''Midgard'' is the ninth studio album by the German band

Faun The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...

, released on 19 August 2016 via Electrola (

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

). It is the final album to feature Katja Moslehner before her departure in 2017.

Conception

''Midgard'' is themed around

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. It also has elements from the Celtic-speaking area. The music takes inspiration from melodies from Sweden and Norway.

Reception

Ulf Kubanke of ''

laut.de laut.de is a German online magazine dealing exclusively with entertainment music, especially pop music, rock music, alternative music, alternative, Metal music, metal, hip-hop, jazz and Techno music, techno. It comprises record reviews, intervi ...

'' wrote positively about the songs "Odin" and "Rabenballade", but described the album overall as sterile and too simple. Matthias Weise of ''

Metal.de Metal.de is a German-language online magazine launched in 1996. The magazine focuses on the subgenres of heavy metal and hard rock, but also reports on similar styles. ''Metal.de'' foundation in 1996 makes it one of the longest-running heavy me ...

'' wrote that the album contains both the pop-oriented side of Faun, with "Federkleid" as a positive example, and more atmospheric tracks reminiscent of the band's early works. Weise called "Odin" especially gripping due to its interplay between lyrics and music. He described "Gold und Seide", "Brandan" and "Lange Schatten" as weak. Overall he called ''Midgard'' a "strong and playful album with great lyrics, dreamy melodies and exciting song structures". ''Midgard'' entered the German album chart on 26 August 2016 as number three, which became its peak position. This was the highest position any Faun album had reached; the previous record was held by '' Luna'' (2014) which peaked as number four. ''Midgard'' remained on the chart for 13 weeks.

Track listing

Personnel

Faun * Oliver s. Tyr – vocals, harp, lute, nyckelharpa, bouzouki * Fiona Frewert – vocals, flute, bagpipes, violin, chalumeau * Rüdiger Maul – drums, percussion * Niel Mitra – synthesizer, sampler, keyboards * Stephan Groth – hurdy gurdy, zither, vocals * Katja Moslehner – vocals Guests * Efren Lopez – lute on track 4, 5 and 8 * Maya Fridman – cello on track 5, 7, 13 and 15 * '' Einar Selvik'' – vocals, lyre, harp, percussion and bullroarer on track 10 * Martin Seeberg – violin on track 12

References

External links

Album-Fact: Faun 'Midgard' (Tour Edition)
from

{{Authority control 2016 albums Faun (band) albums Universal Music Germany albums Norse mythology in music