Curzweyl/Rough Trade
Dunkelschön : Nemeton (D,2008)****
I recently checked the sounds of some of the new German bands which were influenced by or who were performing medieval music, and I believed this band stands out. The front cover of their album is a bit confusing, for this is the type of artwork usually reserved for metal and eventually folk-metal, while this band has much more of a pure medieval folk inspiration (reaching towards the edge of folk-rock) without any other associations, except that they would just fit fine enough in between a list of those mediaeval neo-folk bands who use hurdy-gurdy’s and medieval classics with that sort of developed powerful podium sound, which they also practice for just a few tracks (the sort of tracks with 2 hurdy-gurdy’s combined with acoustic guitars and percussion, with variation of flutes,..), while remaining distinctive enough and even being much more original than all that the effects proclaim.
(“Dunkelschön” signifies “dark beautiful”). The title of the album (and therefore the photo as a reference), Nemeton, refers to the old Celtic secret groves in nature, a place which for the band was felt as inspirational. Two interpretations from the Carmina Burana were interpreted, partly translated into German, a text from Madamme d’Auloy, three folk traditionals (of which one has Swedish origins), and four completely self-penned tracks, which are completely into minstrel songwriting and medieval folk-rock. The folk-rock flavours are adding that sort of Nu/modern effects, to in fact an old music fundament, making the music more powerful with water-clear arrangements, having learned a bit from both traditional medieval music and folk-rock perhaps even from at times some Finnish folk-rock bands. There’s plenty of variation. What amazed me was the use of what seemed a complex percussive idea of playing 3 beats during and over an 8/4 theme !, on a folk-rock traditional. The inspirations feel very real, which together with the convincing arrangements provides songs that are much more than stylistic enjoyment.
Vanessa Istvan sings, and plays a whole collection of flutes including the exotic Hu-Lu-Si, Michael Kaiser plays nickelharpa, harp, hurdy-gurdy, voice, bouzouki, percussion ; Katja Linzert plays davul , bodhran, percussion ; Björn Scheuplein plays guitar, hurdy-gurdy, chalumeau, Rennaissance zither, viola da gamba ; Christian Wittkopf plays davul, trommelburg (?) and other percussion instruments.
