:wumpscut:

Wumpscut (stylised as :wumpscut:, and sometimes referred to as :w:, :wumpscut:/Rudy R.) is an electro-industrial music project from Germany. It was founded in May 1991 by Bavarian disc jockey Rudolf "Rudy" Ratzinger (born June 3, 1966).

R. Ratzinger has always been the main creative force behind Wumpscut, occasionally employing the help of guest artists (such as Aleta Welling, P·A·L, Selene etc.). Ratzinger cites the influence of such bands as Leæther Strip as his reason for making the transfer from DJing to recording music: "I was a DJ for several years and was tired of offering the audience only alien stuff. The first Leæther Strip works were responsible for trying something on my own."

First works performed by Wumpscut dates back to the early 1990s when Rudy Ratzinger started to play music in Bavarian club houses and in Southern Germany. In a 1997 interview, Rudy Ratzinger reveals that "Pornography" and "War Combattery" were his first two songs in EBM, those two four-minute songs are to be found on Defcon, the first demo issued by Wumpscut in late 1991. Yet, only "Pornography" was picked for reappearance on Blutkind (although a remix of War Combattery surfaced on the Mesner Tracks re-release EP which was released before). According to Rudy, "War Combattery" was a great hit in club houses: "[It] was a very big success in the clubs in Southern Germany."

The release of the song "Soylent Green", which is named after the 1973 movie and also contains audio samples from the German dubbed version, first attracted attention to Wumpscut. Since its release in 1993, it has become a frequently played song at events and clubs in the goth and industrial subcultures, in Germany, UK and the United States.

Ratzinger has published numerous recordings and remixes for other artists. Wumpscut is also very well known for elaborate box set releases including limited versions of a CD or LP release in a box with additional and often also limited bonus material (bonus tracks, "liquid soylent" energy drinks, posters, pins, stickers, bags, flags, etc.). Wumpscut albums are reissued regularly with variant artworks and occasionally bonus tracks. Standalone merchandise such as baseball caps, coffee mugs and t-shirts have also been made available for purchase.

Rudy Ratzinger has to date released seventeen studio albums plus a number of compilations: demos, compilation tracks, and remixes from deleted singles and EPs. The sixteenth Wumpscut album, Wüterich, released March 25, 2016 on the Metropolis label.

Ratzinger started his own record label, Beton Kopf Media, in 1995, used exclusively to release Wumpscut material only. In 1996, he started the label Mental Ulcer Forges which was shut down after a while, though this label was finally relaunched in 2006. The label released albums by the following bands: Remyl, Noisex, B-Ton-K, Yendri and F/A/V. Rudy also managed the label Fleisskoma with Karl Kimmerl (B-Ton-K), which has released work by the electronic band Press to Transmit.

Despite the project's popularity in the electro-industrial genre, Wumpscut is a studio-only project and has never toured. When asked for his reason behind this decision, Rudy commented: "I cannot come up to my self-set level."