''Meister Mephisto'' is the first full-length album by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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band Sturmgeist, the, then solo, project of Cornelius Jakhelln. It was released on 24 January 2005. It is the 94th release by French record label, Season Of Mist. A live drummer was originally planned to be involved with the recording, but Jakhelln wound up programming the drums instead, making Meister Mephisto the first time Jakhelln released an album that was an individual effort after being a professional musician since 1995. In an interview for Nocturnal Horde, Jakhelln stated that the music on the album was influenced by living for a month in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

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. In a press release for

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Jakhelln stated, "It is no coincidence if Meister Mephisto has Germanic culture as its scene and source." In support of the album, Jakhelln garnered support from various Norwegian musicians, including drummer

Asgeir Mickelson Asgeir Mickelson (born 30 September 1969) is a Norwegian musician, artist, photographer and music reviewer. Although primarily known as a drummer, he is also a skilled guitarist and bassist. Biography He has stated on his official message boar ...

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, pagan ...

and

Spiral Architect Spiral Architect was a Norwegian progressive metal band from Oslo. The group formed in 1993 and recorded one demo and one full-length album, '' A Sceptic's Universe,'' as well as a Fates Warning cover "A Prelude to Ruin" for the tribute album ...

fame, and went on a European tour with Season of Mist label mates,

Carpathian Forest Carpathian Forest is a Norwegian black metal band formed by Nattefrost and Nordavind in 1992. History In late 1990, the band originally started under the name Enthrone by Nattefrost (then bearing the pseudonym Lord Nosferatu) and Nordavind ...

Track listing

#"Ragnarok" – 3:50 #"Shock & Awe" – 4:15 #"Erlkönig" – 5:06 #"Army Of Odin (Hafrsfjord)" – 7:18 #"Master Hunter" – 4:31 #"Rattenfänger" – 8:13 #"Grimmer Than Ugly" – 4:48 #"Walpurgisnacht: 1. Satz — Die Flamme" – 3:25 #"Walpurgisnacht: 2. Satz — Meister Mephisto" – 4:36

Recording Line-Up

* Sturmgeist (Cornelius Jakhelln) (

Solefald Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Nedland singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Jakhelln singing ...

) - Propaganda voices, martial instruments, all science & technology. The music and lyrics of ''Meister Mephisto'' all composed, performed and written by Sturmgeist.

Lyrical notes

*"Ragnarok" poem adapted from the book '' Yggdraliv'' by Cornelius Jakhelln. *"Erlkönig", "Rattenfänger" and "Walpurgisnacht" poems written by

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treati ...

. *"Harsfjord" written by

Ivar Aasen Ivar Andreas Aasen (; 5 August 1813 – 23 September 1896) was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, Nynorsk, from va ...

, adapted from Hornklove's poem in the saga of Harald Hárfagre. Farther on in the Nocturnal Horde interview, Jakhelln went on to describe briefly the lyrics and concepts between each track on the album: ''"Ragnarok: A poem about the end of the world, from my poetry book "Yggdraliv".'' ''Shock And Awe: A song about the invasion of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. It turned out in favour of the victims of the bombings when I wrote it, as I felt bad about the civilians involved. Still, the songs aim at capturing some of the tremor et stupor of such a massive military operation.'' ''Erlkönig: One of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

's most famous ballads, sung and whispered in a dark forest ambience. A father rides with his young son through the forest, and the son is killed by an elf. '' ''Army Of Odin (Hafrsfjord): Battle action from Hafrsfjord!'' ''Master Hunter: A hymn to Jägermeister. I write about a giant cat in Schwarzwald, who hunts down hunters, and force-feed them Jägermeister!'' ''Rattenfänger: This tells about the Rat Chaser, who seduces women and sing for gold!'' ''Grimmer Than Ugly: A Western song, with epic landscapes and men who would kill for brandy or gold!'' ''Walpurgisnacht: I love this song cycle. It talks about the pagan Druids celebrating the Night of Spring, with a mock attack on a Christian village. There is nothing more German on "Meister Mephisto" than these songs.'' "Nocturnal Horde - Aug 2005 - Sturmgeist
" August 24, 2007.

Guest vocalists

*Fuchs (

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (German for " The Apocalyptic Riders") is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe and The End Records in North America. Musical style The band's original style, featured on th ...

): on "Erlkönig", "Master Hunter" & "Rattenfänger". * Lazare (

, Ásmegin, Age Of Silence,

, ex-

): on "Ragnarok", "Shock and Awe" & "Army Of Odin (Harsfjord)".

Trivia

The album's cover art is a parody of the

Jägermeister ( , ; stylized Jägermeiſter) is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35% ( 61 degrees proof, or US 70 proof). The recipe has not changed since its creation ...

label.

Notes

External links

Official record label album pageOfficial band pageDiscogs.com album page
* Allmusic album page {{Authority control Sturmgeist albums 2005 debut albums Season of Mist albums