Hauruck!/Tesco distr.
Graumahd : Cheru (Ö, 2006)***°
Graumahd’s cd looks like another neo-folk release and is perhaps labelled as such, but has much more in its core. The label concludes it was partly inspired by the psychedelic sounds of the 60ies/70ies. I can only say their guitar styles show a rather open style. Sometimes they are drifting (“Die Letzte Nacht”, “Cheru”), but there are also original layers of fingerpickings or guitar themes (“Ohne Welt”). "..und dann kam Ruhe vor dem Sturm" goes almost psychedelic in their drift, with additional percussion, following in "Jahreskreis 2005", with nice tempo changes, flute and melodically-sliding double bass. Also "Umwelschatten" received extra percussion and flute colouring the music beautifully. Nice. "Ausklang" is a surprise outro track, with harmonium and other sounds.
The lyrics (in German) are according to Wolf "about alpine mysticism, and about never-ending cycles such as the one of life and death." "Die letzte Nacht" for instance are about someone's last night, using some metaphors that should help to overcome the fear of death. Another such cycle is a remaining source of subconscious wisdom (on "Ohne Welt"), about the power of nature (...und dann kam Ruhe...), about the seasonal cycle ("Jahreskreis"). "We use local legends and are inspired by nature itself." "Auwaldschatten" for instance is inspired by a visit to the Danube river. "We use philosophical thoughts and reflect them in the lyrics. We also used parts of medieval lyrics from farmer songs. Mostly it has a quite romantic side on a higher- or metalevel." The lyrics of "Cheru" sounded to me like an old poem from the Romantic period. Wolf : "The first stance is from Cythraw by Soulsearch. We read about the myths of the Nibelungs and there was a theory that Siegfried was Arminius, who defeated the Romans in the Teutoburger Forrest. So we connected the myth with the cheruskian people, whose leader was Arminius. That's why the album is called Cheru. The song is about this tragic figure Siegfried, who fought the dragon in a great battle, but was killed shortly after that." I guess it worked as another metaphor of overwhelming powers of nature in some ancient areas that still belong to nature itself, something which I guess will also have inspired a certain underlying power in the music.
Grahmahd is a guitar trio consisting of Georg O. (Guitars), Wolf L. (Guitars, Lyrics), Jörg B. (Guitars, Voice). Guests on this album are Albin Julius (from Der Blutharsch, Harmonium), Martin T. (Drums, percussion), Iris F. (Cello), Christine K. (Clarinet), Karin St. (Flute) and Thomas R. (Piano, Guitar, voice).
The members were also collaborations before with a few other Austrian neo-folk bands like Der Blutharsch, Allerseelen and Sturmpercht. After one single this is their awaited debut album.
