Midgard (album)

Midgard is the ninth studio album by the German band Faun, released on 19 August 2016 via Electrola (Universal Music Group). It is the final album to feature Katja Moslehner before her departure in 2017.

Midgard
Studio album by
Faun
Released19 August 2016
StudioIP Studio (Berlin), Valicon Studio 1 (Berlin), Tonschale Studio (Landshut)
GenreFolk rock, pagan folk
Length1:07:00
LanguageGerman
LabelWe Love Music, Electrola, Universal Music Group
ProducerIngo Politz, Bernd Wendlandt, Alexander Schulz

Conception

Midgard is themed around Norse mythology. It also has elements from the Celtic-speaking area. The music takes inspiration from melodies from Sweden and Norway.[1]

Reception

Ulf Kubanke of laut.de wrote positively about the songs "Odin" and "Rabenballade", but described the album overall as sterile and too simple.[2] Matthias Weise of Metal.de wrote that the album contains both the pop-oriented side of Faun, with "Federkleid" as a positive example, and more atmospheric tracks reminiscent of the band's early works. Weise called "Odin" especially gripping due to its interplay between lyrics and music. He described "Gold und Seide", "Brandan" and "Lange Schatten" as weak. Overall he called Midgard a "strong and playful album with great lyrics, dreamy melodies and exciting song structures".[3]

Midgard entered the German album chart on 26 August 2016 as number three, which became its peak position.[4] This was the highest position any Faun album had reached; the previous record was held by Luna (2014) which peaked as number four.[5] Midgard remained on the chart for 13 weeks.[4]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Midgard Prolog"Oliver s. TyrKatja Moslehner, Niel Mitra, Stephan Groth00:50
2."Federkleid"Fiona Frewert, Michael FrewertF. Frewert, Moslehner, s. Tyr, Rüdiger Maul04:42
3."Sonnenreigen (Luchnasad)"F. Frewert, M. Frewert, s. TyrF. Frewert, Moslehner, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth03:54
4."Alba II Intro" Efren Lopez, Mitra01:50
5."Alba II"s. TyrF. Frewert, Moslehner, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth06:10
6."Nacht des Nordens"s. TyrF. Frewert, Moslehner, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth05:34
7."Mac Beth"s. TyrF. Frewert, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth05:57
8."Gold & Seide"Moslehner, GrothMoslehner, Marcus Gorstein, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth04:35
9."Brandan"GrothF. Frewert, Moslehner, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth03:58
10."Odin" (featuring Wardruna)s. TyrEinar Selvik, F. Frewert, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth05:58
11."Rabenballade"s. TyrF. Frewert, Moslehner, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth05:03
12."Lange Schatten"F. Frewert, M. Frewert, s. TyrF. Frewert, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth03:33
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."Aufbruch"GrothF. Frewert, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth04:54
14."Alswinn"s. TyrF. Frewert, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth03:47
15."Räven"MoslehnerMoslehner, Maya Fridman, Mitra, s. Tyr, Maul, Groth06:04
Total length:1:07:00

Personnel

Faun

  • Oliver s. Tyr – vocals, harp, lute, nyckelharpa, bouzouki
  • Fiona Frewert – vocals, flute, bagpipes, violin, chalumeau
  • Rüdiger Maul – drums, percussion
  • Niel Mitra – synthesizer, sampler, keyboards
  • Stephan Groth – hurdy gurdy, zither, vocals
  • Katja Moslehner – vocals

Guests

  • Efren Lopez – lute on track 4, 5 and 8
  • Maya Fridman – cello on track 5, 7, 13 and 15
  • Einar Selvik – vocals, lyre, harp, percussion and bullroarer on track 10
  • Martin Seeberg – violin on track 12

References
  1. Meyer, Marius (29 November 2019). "Interview: Faun (Laura Fella & Fiona Rüggeberg)". Monkeypress.de (in German). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. Kubanke, Ulf (19 August 2016). "Pagan-Schlager und Persil-Folk machen Odin zur Witzfigur". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. Weise, Matthias (26 August 2016). "Faun - Midgard Review". Metal.de (in German). Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. "Faun: Midgard". Offizielle Deutsche Charts (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  5. "Hoher Einstieg für 'Midgard': Faun mit neuem Album in den offiziellen Charts". Sonic Seducer (in German). 29 August 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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