WALDTEUFEL - Heimliches Deutschland CD
CD / Ultra

The songs and anthems - inspired by Germanic paganism - have a very organic and folkish feel and generally proceed at a fairly slow pace, imparting a ritual quality. The relaxed and essentially simple approach is nonetheless highly effective and evocative. 'Lichttreugweihe' has the quality of a very earnest hymn, but not in this case, a Christian one. 'Erminsul' has a positively amusing lilt (whether intended or not). 'Wotans Wilde Jagd' is a horn piece with a splendid baroque quality, while the tune of 'Bergandacht' has a peculiar resemblance to 'Danny Boy'! But my favourite is the instrumental 'Von Gaat und Ernte' which should certainly make the top ten on Summerisle! The CD booklet is attractively illustrated with symbols of Germanic paganism. The booklet - like the CD itself - is in German throughout and employs the Germanic script, so errors may well have been made in my transliteration of the song titles. Markus produces beautiful hand-carved wooden sculptures on themes from the Nordic religion. These can be viewed on his website where you will also find links to other neo-pagan projects.