In Extremo
Encyclopedia
In Extremo is a German
medieval metal band originating from Berlin
. The band's musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments (such as bagpipes, harp
, hurdy-gurdy and shawm
). 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 are in a variety of languages, including Gaelic, Spanish
, English
, Norwegian
, Swedish
, Icelandic
, French
, Estonian
, Galician
, Hebrew, Latin
, Occitan and Old High German
.
Most of the band members perform under stage names. The initial members of the medieval band were Das letzte Einhorn (engl. "The Last Unicorn," vocals), Flex der Biegsame (engl. "Flex the Flexible," bagpipes), Dr. Pymonte (bagpipes), Conny Fuchs (who left the band before the official release date, due to her pregnancy by Dr. Pymonte) and Sen Pusterbalg (replaced shortly after the official release by Yellow Pfeiffer, engl. "Yellow Piper," bagpipes). The rock band originally consisted of Thomas der Münzer (engl. "Thomas the Coiner," guitar), Der Morgenstern (engl. "The Morning Star," drums), and Die Lutter (engl. "The Lutter," bass guitar). Der Münzer subsequently left the band and, , the band's guitarist is Van Lange (engl. "The Long One"). 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 as Corvus Corax and Bathory
, 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.
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 as In Extremo Gold because of the golden covers. In February 1997, like the single Der Galgen (engl. "The Gallows"), it quickly sold out in Medieval markets.
In Extremo played separately as a medieval and a rock band, until on March 29, 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 January 11, 1998. April 1998 saw the first "high occupancy" In Extremo concert in the Rabenstein castle in Brandenburg.
Over the years, their music became more heavy 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 using pyrotechnics
in their concerts, including Der Morgenstern playing cymbals which have been set on fire.
On 26 February 2010 In Extremo announced that Der Morgenstern left the band because of musical differences via their homepage. On June 11, Florian "Specki T.D." Speckardt was announced as his replacement on drums.
, 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, 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 A 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-built frame drum
covered in zebra
skin, called Das Pferd (engl. "The Horse"). Most of the other acoustic instruments, such as their shawms, are only made by a few other instrument builders.
Many of the lyrics to the band's repertoire of medieval songs come from church writings (e.g. Merseburger Zaubersprüche, Wessebronner Gebet), Benedictine writings (e.g. Raue See), or are "trad. arr.", meaning traditional songs
with unknown authors, rearranged
by the band (e.g. Tannhuser, Poc Vecem). The band also frequently uses songs from the Carmina Burana
, a medieval collection of songs, as well as lyrics written as poetry by the 15th-century French poet François Villon
(Rotes Haar, engl. "Red Hair," and Erdbeermund, engl. "Strawberry Mouth," translated into German by Paul Zech).
The band also uses poems from later writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(Der Rattenfänger, engl. "The Ratcatcher") and Ludwig Uhland
, who wrote Des Sängers Fluch (engl. "The Singer's Curse") – which In Extremo changed to be called Spielmannsfluch (engl. "The Minstrel's Curse"). For the album Mein Rasend Herz
, In Extremo originally wrote the lyrics to the song "Liam" in German, after which it was translated into Gaelic
by Rea Garvey
, who was also a guest singer on the song.
. Some time in the game, a group of traveling musicians called 'In-Extremo' plays their version of the song "Herr Mannelig
", from the album Verehrt und Angespien; by the gallows outside the Old Camp Castle.
With their success, the music programs also began to pay attention to In Extremo. They were invited on the television program Viva Interactive, where they gave a fifteen minute call-and-response and played two songs. They rejected at that time an invitation to Top of the Pops
to play Küss Mich (engl. "Kiss Me"), because it was, according to Das letzte Einhorn, not their environment. Nevertheless, they did accept a further invitation to TotP in 2005 and played Nur Ihr Allein (engl. "Only You Alone").
At the same time, their audience grew with live appearances, from marketplaces to festivals like Rock Am Ring
, the Taubertal Festival, and the Nova Rock in Austria. Their largest public appearance however, had In Extremo opening for the farewell tour of Böhse Onkelz
in June 2005, with about 120,000 spectators.
In Extremo last participated on February 9, 2006 in the Bundesvision Song Contest
of Stefan Raab
for the Free State of Thuringia
; Das letzte Einhorn was born in Dingelstädt
(Eichsfeld
), and grew up in Leinefelde
. Both cities lie in North Thuringia. The group occupied the third spot with "Liam (German)". Before, they had introduced themselves on February 2 on the TV show TV Total
.
In Extremo played further in 2006 at the Wacken Open Air
, as well as on the M'era Luna Festival
in Hildesheim
. At the end of 2006 they played in the framework their "10 Year Anniversary Tour" in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
The band had much success with the album "7"; it came in 3rd 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 album Mein Rasend Herz (engl. "My Raging Heart") achieved third place on the album charts in 2005. Three singles were published from this album: Nur Ihr Allein (engl. "Only You Alone") on May 17, 2005, Horizont (engl. "Horizon") on September 12, 2005, and "Liam (German)" on February 3, 2006. On February 10, 2006, the second live CD/DVD, "Raue Spree", was published, coming in at 4th place of the German charts. In addition, the CD "7" and the DVD "Raue Spree" achieved gold status at the beginning of 2007.
The ninth album Sängerkrieg (engl. "Singers' War") went first place on the album charts of Germany on May 23, 2008. 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.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
medieval metal band originating from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The band's musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments (such as bagpipes, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, hurdy-gurdy and shawm
Shawm
The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
). 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 are in a variety of languages, including Gaelic, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
, Galician
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
, Hebrew, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Occitan and Old High German
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
.
Band history
In Extremo (abbreviated InEx, or just IE) 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. During the recording for the 1995 season, Michael Rhein (alias Das letzte Einhorn, engl. "The Last Unicorn") found the project name "In Extremo," Latin for "At The Edge."Most of the band members perform under stage names. The initial members of the medieval band were Das letzte Einhorn (engl. "The Last Unicorn," vocals), Flex der Biegsame (engl. "Flex the Flexible," bagpipes), Dr. Pymonte (bagpipes), Conny Fuchs (who left the band before the official release date, due to her pregnancy by Dr. Pymonte) and Sen Pusterbalg (replaced shortly after the official release by Yellow Pfeiffer, engl. "Yellow Piper," bagpipes). The rock band originally consisted of Thomas der Münzer (engl. "Thomas the Coiner," guitar), Der Morgenstern (engl. "The Morning Star," drums), and Die Lutter (engl. "The Lutter," bass guitar). Der Münzer subsequently left the band and, , the band's guitarist is Van Lange (engl. "The Long One"). 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 as Corvus Corax and Bathory
Bathory (band)
Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon in 1983. They are regarded as pioneers of both black metal and viking metal. Quorthon remained the main songwriter and member of Bathory for more than two decades. Bathory was permanently ended after Quorthon's death in 2004...
, 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.
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 as In Extremo Gold because of the golden covers. In February 1997, like the single Der Galgen (engl. "The Gallows"), it quickly sold out in Medieval markets.
In Extremo played separately as a medieval and a rock band, until on March 29, 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 January 11, 1998. April 1998 saw the first "high occupancy" In Extremo concert in the Rabenstein castle in Brandenburg.
Over the years, their music became more heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
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 using pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
in their concerts, including Der Morgenstern playing cymbals which have been set on fire.
On 26 February 2010 In Extremo announced that Der Morgenstern left the band because of musical differences via their homepage. On June 11, Florian "Specki T.D." Speckardt was announced as his replacement on drums.
Instruments
Besides the electric guitar, bass, and drum set, In Extremo defines itself by unconventional (for a rock band) instruments mainly of medieval origin. They include hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, Uilleann PipesUilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...
, shawm, nyckelharpa
Nyckelharpa
A nyckelharpa , sometimes called a keyed fiddle, is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a...
, harp, cittern
Cittern
The cittern or cither is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the Medieval Citole, or Cytole. It looks much like the modern-day flat-back mandolin and the modern Irish bouzouki and cittern...
, tromba marina
Tromba marina
A tromba marina, or marine trumpet is a triangular bowed string instrument used in medieval and Renaissance Europe that was highly popular in the 15th century in England and survived into the 18th century...
, hammered dulcimer
Hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board. Typically, the hammered dulcimer is set on a stand, at an angle, before the musician, who holds small mallet hammers in each hand to strike the strings...
, Klangbaum, and various types of drums and percussion. Bagpipes are the most conspicuous of these instruments, as Dr. Pymonte, Yellow Pfeiffer, 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 A 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-built frame drum
Frame drum
A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. Usually the single drumhead is made of rawhide or man-made materials. Shells are traditionally constructed of bent wood scarf jointed together; plywood and man-made materials are also used. Some frame drums have mechanical...
covered in zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
skin, called Das Pferd (engl. "The Horse"). Most of the other acoustic instruments, such as their shawms, are only made by a few other instrument builders.
Style and Lyrics
Some lyrics are not written by the band, but come – 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. Merseburger Zaubersprüche, Wessebronner Gebet), Benedictine writings (e.g. Raue See), or are "trad. arr.", meaning traditional songs
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
with unknown authors, rearranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
by the band (e.g. Tannhuser, Poc Vecem). The band also frequently uses songs from the Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
, a medieval collection of songs, as well as lyrics written as poetry by the 15th-century French poet François Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
(Rotes Haar, engl. "Red Hair," and Erdbeermund, engl. "Strawberry Mouth," translated into German by Paul Zech).
The band also uses poems from later writers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
(Der Rattenfänger, engl. "The Ratcatcher") and Ludwig Uhland
Ludwig Uhland
Johann Ludwig Uhland , was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.-Biography:He was born in Tübingen, then Duchy of Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in medieval literature, especially old German and French poetry...
, who wrote Des Sängers Fluch (engl. "The Singer's Curse") – which In Extremo changed to be called Spielmannsfluch (engl. "The Minstrel's Curse"). For the album Mein Rasend Herz
Mein Rasend Herz
Mein Rasend Herz is the fifth folk metal album by the German band In Extremo. It was released on May 30, 2005 by Island Records and entered the German Media Control Charts at #3, its eventual peak position. It was preceded by the singles Nur Ihr Allein , Horizont , and Liam , all featured on this...
, In Extremo originally wrote the lyrics to the song "Liam" in German, after which it was translated into Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
by Rea Garvey
Rea Garvey
Raymond Michael "Rea" Garvey is an Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist and frontman of the German rock/pop band Reamonn....
, who was also a guest singer on the song.
Appearances
Their first major appearance was in the first part of the computer game GothicGothic (computer game)
Gothic is a single-player action role-playing video game for Windows developed by the German company Piranha Bytes. It was first released in Germany on March 15, 2001, followed by the English North American release eight months later on November 23, 2001, and the Polish release on March 28,...
. Some time in the game, a group of traveling musicians called 'In-Extremo' plays their version of the song "Herr Mannelig
Herr Mannelig
Herr Mannelig is a medieval style Swedish ballad that tells the story of a female mountain troll who proposes marriage to a knight.- Plot :...
", from the album Verehrt und Angespien; by the gallows outside the Old Camp Castle.
With their success, the music programs also began to pay attention to In Extremo. They were invited on the television program Viva Interactive, where they gave a fifteen minute call-and-response and played two songs. They rejected at that time an invitation to Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
to play Küss Mich (engl. "Kiss Me"), because it was, according to Das letzte Einhorn, not their environment. Nevertheless, they did accept a further invitation to TotP in 2005 and played Nur Ihr Allein (engl. "Only You Alone").
At the same time, their audience grew with live appearances, from marketplaces to festivals like Rock Am Ring
Rock am Ring
The Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually in Germany....
, the Taubertal Festival, and the Nova Rock in Austria. Their largest public appearance however, had In Extremo opening for the farewell tour of Böhse Onkelz
Böhse Onkelz
The Böhse Onkelz were a German rock group that existed from 1980 to 2005. Although being ignored by the mass media for their controversial past, since Viva los tioz in 1998 almost every album reached number one on the German album charts. According to record certifications and additional sources...
in June 2005, with about 120,000 spectators.
In Extremo last participated on February 9, 2006 in the Bundesvision Song Contest
Bundesvision Song Contest
The Bundesvision Song Contest is an annual competition created by German TV entertainer Stefan Raab in 2005. For each of the 16 states of Germany a song is chosen by regional radio stations. The songs are performed on live television in order to find the most popular song in the competition...
of Stefan Raab
Stefan Raab
Stefan Konrad Raab is a German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician. Raab began his television career hosting the comedy show Vivasion in 1993 and has been hosting the late-night comedy show TV total since 1999. He became well-known in 1994 after composing a hit single spoofing...
for the Free State of Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
; Das letzte Einhorn was born in Dingelstädt
Dingelstädt
Dingelstädt is a Thuringian city in the district of Eichsfeld in Germany.-History:Anton Thraen the German astronomer, minister and native of Holungen died in Dingelstädt on February 18, 1902 .-Twin towns - Sister cities:Dingelstädt is twinned with:...
(Eichsfeld
Eichsfeld
The Eichsfeld is a historical region in the southeast of Lower Saxony and northwest of Thuringia in the south of the Harz mountains...
), and grew up in Leinefelde
Leinefelde-Worbis
“”Leinefelde-Worbis is a town in the district of Eichsfeld, in northwestern Thuringia, Germany. The town was formed on March 16, 2004, from the former independent towns Leinefelde and Worbis along with the municipalities of Breitenbach and Wintzingerode...
. Both cities lie in North Thuringia. The group occupied the third spot with "Liam (German)". Before, they had introduced themselves on February 2 on the TV show TV Total
TV total
TV total is a German late-night television comedy talk show that has run since 8 March 1999 on ProSieben, and is currently aired at around 23:15 from Monday to Thursday....
.
In Extremo played further in 2006 at the Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
, as well as on the M'era Luna Festival
M'era Luna Festival
The M'era Luna is a festival of goth, metal and industrial music. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, Germanyat Flugplatz Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, a former British Army airbase....
in Hildesheim
Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...
. At the end of 2006 they played in the framework their "10 Year Anniversary Tour" in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Success
The first In Extremo album that attracted attention was Verehrt und Angespien (engl. "Worshipped and Spat At"). It achieved an at the time sensational 11th place in the German album charts. The subsequent album, Sünder ohne Zügel (engl. "Unbridled Sinners"), got to the 10th place.The band had much success with the album "7"; it came in 3rd 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 album Mein Rasend Herz (engl. "My Raging Heart") achieved third place on the album charts in 2005. Three singles were published from this album: Nur Ihr Allein (engl. "Only You Alone") on May 17, 2005, Horizont (engl. "Horizon") on September 12, 2005, and "Liam (German)" on February 3, 2006. On February 10, 2006, the second live CD/DVD, "Raue Spree", was published, coming in at 4th place of the German charts. In addition, the CD "7" and the DVD "Raue Spree" achieved gold status at the beginning of 2007.
The ninth album Sängerkrieg (engl. "Singers' War") went first place on the album charts of Germany on May 23, 2008. 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.
Albums
| Year | Title | Format | Title English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | In Extremo (Gold) | Studio | At The Edge/In The Extreme (Gold) |
| 1998 | Hameln | Studio | Hamelin Hamelin Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of 58,696 .... |
| 1998 | Weckt die Toten! Weckt die Toten! Weckt die Toten! is a debut folk metal album by the German band In Extremo. It was released in 1998 by Vielklang Musikproduktion.-Track listing:#Ai vis lo lop – 3:59#Stella Splendens – 1:18... |
Studio | Wake the Dead |
| 1998 | Die Verrückten sind in der Stadt | Live | The Madmen are in Town |
| 1999 | Verehrt und Angespien Verehrt und Angespien Verehrt und Angespien is the second folk metal album by the German band In Extremo. It was released in 1999 by Mercury Records.-Track listing:# "Merseburger Zaubersprüche" – 4:27... |
Studio | Worshipped and Spat At |
| 2001 | Sünder ohne Zügel Sünder ohne Zügel Sünder ohne Zügel is the third folk metal album by the German band In Extremo. It was released in 2001 by Island Records.-Track listing:# Wind – 4:25# Krummavísur – 3:48... |
Studio | Unbridled Sinners |
| 2002 | Live 2002 | Live | |
| 2003 | 7 | Studio | |
| 2005 | Mein Rasend Herz Mein Rasend Herz Mein Rasend Herz is the fifth folk metal album by the German band In Extremo. It was released on May 30, 2005 by Island Records and entered the German Media Control Charts at #3, its eventual peak position. It was preceded by the singles Nur Ihr Allein , Horizont , and Liam , all featured on this... |
Studio | My Racing Heart |
| 2006 | Raue Spree 2005 | Live | Rough Spree Spree The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic... |
| 2006 | Kein Blick Zurück | Best of | No Looking Back |
| 2008 | Sängerkrieg | Studio | Singers' War |
| 2008 | Sängerkrieg Akustik Radio Show | Live | Singers' War Acoustic Radio Show |
| 2009 | Am Goldenen Rhein | Live | On the Golden Rhine |
| 2011 | Sterneneisen | Studio | Iron Star |
Singles
- 1996: Ai vis lo lop (Cassette)
- 1997: In Extremo (Der Galgen)
- 1998: Ai Vis Lo Lop Vocal-Remix
- 1999: This Corrosion (Promo Maxi CD)
- 1999: Merseburger Zaubersprüche (engl: Merseburg IncantationsMerseburg IncantationsThe Merseburg Incantations are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. They are the only known examples of Germanic pagan belief preserved in this language...
) (Promo Maxi CD) - 2000: Vollmond (engl: Full Moon)
- 2001: Unter dem Meer (engl: Below the Sea) (Promo Maxi CD)
- 2001: Wind (Promo Maxi CD)
- 2003: Küss Mich (engl: Kiss Me)
- 2003: Erdbeermund (engl: Strawberry Mouth)
- 2005: Nur Ihr Allein (engl: Only You Alone) – released in three versions
- 2005: Horizont (engl: Horizon)
- 2006: Liam (German version)
- 2008: Frei zu Sein (engl: To Be Free)
- 2008: Neues Glück (engl: New Luck)
- 2011: Zigeunerskat (engl: Gypsy Skat)
Music videos
- In Extremo — This Corrosion (1999, directed by: Stephan Vollmer)
- In Extremo — Vollmond (2000, directed by: Heiner Thimm)
- In Extremo — Wind (2001, directed by: Heiner Thimm)
- In Extremo — Küss mich (2003, directed by: Uwe Flade)
- In Extremo — Erdbeermund (2003, directed by: Uwe Flade)
- In Extremo — Nur Ihr Allein (2005, directed by: Jörn Heitmann)
- In Extremo — Horizont (2005 or 2006, directed by: David Incorvaia)
- In Extremo – Liam, official live music video (2006, directed by: Uwe Flade)
- In Extremo — Frei Zu Sein (2008, directed by: Sharon Berkal)
Video games
- 2001: Gothic 1 PC Game – Appear characters imitating the band, singing one of their songs 'Herr Mannelig' in Chapter 2 of the game, in the 'Old Castle'