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I don't wish to deny that I value creativity
and innovation higher than technical skill or speed these days and this is
exactly why I admire what the German band In Extremo has achieved. Today it is
not unusual to mix folk music with metal but still no other band sounds like
In Extremo. Their unique mixture of simple metal riffs, bag pipes and medieval
melodies has become very successful, above all in Germany but also in other
countries all over the world. Most of their lyrics are written in German and
this might refrain non-German speaking people from buying their discs. This
official debut album of theirs does however end with a song written in a
language somewhere inbetween Swedish and Norwegian (I think they intended it
to be old-fashioned Swedish). The members of the band have their musical roots
in the German punk scene but they have always had a great interest in
traditional music as well. Their punk roots can easily be traced in the vocals
which have that characteristic raw attitude and power. The metal riffs on this
album are mostly very simple and not really noteworthy but together with the
bag-pipes and beautiful melodies they form something wonderful and gripping.
In short, this is one of the best and most interesting debut albums of the
late 90's and I do not only admire In Extremo for their music but also Metal
Blade Records for having the guts to sign a band like them. Stand-out tracks:
"Ai Vis Lo Lop", "Totus Florero", "Der
Galgen".
| Tracklist |
1. Ai Vis Lo Lop 2. |
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Stella Splendens 3. Hiemali Tempore 4. Rotes Haar 5. |
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Villeman Og Magnhild 6. Como Poden 7. Palästinalied |
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8. Vor Wollen Schüsseln 9. Maria Virgin 10. Totus |
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Florero 11. Der Galgen 12. Two Søstra |
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: 45.40
| Buy other In Extremo albums |
