Meredead is the fourth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by the German

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...

/Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 symphonic metal

Symphonic metal

Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...

 band Leaves' Eyes

Leaves' Eyes

Leaves' Eyes is a German-Norwegian symphonic metal band from Stavanger, Norway and Ludwigsburg, Germany. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity...

. It was released on April 20, 2011 on Napalm Records

Napalm Records

Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock.Originally, Napalm Records focused mainly on black metal acts such as Abigor and Summoning and folk metal bands such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg....

.

Title

The title is inspired by the Old English compound noun meredēað, literally "sea-death", which is attested (in the genitive plural meredēaða) in the passage rodor swipode meredēaða mǣst, literally: "the greatest quantity of sea-deaths scourged the skies", in Exodus

Exodus (poem)

Exodus is the title given to an Old English alliterative poem in the Junius manuscript . Exodus is not a paraphrase of the biblical book, but rather a re-telling of the story of the Israelites' flight from Egyptian captivity and the Crossing of the Red Sea in the manner of a "heroic epic", much...

, the second poem of the Junius manuscript, in the section telling the story of the Crossing of the Red Sea. Alternatively, meredēað could be translated as "sea of death" or "deadly sea" in view of a later passage in the same text: meredēað geswealh, literally "sea-death swallowed". On her website, Liv Kristine explicitly recommends Marsden 2004, and quotes the explanation for meredēað given in the book, saying that Meredead could be translated as "dead by the sea".

Track listing

1. "Spirits’ Masquerade" - 6:31
2. "Étaín" - 3:58
3. "Velvet Heart" - 3:42
4. "Kråkevisa
   Kråkevisa
   Kråkevisa , also known as Bonden og Kråka and Mannen han gjekk seg i vedaskog , is a widespread Norwegian name for a folk song and jocular ballad spread over all of Scandinavia. There are different versions in Norway, which also uses other melodies...
   
   " ("Crow's Ballad", traditional) - 4:34
5. "To France
   To France
   "To France" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1984. It is from the album Discovery and features Maggie Reilly on vocals.It references Mary Stuart in its chorus...
   
   " (Mike Oldfield cover) - 4:37
6. "Meredead" - 5:19
7. "Sigrlinn" - 8:47
8. "Mine Tåror er ei Grimme" - 2:54
9. "Empty Horizon" - 4:58
10. "Veritas" ("Truth") - 0:48
11. "Nystev" ("New Stave", traditional) - 4:39
12. "Tell-Tale Eyes" - 3:58
13. "Sorhleod" (bonus track; Old English for "Song Of Sorrow")

Personnel

• Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
  Liv Kristine
  Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull , better known as Liv Kristine, is the former vocalist for the band Theatre of Tragedy and current vocalist for the band Leaves' Eyes.- Career :...
  
   – lead and backing vocals
• Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull is the lead vocalist for the German metal band Atrocity, as well as a backing-vocals in the band Leaves' Eyes.- Biography :...
  
   – keyboards, programming, harsh vocals
• Thorsten Bauer – lead, rhythm, acoustic guitars, bass
• Anette Guldbrandsen - backing Vocals and Choirs
• Carmen Elise Espenæs
  Carmen Elise Espenæs
  Carmen Elise Espenæs is the vocalist and the co-founder of the gothic/folk metal band Midnattsol.- Career :...
  
   - backing Vocals and Choirs
• Maite Itoiz - backing Vocals and Baroque Guitar
• John Kelly - backing Vocals
• Chirstina Roch - Uileann Pipes
• Jann Kirchhof - Fiddle
• Thorsten Bauer - Mandoline
• Lingua Mortis Orchestra - choirmaster: Victor Smolski
• Choirs performed by al dente - choirmaster: Veronika Meßmer

Credits

• Music by Thorsten Bauer, Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull is the lead vocalist for the German metal band Atrocity, as well as a backing-vocals in the band Leaves' Eyes.- Biography :...
  
  
• Lyrics by Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
• Published by Warner Chappell Music
• Produced by Alexander Krull
• Recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull is the lead vocalist for the German metal band Atrocity, as well as a backing-vocals in the band Leaves' Eyes.- Biography :...
  
   at Mastersound Studio
• Assistant Recording Engineers Thorsten Bauer, Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
• Programming & samples by Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull
  Alexander Krull is the lead vocalist for the German metal band Atrocity, as well as a backing-vocals in the band Leaves' Eyes.- Biography :...
  
  
• Orchestra Arrangements by Leaves' Eyes
  Leaves' Eyes
  Leaves' Eyes is a German-Norwegian symphonic metal band from Stavanger, Norway and Ludwigsburg, Germany. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity...