Line #50 Music/InExtremo


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/in_extremo.jpg]]
2
3	In Extremo is a German FolkMetal band from Berlin, founded in 1995, and is famous for being one of the first bands who combined medieveal instruments with rock music. Their name is Latin for ''At the Edge''.
4
5	While their early albums were strongly influenced by the particular style of punk played in the [[UsefulNotes/EastGermany German Democratic Republic]], they later changed it to Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte. But their signature feature have always been the historic instruments like bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, harp etc.
6
7	Albums:
8	* ''In Extremo'' (1996)
9	* ''Die Goldene''[[note]]"The Golden One"[[/note]] (1997)
10	* ''Hameln''[[note]]"Hamelin"[[/note]] (1998)
11	* ''Weckt die Toten!''[[note]]"Wake the Dead"[[/note]] (1998)
12	* ''Verehrt und angespien''[[note]]"Worshipped and Spat Upon"[[/note]] (1999)
13	* ''Sünder ohne Zügel''[[note]]"Unbridled Sinners"[[/note]] (2001)
14	* ''7'' (2003)
15	* ''Mein rasend Herz''[[note]]"My Raging Heart[[/note]] (2005)
16	* ''Sängerkrieg''[[note]]"Singer's War"[[/note]] (2008)
17	* ''Sterneneisen''[[note]]"Iron from the Stars"[[/note]] (2011)
18	* ''Kunstraub''[[note]]"Art Theft"[[/note]] (2013)
19	* ''Quid Pro Quo''[[note]]"Give and Take"[[/note]] (2016)
20	* ''Kompass zur Sonne''[[note]]"Compass to the sun"[[/note]] (2020)
21
22
23	----
24	!! Their music contains examples of:
25	* AllJustADream: Implied by the title of ''Alptraum''[[note]]nightmare[[/note]]
26	* AllThereInTheManual: Some of their album's booklets contain German translations to the songs listed under BilingualBonus.
27	* AllTrollsAreDifferent: In ''Herr Mannelig'', a female troll tries to convince a human knight to marry her in order to become human herself.
28	** Also in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpans_kraft Villemann og Magnhild]], where the water creature is also often translated as a troll. The troll captures the beautiful maiden and has to be charmed by the hero playing the harp to give her back.
29	* AnachronismStew: Medieval instruments, modern Rock music and texts from everywhere between the medieval and today
30	* AristocratsAreEvil: A king is the villian in ''Spielmannsfluch''
31	* ArabianNightsDays: Micha claims to have once played the bagpipes at the court of a Sultan.
32	* ArcNumber: 7. There are seven band members, their logo is a heptagram, they call themselves the ''seven vagrants'' and their seventh album is simply called ''7''.
33	** See also RuleOfSeven
34	* ArcWords: ''Verehrt und angespien''
35	** Those words, meaning "Worshipped and Spat Upon", were originally coined in French by Francois Villon in his "Ballad of the outlaws", which In Extremo covered in a German translation called ''Vor vollen Schüsseln''. They also used those words in the introductions of their songs at concerts, and later named their second rock album after them. The words reappeared in the title track of their album ''Sterneneisen''.
36	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While they often play songs from historical sources, they never intended to be a historically correct reenactment-group and loved to experiment with more modern influences, most prominently rock music.
37	** Sometimes, they invoked this on purpose by wearing sunglasses or modern clothing to annoy people who complained that the AnachronismStew of their music style didn't fit into the rennaissance fairs where they played.
38	* AudienceParticipationSong: ''Sternhagelvoll''
39	* AwesomeAnachronisticApparel: While their outfits in promotion photos have changed from pseudo-medieval fantasy costumes towards something more modern, they still wear old-timey costumes on stage.
40	* BannedInChina: Luckily their music is not banned in China, but when they first played there, the authorities were extremely sceptical about their lyrics about freedom.
41	* BattleOfTheBands: ''Sängerkrieg'' is a medieval version.
42	* BawdySong: ''Belladonna'' and ''Weiberfell''
43	* BestialityIsDepraved: In ''Reth Tierliebe'' Micha explained that the following song ''Wie kann ich das Herz meiner Liebsten gewinnen''[[note]]How can I win the heart of my beloved[[/note]] is about a farmer who has a very intimate relationship to his sheep, but in a LastSecondWordSwap, he only scratches the sheep behind its ears.
44	* BilingualBonus: While their main language is German, they had many songs in other languages, particularily on older albums. Most of them are traditional texts
45	** ''Fontaine la Jolie'', ''Nature Nous Semont'' and ''Requiem'' are in French
46	** ''Ai vis lo lop'' is Occitan, an old French dialect
47	** ''This corrosion'', ''An end has a start'' and ''I disappear'' are in English, they are all cover versions (of Music/{{TheSistersOfMercy}}, Music/{{Editors}} and Music/{{Metallica}} respectively
48	** ''Santa Maria'', ''Hiemali Tempore'', ''Captus est'', ''Maria Virgin'', ''Totus Floreo'', ''Omnia Sol Temperat'' and ''Salva Nos'' are in Latin
49	*** ''Stetit Puella'' and ''Nymphenzeit'' are partly German and partly Latin
50	*** Also, there are Latin versions of the normally German songs ''Zigeunerskat'' (released on ''Bruchstücke'' and ''B Seiten und Raritäten'') and ''Wenn das Licht angeht'' (released on the sampler ''Cold Hands Seduction – Vol. 179'' by the magazine ''Sonic Seducer'', titled ''Veris leta facies'').
51	** ''Herr Mannelig'' and ''Vänner och Frände'' are in Swedish, as are Johan's Parts of ''Wer kann segeln ohne Wind''
52	** ''Villemann og Magnhild'' is Norwegian
53	** ''Tannhuser'' and ''Palästinalied'' are in Middle High German
54	** ''Merseburger Zaubersprüche'', ''Merseburger Zaubersprüche II'' and ''Wessebronner Gebet'' are in Old High German
55	** ''Krummavísur'' is Icelandic
56	** ''Le'or Chiyuchech'' is Hebrew
57	** ''Liam'' is Irish, but it's not a traditional song. It has been written by In Extremo in German and translated to Irish by Rea Garvey. The German version was released as b-side of the single.
58	** ''En esta noche'' is Spanish, the text has been written by singer Michael Rhein's son who lives in Spain
59	** ''Zauberspruch'', ''Zauberspruch No. VII'' and ''Pikse Palve'' are Estonian
60	** ''Dacw 'Nghariad'' is Welsh
61	** ''Черный ворон (Schwarzer Rabe)'' is Russian, as is the chorus of Gogiya.
62	* BizarreInstrument: Dr. Pymonte plays a hammered dulcimer looking like their logo, a heptagram.
63	* BreakupSong: ''Alte Liebe'', ''Heut Morgen''
64	* CallAndResponseSong: Ai vis lo lop
65	-->Micha: Ai vist lo lop, lo rainard, lèbre
66	-->Rest of the band: Ai vist lo lop, rainard dancar
67	* TheCameo: They can be seen in the German version of the game VideoGame/{{Gothic}} playing their song ''Herr Mannelig''
68	** Also, Music/{{Korn}} make an appearance on their DVD "Live 2002"
69	* TheCaper / CaperRationalization: ''Kunstraub''
70	* TheCartel: When playing in Mexico, they were warned that there is nothing they can do against fake merachandise because the Mafia is behind everything.
71	* CelebritySong: ''Störtebeker''
72	* CharacterTitle: ''Liam'', ''Störtebeker''
73	* ChronologicalAlbumTitle: There seventh album is just called "7"
74	* CleverCrows: ''Krummavísur''
75	* CluelessDeputy: One police woman in Mexico wanted Micha to sign her underwear, handing him her loaded pumpgun while undressing.
76	* CompressedAdaptation: Some of their songs are this to the source material. For example, "Spielmannsfluch" is far shorter than the original ballad "Des Sängers Fluch" by Ludwig Uhland.
77	* CookingStories: ''Sieben Köche''[[note]]"Seven cooks"[[/note]]
78	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: At least that's what their biography and some stories from interviews let you believe.
79	* CoolPlane: The [[https://media1.jpc.de/image/w600/front/0/0602527613543.jpg cover]] of ''Sterneneisen''
80	* CoverAlbum: The bonus disc of their best-of ''Kein Blick zurück'' consists of other artists covering In Extremo songs.
81	** The also contributed to a tribute album to Music/{{Metallica}} and one to Music/DieFantastischenVier
82	* CoverVersion: The covered ''I disappear'' by Music/{{Metallica}}, ''This Corrosion'' by Music/{{TheSistersOfMercy}}, ''An end has a start'' by Music/{{Editors}}, ''Yeah yeah yeah'' by Music/DieFantastischenVier and various traditional songs.
83	** On one of their acoustic tours, they also played an unplugged version of ''It's a long way to the top (If you wanna rock'n'roll)'' by Music/{{ACDC}}
84	** They have also covered the theme of Series/GameOfThrones. You can listen to it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324oqr7wlUo here]].
85	** It may be argued that most of their older songs are cover versions because they use texts and melodies from medieval artists like [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker Walther von der Vogelweide]] or Francois Villon.
86	* CreatorBreakdown: Their old bagpiper ''Thomas der Münzer'' had one before leaving the band.
87	* CreepyCrows: ''Черный ворон (Schwarzer Rabe)'' [[note]]Black Raven[[/note]]
88	* DarkAgeEurope: The setting of most of their older songs.
89	* DeceptivelySillyTitle: ''Doof''
90	* DrunkenSong: ''Viva La Vida'', ''Sternhagelvoll''
91	* TheDungAges: They wouldn't want to live in the real medieval era, but their fantasy-version of it isn't the shiny perfect version of ChivalricRomance either.
92	** Particularily obvious in ''Vor vollen Schüsseln''
93	* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes
94	* Main/{{Excalibur}}: In ''Sterneneisen'', it is mentioned to be made out of ThunderboltIron.
95	* FairySexy: The nymphs in ''Nymphenzeit''
96	* FandomRivalry: With Music/SubwayToSally
97	* FanGirl: In their biography "Wir werden niemals knien" they mention a particularily annoying fangirl who wanted to marry their drummer Rainer.
98	* TheFarEast: ''Singapur''
99	* FeudalOverlord: The villian in ''Spielmannsfluch''
100	* FolkMetal: They combine Rock and Metal with medieval instruments and sometimes contemporary folk music. This particular style of FolkMetal is called Mittelalter Rock[[note]]Medieval Rock[[/note]] in Germany and today there are many bands like this.
101	* ForeignLanguageTitle: See BilingualBonus
102	** ''Viva la Vida'': Except for the Spanish TitleDrop in the chorus, the entire song is in German.
103	* GallowsHumor: ''Werd ich am Galgen hochgezogen''[[note]]"When I Will Be Heaved Up at the Gallow"[[/note]] is a literal example.
104	* GenieInABottle: ''Flaschenteufel''
105	* GloriousMotherRussia: ''Roter Stern''
106	* Main/{{Goth}}: While they don't see themselves as gothic, many of their fans are goths
107	* GrapeStomping: ''Traubentritt'' is a song and dance to stomp grapes to. The name even means ''grape stomp''.
108	* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Kein Blick zurück''. Besides old songs and remakes of old songs, it also contains two new songs and a bonus disc with other artists covering In Extremo
109	** In 2017, they released a new one: ''40 wahre Lieder''[[note]]40 true songs[[/note]]
110	* GriefSong: ''Unter dem Meer''
111	* GypsyCurse: Not exactly a gypsy, but in ''Spielmannsfluch'', a king kills a traveling musician and the musicians mentor curses the king to never be mentioned in history, effectively making the king an UnPerson.
112	* HarpOfFemininity: Averted with Dr. Pymonte
113	* HealingHands: The supposed effect of ''Merseburger Zaubersprüche II''
114	* HeavyMithril: Some of the lyrics are definitely set in a fantasy setting. Due to their style of music it's also a combination with [[FilkSong Filk]].
115	** They also had a cameo in VideoGame/{{Gothic}}
116	* AHellOfATime: ''Himmel und Hölle''
117	* HotWitch: ''Belladonna''
118	* IconicSongRequest: ''Spielmannsfluch''. There was a time when they refused to play it.
119	* IntercourseWithYou: ''Weiberfell'', ''En esta noche'', ''Belladonna''
120	* InterspeciesRomance: In ''Herr Mannelig'', a female troll tries to convince a human knight to marry her
121	* IronicEpisodeTitle: ''Gaukler'' implies a happy song about gleemen, but it's a rather sad song about how nobody goes to the circus anymore.
122	* KidsRock: One chorus in ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein''
123	* KleptomaniacHero: If you read their biography "Wir werden niemals knien", you find out that they have stolen more than one thing on their travels.
124	* TheKlutz: The protagonist of ''Vor vollen Schüsseln''
125	--> Wohin ich greife, fallen nichts als Scherben[[note]]Whatever I touch falls to pieces[[/note]]
126	* LocationSong: ''Berlin''[[note]]original by Ideal[[/note]], ''Singapur''
127	* Myth/{{Lorelei}}: In 2016, they made a festival for their 20th anniversary at the side of the Loreley. There's also a song about it, but it doesn't mention the original myth.
128	* LastSecondWordSwap: In the live introduction to ''Wie kann ich das Herz meiner Liebsten gewinnen''[[note]]How can I win the heart of my beloved[[/note]] it is explained that the song is a bout a farmer [[BestialityIsDepraved really loving his sheep]], but in the last second, he only scratches the sheep's ears. This can be heard on their album ''Hameln'' as the title ''Reth Tierliebe''.
129	* LostAtSea: What the female main character suspects about her lover in ''Liam''. Turns out that he's already dead.
130	* LovableRogue: How they see themselves
131	* MagicMusic: They made songs from several traditional spells, for example the ''Merseburger Zaubersprüche''[[note]]"Spells from Merseburg"[[/note]]
132	* InMemoriam: Their first album contained an instrumental song called ''Für Bo''[[note]]For Bo[[/note]]. Bo was a member of one of Michas former bands who died in a car accident.
133	* MoneySong: ''Quid pro Quo''
134	* MurderBallad: ''Albtraum''
135	--> Ich habe meine Tante geschlachtet[[note]]I slaughtered my aunt[[/note]].
136	* MusicSoothesTheSavageBeast: In Villemann og Magnhild, the troll can be charmed by the hero playing the harp to give back the beautiful maiden.
137	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Guitarrist Sebastian once stole a thong from a stage dancer of the band Music/Blutengel and went into a highway rest stop wearing nothing else.
138	* NonIronicClown: One is mentioned in ''Gaukler'', but he's no longer there
139	* NoTitle: Their first album, leading fans to call it ''In Extremo Gold'' because of it's golden cover. The re-release got a title and was called ''Die Goldene''
140	* OdeToIntoxication: ''Sternhagelvoll''
141	-->''Auf Schaukelschuhen durchs Leben''
142	-->''Was kann es Schöneres geben?''
143	** Also ''Biersegen''
144	* ObsessionSong: ''Unsichtbar'', ''Küss mich''
145	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: ''Vollmond''
146	* PantyThief: Sebastian at Amphi-Festival, but not out of pervesion, just because he was drunk and thought it would be funny to walk into a highway rest stop wearing only a thong.
147	* Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin: ''Hameln'' is an instrumental song which's title is the German name of Hamelin (the album cover shows a rat), while ''Rattenfänger'' is an adaption of Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe's poem based on the legend.
148	* ParentalLoveSong: ''Mein Kind'', ''Glück auf Erden''
149	* Main/{{Pirate}}: ''Störtebeker''
150	* PowerCrystal: ''Ostkarsteinar'' means "magic stones", but it's not clear if they are actually magical.
151	* ProtestSong: ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein'' and ''Saigon und Bagdad''
152	* PunkRock: Half of the band was in various Punk bands before merging their latest band, Noah, with the folk/medieval band In Extremo, thus creating the band they are today.
153	* TheRockStar: How they see themselves
154	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: ''Küss mich'' is based on a female neighbour of Micha and Dr. Pymonte whom Micha often saw through her windows from their flat.
155	* RegionalRiff: The melody of the song Singapur[[note]]German for Singapore[[/note]] sounds vaguely Asian.
156	* RuleOfSeven: The number seven features heavily in their songs, for example ''Sieben Köche'', ''Sterneneisen'' and ''Zigeunerskat''
157	** Also, there are seven band members
158	** One of their logos is a heptagram
159	** Their seventh album is called 7
160	* SadClown: ''Gaukler''
161	-->''Es tut so weh wenn ich die Gaukler weinen seh''[[note]]"It hurts to see the gleemen cry"[[/note]]
162	* SchizoTech: Their electric guitars and drums look like this between the traditional instruments. Actually, their bagpipes are the most modern instruments, because the ''Marktsack'', the specific kind of bagpipe they use, has been invented in TheEighties
163	* SelfTitledAlbum: Their first album initally only had the words ''In Extremo'' on it's golden cover, so fans called it ''In Extremo Gold''. For the rerelease, it was titled ''Die Goldene''[[note]]The Golden one[[/note]], averting this trope.
164	* SeenItAll: The title of the song ''Alles schon gesehen'' literally means SeenItAll and plays this trope straight.
165	* SequelNumberSnarl: ''Zauberspruch No. VII'' may be this to ''Zauberspruch''. There were no songs called ''Zauberspruch'' II - VI.
166	* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: ''Totus Floreo''
167	* ShoddyKnockoffProduct: When playing in Mexico, they saw tons of merchandise being sold that they never saw before. Mostly it was printed with GratuitousGerman texts full of typos and wrong grammar and phrases Google brings up if you search for "In Extremo".
168	** Also, another early Mittelalter Rock band, Tanzwut, released a song called ''Exkremento'', accusing In Extremo of being a ShoddyKnockoffProduct of Tanzwut. It's all just a joke among musicians, as Micha and Tanzwut's singer Teufel were once in a band together and are still good friends.
169	* ShoutOut: An unintentional one to WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn. At one of their first concerts, Micha wore a T-shirt reading "Das Letzte Einhorn", the German title of the film. Somebody called him "Das Letzte Einhorn" because of the shirt, and the name stuck, even though he thinks it's stupid.
170	* SparedByTheAdaptation: They made a musical version of Frank Wedekind's ''Der Tantenmörder''[[note]]the aunt-killer[[/note]]. In both versions, the protagonist kills his aunt, which would avert this trope. But In Extremo's verison is called ''Alptraum''[[note]]nightmare, bad dream[[/note]], implying that this version might be AllJustADream.
171	* SpecialGuest: They really love guest musicians:
172	** ''Horizont'' features Marta Jandová of Music/DieHappy
173	** ''Liam'' features Rea Garvey of Music/{{Reamonn}}, who also translated the song to Irish
174	** ''Hol die Sterne'' features ''Der Graf'' of Music/{{Unheilig}}
175	** ''Unsichtbar'' features Mille Petrozza of Music/{{Kreator}}
176	** ''En esta noche'' features José Andrëa of Music/MagoDeOz
177	** ''Flaschenteufel'' features Music/HeavenShallBurn
178	** ''Roter Stern'' features Hansi Kürsch of Music/BlindGuardian
179	** ''Gogiya'' features Georgij Alexandrowitsch Makazaria of Music/{{Russkaja}}
180	** ''Wer kann segeln ohne Wind'' features Johan Hegg of Music/AmonAmarth
181	** Micha also was guest singer in various songs by other bands:
182	*** ''Wer sonst?'' by Music/{{ASP}}
183	*** ''Buntes Volk'' by Music/{{Faun}}
184	*** ''Valhalla'' and ''Charon (Fährmann Des Todes)'' by Music/GraveDigger
185	*** ''Willst du's extrem'' by Music/{{Schandmaul}}
186	*** ''Veris Dulcis'', ''Le Povre Villon'' and ''Ich was ein Chint'' by Music/{{Schelmish}}
187	*** ''I guess you know'' by Music/{{Exilia}}
188	*** ''Fields of Green/Nie zu spät'' by Music/FiddlersGreen
189	*** ''Mond'' by Music/{{Rêverie}}
190	*** ''Meridian'' and ''Murter'' by Music/{{Manntra}}
191	*** The acoustic version of ''Alte Liebe rostet nicht'' by Music/{{Hämatom}}
192	*** ''Time to wonder'' (2020) by Music/FuryInTheSlaughterhouse
193	*** Also, he played the harmonica in ''Going Down Blues'' by Music/TheArmada
194	* SpokenWordInMusic: For example in ''Poc Vecem'' or ''Flaschenteufel''
195	* StageNames: Every member has one
196	** Their singer Michael Rhein is called ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn Das Letzte Einhorn]]''
197	** Their guitarrist Sebastian Lange is called ''[[Main/TheVonTropeFamily Van Lange]]''
198	** Their bassist Kay Lutter is called ''Die Lutter''[[note]]"The Lutter"[[/note]]
199	** Multiinstrumentalist André Strugala is called ''Dr. Pymonte''
200	** Their bagpiper Marco Zorzytzky is called ''Flex der Biegsame''[[note]]"Flex the flexible"[[/note]]
201	** Their other bagpiper Boris Pfeiffer is called ''Yellow Pfeiffer''[[note]]"Yellow piper"[[/note]]
202	** Their drummer Florian Speckardt is called ''Specki T.D.''
203	* UsefulNotes/TheStasi: Before they founded In Extremo, some of the members played in several punk bands who often were on the run from the Stasi.
204	* StealingFromTheHotel: How Micha got all of his cutlery.
205	* StreetPerformer: Some of them started out as street performers and also included those acts into the stage show during their early years.
206	* SwarmOfRats: ''Rattenfänger'' and ''Hameln'' are about Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin
207	* TextlessAlbumCover: Their first album had their name on it, but no title. Since the cover was golden, it was renamed ''Die Goldene''[[note]]"The Golden One"[[/note]] when it was rereleased
208	* ThunderboltIron: ''Sterneneisen'' compares the band themselves to ''Iron from the stars''
209	* TranslatedCoverVersion:
210	** When Music/GraveDigger covered In Extremo's version of Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe ''Rattenfänger''[[note]]"ratcacher", a poem about the Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin[[/note]], they translated the German text to English.
211	** In Extremo themselves translated some of the traditional texts to German, mostly those of Francois Villon
212	* TrojanHorse: Mentioned in ''Troja''
213	* TropeMaker: For Medieval Metal (Mittelalter-Rock)
214	* TheWoobie: The protagonist of ''Vor vollen Schüsseln''
215	* UnpluggedVersion: They had an unplugged live-album (Sängerkrieg Akustik Radio Show) and also on the special edition of ''Quid pro Quo'' there was an unplugged version of the titular song.
216	** On one of their acoustic tours, they also played an unplugged version of ''It's a long way to the top (If you wanna rock'n'roll)'' by Music/{{ACDC}}
217	* UnusualEuphemism: In ''Belladonna'', a song about a HotWitch
218	-->''Du kennst bestimmt das schönste Spiel, komm setzt dich auf den Besenstiel''[[note]]"You surely know the best game, sit down on the broomstick"[[/note]]
219	** Also in ''Erdbeermund'': the titular "strawberry mouth" refers to the vagina.
220	* TheVonTropeFamily: Van Lange is the stage name of their guitarist.
221	* WanderlustSong: ''Neues Glück''
222	* WarIsGlorious: This is what the protagonist of ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein'' believes at first.
223	* WarIsHell: This is the truth the protagonist of ''Lieb Vaterland, magst ruhig sein'' finds out
224	** Also the topic of ''Saigon und Bagdad''

Context Music / InExtremo