Folk - Viking

Corvus Corax: a settembre il nuovo album “Era Metallum”; guarda il lyric video di ‘Béowulf is mín nama’

Di Orso Comellini - 4 Agosto 2022 - 8:21
Corvus Corax: a settembre il nuovo album “Era Metallum”; guarda il lyric video di ‘Béowulf is mín nama’

I Corvus Corax pubblicheranno il prossimo 21 settembre per Behßmokum Records/Tonpool il nuovo album “Era Metallum”. Il diciassettesimo di una lunga carriera iniziata nel 1989. La band teutonica, nel frattempo, ha diffuso il lyric video del primo singolo ‘Béowulf is mín nama’, che potete vedere di seguito.

“Beowulf” is an old Viking story. For this video the band had very special ideas for the realization: they constructed a rod puppet theater by themselves. All puppets and templates were drawn by the Mexican bagpiper and painter Xandru Galvez, who has been a member of the band for several years.

The band presents the “Era Metallum” show at the Wacken Open Air on the Louder Stage. Sabina Classen (Holy Moses) and Philipp Bischoff (Damnation Defaced) will join the stage as guests!

Reinforced by Kreator’s Finnish guitar god Sami Yli-Sirniö and other seasoned veterans of the heavy scene, these masters of ancient instruments have reimagined a selection of their most popular tunes and clad them in sonic steel. “We simply felt like doing a heavy album and so we just went ahead and did it”, explains drummer and percussionist Norri, who had already gained solid metal credits in the past while recording and playing with the cult act Depressive Age. The album “Era Metallum” is not a “medieval rock” record and those expecting a happily swaying sing-along will drop their jaws and mead horns once the opening track comes crashing in. The ltd. double vinyl edition is set for September 21, 2022. You can stream it here: https://EraMetallum.lnk.to/Album 

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Corvus Corax Era Metallum – Tracklist
Disc 1
01 Intro Gjallarhorni
02 Gjallarhorni
03 Sverker
04 Béowulf is mín nama
05 Lá í mbealtaine
06 Ragnarök
07 Hugin & Munin
08 Havfru
09 Víkingar
10 Yggdrasill
11 Gimlie
12 Na láma-sa

Disc 2
01 Lá í mbealtaine ft. Hansi Kürsch, Bill Gould & Sonia Anubis
02 Ragnarök ft. Sabina Classen
03 Béowulf is mín nama ft. Doro Pesch
04 Víkingar ft. Arndis Halla
05 Gimlie ft. Kärtsy Hatakka
06 Yggdrasill ft. Philipp Bischoff (Damnation Defaced)
07 Na láma-sa ft. Alan Nemtheanga A.

Album Info:
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Following an ominous intro, the ‘Gjallarhorni’ sounds with Asgard-shaking force in an uncompromising demonstration as to where this musical journey is heading: Out to the North Atlantic. The Germans combine droning horns, powerful choirs, and quite a few “old” instruments, which deliver everything from melody to madness, with bass, drums, and guitars in the best thrash and power metal traditions.

The skalds are even announcing a new song that Corvus Corax have carved out of a dark wood: ‘Víkingar’ has been expertly crafted to fit the epic measure of “Era Metallum”. To make it twice as exciting, the band cleverly turned this testosterone-infused song into its own feminine counterpart by inviting Icelandic opera singer Arndís Halla to transform it in the way of a Valkyrie on the second CD.

The two Irish pieces ‘Na láma-sa’ and ‘Lá í mBealtaine’ receive an equally fascinating double treatment. The former is heavily roughed up in an alternative version by Primordial’s vocal agitator Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill, while the latter song is reinterpreted as a hymn performed by Blind Guardian singer Hansi Kürsch, bassist Bill Gould (FAITH NO MORE), and guitarist Sonia Anubis from Cobra Spell.

If the ancient gods of metal had the power to forbid Corvus Corax the omission of one song from becoming reinforced with strings of steel, they would have chosen the most popular Faroese tune ‘Sverker’. One-eyed Odin might have demanded the same for the ominous, heavy epic dedicated to his ravens ‘Hugin & Munin’.

And with a glee rivaling the deeds of trickster god Loki, the upbeat mermaid ‘Havfru’ has been turned into a raging fury in this metallised new version. With Sabina Classen of Holy Moses taking over the vocal part of ‘Ragnarök’, the fiery end of the world comes frighteningly close. And ‘Béowulf is mín nama’ features Doro Pesch on vocals.

Although “Era Metallum” does by no means require any knowledge of history, specialists will notice that Corvus Corax cover the entire Old Norse cultural sphere including the Anglo-Saxon and Irish contact zones – without even so much as a hint of a lecturing attitude.

Corvus Corax are one of the original instigators of a specific part of the German rock scene, which is dedicated to old instruments like bagpipes, drums, and shawms.

The band’s two founding members Castus and Wim Dobbrisch had already come together in times of the GDR and via their country’s popular “medieval fairs”, Corvus Corax‘s path led to the biggest concert halls and large music festivals such as the famous Wacken Open Air.

Followed by famed Festival Mediaval on August 9th in Selb the band will present the very special “Era Metallum” show with many guests. Besides the huge festival shows, the small things that brought the band through the Corona time will not be forgotten.