Waldteufel - Rauhnacht Digi-CD

WALDTEUFEL - Rauhnacht Digi-CD

CD in digipack with 16-page booklet / Percht

6 songs and 40 minutes about the Austrian / South German Rauhnacht rituals. "Rauhnacht" is a rural, ancient soundtrack for the holy Jul nights, combined with dreamingly sad Folk balads and Pagan Folkmetal hymns. all artwork for this edition was painted by Markus Wolff in may 2007 on wood-plates and the CD, as well as the LP, has a booklet with german and english lyrics. the album was mastered by Axel Frank (WERKRAUM) at the Blue Lounge Studios / Berlin.

Waldteufel is the brain child of Markus Wolff, born in Germany, lived in the Austrian Alps for a while and then, as a youngster, moved to the United States, where he lives in Portland OR now, the US central town of alternative music. he has been involved in the musical underground since the mid-eighties when he co-founded the infamous Crash Worship. After leaving Crash Worship (ten years later) he assisted Blood Axis with live performances and eventually started his project Waldteufe,l who have, in addition to appearing on various folk and neofolk related compilations, now released two 7" EPs "Bergoch am Walde" and "Der grosse Rausch", a full length album "Heimliches Deutschland", a 10" record "Eines Gottes Spur" and now the Rauhnacht CD. "Rauhnacht" was originally released by the Portuguese label Terra Fria. the original mCD featured four songs on 28 minutes and was released as a limited edition of 500 copies, housed in a plasticbox with black/white artwork. for this edition, 2 new tracks with a total of 12 minutes were added, 2 of the original tracks were newly mixed and all 4 tracks from the first edition were freshly mastered.
Markus is not only an accomplished musician, he's a shaman, a thinker and writer, and a amazing artist. His paintings invoke a primordial sense of rootedness and archaic passion that will send shivers down the spine. Waldteufel has had a variety of musical collaborators over the years including Michael Moynihan, Annabel Lee and Aaron Garland but as it now stands the two permanent members are Tyrsson Sinclair (accordion, flute, guitar and various other instruments) and Markus. Waldteufel has a unique approach to music. Markus' original idea was to have the project be totally acoustic/organic, one which transcends time and reaches back into the Germanic past to bring forth a deep and personal experience for the listener. Shamanic drumming, violin, accordion, cello, viola, bodhran, bells, flute, whistles, trumpet, bass guitar and Markus' deep galdr and precise Schlagwerk acheive that...and beyond. And the first releases were definately in keeping with this plan. But as it goes, things will evolve (naturally) in time and Waldteufel has addmitedly broken it's own rules. They've have added a very noticeable electric guitar. This was first heard on the Wir rufen Deine Wölfe compilation released by Ahnstern in 2004, during the Waldteufel rendition of Hielscher's invocation. Tyrsson's excellent guitar work (and accordion) adds levels to the project as a whole and listeners are again treated to it on the third track of Rauhnacht entitled Hexe Hild, based on the obscure poetry of Leopold Weber. They have managed to pull together something entirely unique with this seemingly incompatible coupling of musical styles. The end result is something of a percusso-centric metal (but not overly metal, mind you) that still maintains an organic feel. And that is just the begining.
The first track, Allerseelengebet, begins with a very old, crackling recording of German hunting music, the traditional fanfare and horns, barking hounds and horse hooves clattering amidst the esctatic frenzy that ensues. Then a recitation of the poem of the same name by Friedrich Hielscher over the Jagdmusik. An ode to the Lord of the Hunt. With the second track In den Zwölften one is reminded of the earlier Waldteufel works, with softer drumming and flute, and Markus' vocal accompaniment chanting the words of Hugo Kaeker. Track 3 is a shamanic, ritual drum-piece, again about the Wilde Jagd and track 4 is a dreamingly sad Folk ballad, a fairietale about Frau Berchta and her legion of restless wandering children's souls. the fifth track is a poem about the mistress of the Hunt, Frau Holle (the northern German pendant to Berchta), and the twelve smoke filled nights of Jul. The sixth and final track is Ur-Odin, a twelve minute song that immediately brings to mind images of the old sacrificial bogs. The crackling of a fire, the chirping and croaking of various frogs, birds and insects and an unsettling whisper. This builds and builds and finally ends with a recitation of the poem Ur-Odin by Karl Wolfskehl.
The title of the album is indicative of the overall theme; Rauhnacht. From the beautiful paintings of the old Perchtenmasken and Wotan's Wild Hunt on the sleeve to the content of the music itself, the poetry and spirit with which the songs are performed, this is an album you will want to have near when the time again comes for the Host to ride. - sol