Europe and one leg in North America. The first European leg concluded in August 2019, with the second leg having been originally due to begin in May 2020. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic began severely impacting both Europe and North America, resulting in lockdowns being enforced across both continents, the band delayed both remaining legs of the tour to 2021. They were both delayed once more to 2022.
During the initial COVID-19 lockdown in Germany, Rammstein began writing new music, leaving open the idea of recording a new album. The band chose to begin writing new music to fill the void created by the postponement of their tour. By September 2020, the band returned to La Fabrique Studios in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, where they had recorded their untitled seventh studio album, to begin recording new material. Keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz stated that the sessions were spontaneous and that the lockdown caused the band to " more time to think of new things and less distraction". Recording of the album concluded by February 2021. In October 2021, a song from the album was premiered when shared with astronaut Thomas Pesquet while he was onboard the International Space Station.