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In Extremo | |
|---|---|
 In Extremo performing in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Berlin, Germany |
| Genres | Medieval metal,folk metal,folk rock,neo-Medieval music |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Vielklang,Metal Blade,UMG |
| Members | Michael Robert Rhein Marco Ernst-Felix Zorzytzky Kay Lutter André Strugala Sebastian Oliver Lange Florian Speckardt |
| Past members | Conny Fuchs Boris Pfeiffer Mathias Aring Thomas Mund Reiner Morgenroth |
| Website | www |
In Extremo (Latin forAt the Edge; abbreviatedInEx orIE) is a GermanMedieval metal band originating fromBerlin. The band's musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments (such asbagpipes,harp,hurdy-gurdy andshawm). Versions of well-known traditional/medieval ballads make up the main part of their repertoire, but the band has written an increasing share of original material in recent years. Their own material is written in German, whilst the traditional songs and cover songs are in a variety of languages.
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In Extremo began as two projects: a nameless, purely medieval band, and a rock band. They became known at that time through frequent appearances at medieval market meetings, at which they performed their acoustic pieces and sold CDs of their renditions of traditional songs. On 11 April 1995, during the recording for that year's season, Michael Rhein (alias "Das letzte Einhorn", "The Last Unicorn") found the project name "In Extremo".
Most of the band members perform under stage names. The initial members of the medieval band were Das letzte Einhorn (vocals), "Flex der Biegsame" ("Flex the Flexible"; bagpipes), "Dr. Pymonte" (bagpipes), Conny Fuchs (who left the band before the official release date, due to her pregnancy, and was replaced by Dr. Pymonte) and Sen Pusterbalg (replaced shortly after the official release by "Yellow Pfeiffer", "Yellow Piper"; bagpipes). The band originally consisted of "Thomas der Münzer" ("Thomas the Coiner"; guitar), "Der Morgenstern" ("The Morning Star"; drums) and "Die Lutter" ("The Lutter", bass guitar). Der Münzer subsequently left the band and, as of 2000[update], the band's guitarist is "Van Lange". As noted below, almost all of the band members play multiple instruments.
The increasing number of visitors, success of their CDs and the popular interest, as well as cross-pollination from groups such asCorvus Corax andBathory, encouraged In Extremo in 1995 to attempt to start a band combining bagpipes and other traditional instruments with rock guitars. The result was the current incarnation of In Extremo, a rock group that integrates modern instruments like the drum set, electric bass and guitar with the acoustic elements previously used for the medieval songs, and which plays both types of music as well as a hybrid of the two.[1]
In August 1996, they began work on the first In Extremo album, which already contained two tracks of the new rock project. Because the album had no official name, it became known asGold because of the golden cover. In February 1997, like the single "Der Galgen" ("The Gallows"), it quickly sold out in medieval markets.
In Extremo played separately as a medieval band and a rock band, until on 29 March 1997, when they played their first live rock concert. Since that time, they have given this date as their date of establishment. The two projects were officially merged on 11 January 1998. April 1998 saw the first "high occupancy" In Extremo concert in the Rabenstein castle inBrandenburg.
Over the years, the band's music became moreheavy metal-based, while at the same time becoming increasingly commercially successful. The classical instruments, however – bagpipes, shawms and lutes – still play a large role. The band is likewise noted for their conspicuous stage costumes and known for usingpyrotechnics in their concerts, including Der Morgenstern playing cymbals which have been set on fire.
In February 2010, In Extremo announced that Der Morgenstern left the band because of musical differences. In June, Florian "Specki T.D." Speckardt was announced as his replacement on drums. Since then, they have proceeded to release three albums:Sterneneisen,Kunstraub andQuid Pro Quo, all of which have reached the top 10 in the German charts, withSterneneisen andQuid Pro Quo both having number 1 positions for a time. Their 13th album,Kompass zur Sonne, was scheduled to be released in May 2020,[2] but was delayed to 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2020, the band played an online livestream concert forWacken World Wide.[3]
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The band's first major appearance was in the first part of the 2001 video gameGothic. A group of travelling musicians called 'In-Extremo' plays their version of the song "Herr Mannelig", from the albumVerehrt und angespien, by the gallows outside the Old Camp Castle in the second chapter of the game.
With their success, the music programs also began to pay attention to In Extremo. They were invited on the television programViva Interactive, where they gave a 15-minute call-and-response and played two songs. They rejected at that time an invitation toTop of the Pops to play "Küss mich" ("Kiss Me"), because it was, according to Das letzte Einhorn, not their environment. Nevertheless, they did accept a further invitation toTop of the Pops in 2005 and played "Nur ihr allein" ("Only You Alone").
At the same time, their band's audience grew with live appearances, from marketplaces to festivals likeRock am Ring, the Taubertal Festival, and theNova Rock in Austria. Their largest public appearance, however, had In Extremo opening for the farewell tour ofBöhse Onkelz in June 2005, with about 120,000 spectators.
In Extremo last participated on 9 February 2006, in theBundesvision Song Contest ofStefan Raab for theFree State of Thuringia; Das letzte Einhorn was born inDingelstädt and grew up inLeinefelde. Both cities lie in North Thuringia. The group occupied the third spot with "Liam (German)". Beforehand, they had introduced themselves on 2 February on the television showTV total.
In Extremo also played in 2006 at theWacken Open Air, as well as on theM'era Luna Festival inHildesheim. At the end of the year, they played in the framework their "10 Year Anniversary Tour" in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The first In Extremo album that attracted attention wasVerehrt und angespien ("Worshipped and Spat At"). It achieved an at-the-time sensational 11th place in the German album charts. The subsequent album,Sünder ohne Zügel ("Unbridled Sinners"), reached 10th place.
The band had further success with the album7; it came in third place on the German charts. The video of the single "Küss mich" was frequently shown on German music television. The singles reached high chart placements.
The eighth albumMein rasend Herz[4] ("My Racing Heart") achieved third place on the album charts in 2005.[5] Three singles were published from this album: "Nur ihr allein" ("Only You Alone") on 17 May 2005, "Horizont" ("Horizon") on 12 September 2005, and "Liam (German)" on 3 February 2006. On 10 February 2006, the second live CD/DVD,Raue Spree, was published, coming in at fourth place of the German charts. In addition, the7 andRaue Spree achieved gold status in early 2007.
The ninth albumSängerkrieg[6] ("Singers' War") went to first place on the album charts of Germany on 23 May 2008.[7] In Austria, it reached the thirteenth and in Switzerland the twenty-second place. In Germany it was the 41st-best-selling album of the year in 2008.
Besides the electric guitar, bass and drum set, In Extremo defines itself by unconventional (for a rock band) instruments mainly of medieval origin. They includehurdy-gurdy,bagpipes,Uilleann Pipes, shawm,nyckelharpa, harp,cittern,tromba marina,hammered dulcimer, Klangbaum and various types of drums and percussion. Bagpipes are the most conspicuous of these instruments, as Dr. Pymonte, Yellow Pfeiffer (until 2021), and Flex der Biegsame all play bagpipes, sometimes all three at once. All of the band members play multiple instruments, and frequently rotate instruments between songs; Das letzte Einhorn frequently plays a cittern during certain songs, such as "Ai vis lo lop".
Their bagpipes were partially made by Dr. Pymonte, but are also partially built by a well-known pipe builder. The band also uses a custom-builtframe drum covered inzebra skin, called "Das Pferd" ("The Horse"). Most of the other acoustic instruments, such as their shawms, are only made by a few other instrument builders.
Some lyrics are not written by the band, but some – like the instruments – from traditional songs written during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Many of the lyrics to the band's repertoire of medieval songs come from church writings (e.g. "Wessebronner Gebet"),Benedictine writings (e.g. "Raue See") or are "trad. arr.", meaningtraditional songs with unknown authors, rearranged by the band (e.g. "Merseburger Zaubersprüche", "Tannhuser", "Poc Vecem"). The band also frequently uses songs from theCarmina Burana, a medieval collection of songs, as well as lyrics written as poetry by the 15th-century French poetFrançois Villon ("Rotes Haar" and "Erdbeermund"; translated into German byPaul Zech).
The band also uses poems from later writers such asJohann Wolfgang von Goethe ("Der Rattenfänger" - "The Rat Catcher") andLudwig Uhland, who wrote "Des Sängers Fluch" ("The Singer's Curse") – which In Extremo changed to be called "Spielmannsfluch" ("The Minstrel's Curse"). For the albumMein rasend Herz, In Extremo originally wrote the lyrics to the song "Liam" in German, after which it was translated into Irish byRea Garvey, who was also a guest singer on the song.
Current members
Former members
Timeline
| Year | Title | Format | Meaning | Infos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | In Extremo (Gold) | Studio | Medieval acoustic album | |
| 1998 | Hameln | Studio | "Hamelin" | Medieval acoustic album |
| 1998 | Weckt die Toten![9] | Studio | "Wake the Dead" | Debut folk metal album |
| 1998 | Die Verrückten sind in der Stadt | Live | "The Madmen Are in Town" | Recorded live on 26 July at Runneburg (Germany) |
| 1999 | Verehrt und angespien | Studio | "Worshipped and Spat Upon" | Last album with guitarist Thomas Mund |
| 2001 | Sünder ohne Zügel | Studio | "Unbridled Sinners" | First album with guitarist Sebastian Oliver Lange |
| 2002 | Live 2002 | Live | CD + DVD | |
| 2003 | 7 | Studio | ||
| 2005 | Mein rasend Herz | Studio | "My Raging Heart" | |
| 2006 | Raue Spree 2005 | Live | "RoughSpree" | CD + DVD |
| 2006 | Kein Blick Zurück | Best of | "No Looking Back" | Also contains two new songs and some rerecordings. The limited edition featured also a bonus disc with covers of In Extremo songs done by other bands. |
| 2008 | Sängerkrieg | Studio | "Singers' War" | |
| 2008 | Sängerkrieg Akustik Radio Show | Live | "Singers' War Acoustic Radio Show" | |
| 2009 | Am Goldenen Rhein[10] | Live | "On the GoldenRhine" | CD + DVD. Last album with drummer Reiner Morgenroth. |
| 2011 | Sterneneisen[11] | Studio | "Iron from the Stars" | First album with drummer Florian Speckardt. |
| 2012 | Sterneneisen Live – Laut sind wir und nicht die Leisen | Live | "Iron from the Stars Live – We Are Loud and Not the Quiet Ones" | Live in Siegen (21 April 2011). The DVD featured both this show and the one atRock am Ring (5 June 2011). |
| 2013 | Kunstraub | Studio | "Art Theft" | |
| 2015 | 20 wahre Jahre | Box set | "20 True Years" | Contains the band's material from 1997 to 2015 |
| 2016 | Quid Pro Quo[1] | Studio | "Give and Take" | |
| 2017 | 40 wahre Lieder – The Best Of | Best of | "40 True Songs – The Best Of" | 2 CD (plus 3 DVD on the special edition) |
| 2020 | Kompass zur Sonne[12] | Studio | "Compass to the Sun" | |
| 2024 | Wolkenschieber | Studio | "Cloud Mover" |
| International | |
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| National | |
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