Last week, an interview with Rammstein orchestral director Sven Helbig emerged where the conductor reportedly said the German metal band's imminent eighth album was being delayed due to a paper shortage, as Metal Hammer and Metal Injection noted.

Helbig stated as much to Germany's Sachsische in an article published on Feb. 7. Last November, Rammstein guitarist Richard Kruspe indicated the album would arrive before the launch of the Neue Deutsche Harte group's planned world tour for this year.

But the "band itself doesn't know at the moment," Helbig reportedly replied when asked this month when the new Rammstein album was coming, as transcribed by the Rammstein fan page RammWiki. 

"The trivial reason: lack of paper," he continued. "They need to be able to send out a large number of CDs and records, i.e. lots of booklets and covers, worldwide at one go. And that's probably not feasible right now."

Helbig also revealed he finished his work on the album weeks ago. But he added the "six of them don't know when the album is coming, they don't know if the tour is going to happen this year. They want to move forward, they want to play, but instead, like almost all musicians, they're sitting there wringing their hands, waiting for decisions to finally be made."

He also suggested last-minute changes to the track list. "The band often throws songs down at the last moment, changes them. [Vocalist] Till [Lindemann, pictured above] doesn't want to rewrite a lyric, but Richard thinks it's stupid. Or the guitarists can't agree on a riff."

Rammstein released an untitled album in 2019. Helbig contributed to that effort and other Rammstein recordings. Last year, Rammstein's pyro tech shared how much fuel the band uses per show. See the band’s upcoming North American tour dates below.

Rammstein 2022 North American Tour Dates

Aug. 21 – Montreal, Canada @ Parc Jean-Drapeau
Aug. 27 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Aug. 31 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Lincoln Financial Field
Sept. 3 – Chicago, Ill. @ Soldier Field
Sept. 6 – East Rutherford, N,J. @ MetLife Stadium
Sept. 9 – Foxborough, Mass. @ Gillette Stadium
Sept. 17 – San Antonio, Texas @ Alamodome
Sept. 23 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Memorial Coliseum
Sept. 24 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Memorial Coliseum
Oct. 1 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Foro Sol
Oct. 2 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Foro Sol
Oct. 4 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Foro Sol

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