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Sterneneisen is the ninth full-length album from German folk metal band In Extremo, released in 2011. The album is my personal introduction to the band so I won’t be able to comment on how well it sits among their extensive back catalogue, but the album is a solid effort that leaves a good enough impression to go find such a thing out.
In Extremo plays a variant of folk metal that is considered medieval metal. Personally I’d rather just call it all folk metal rather than try to break more genres out of something that is essentially the same thing. The band sings in their native German. Singing in the native language is something which I find very appealing in a folk metal act, as it adds an extra level of authentic to the music. Coupled with the use of real folk instrumentation means that In Extremo’s Sterneneisen sets a good impression for this folk metal purist right from the off, beginning the album with the excellent Zigeunerskat.
On the metal side of things although this medieval metal variant of folk is sometimes linked to industrial metal, I don’t detect anything remotely industrial about Sterneneisen, though this said the band still manages to sound like a folk metal version of Rammstein, mostly because of those German lyrics and how they are delivered by the band’s vocalist, Das Letzte Einhorn.
Despite being a solid effort the album does get a little samey after a time. There are many good folk melodies on the album, but there is little variation in the delivery of these twelve tracks. Fortunately the album only lasts about forty-six minutes, so it doesn’t have time to become completely monotonous but I’d have liked a little more variety in the album since after a few spins I start to lose the taste for it. To be fair you can pick any individual song off of Sterneneisen and enjoy it, but trying to take the whole album in one go it becomes a bit of a chore after a few tracks, since it’s quite predictable as a whole. A fairly decent rating is still very deserved for Sterneneisen, but I’m personally hoping I’ll find stronger albums from In Extremo in their back catalogue. Out of the whole bunch the songs I enjoyed the most are Zigeunerskat, Gold, Sterneneisen and Auge um Auge.
Overall the album is very listenable, perhaps even easy listening for a folk metal fan, and it may well serve you well as a decent introductory album for the band as it has done with this reviewer. It’s caught my attention enough to pay more attention to these guys, maybe it will yours as well.
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scoring 6.8/10)