Die goldene

The recording of the album took place in 1996, when In Extremo were still divided into two separate teams - the so-called folk and rock factions. Only the folk faction worked on the album, which at that time included Michael Ryan (vocals, cister, drum), Marco Zhorzycki (bagpipes), Andre Strugale (bagpipes, harp), and Saint Pusterbalg (bagpipes). The first record of the group, released on tape, received the informal name In Extremo Gold , because it contained the performance of the "gold" works of the medieval scene. At first, it was sold at medieval fairs and, in fact, was a samizdat, produced by the group in an artisanal way. However, it soon came to the recording and release of a full-fledged album on a CD called Die Goldene .

The circulation of the album was relatively limited, and soon it could no longer be found on sale. Only in 2006, for the anniversary of the album and In Extremo, the album was reissued in a new version, featuring a much higher-quality sound, as well as the presence of two bonus tracks.

Most of the songs do not contain vocals, performed exclusively on medieval instruments, while the album consists mainly of medieval and folk melodies, adapted by the group. Some compositions are written by the musicians themselves. In addition, the album contains the first two rock songs In Extremo, foreshadowing the transformation of the group into one of the pioneers of folk metal .

• Ecce Rex / Bandary is a tune from Ludus Danielis , a 13th century French liturgical drama . It contains a small poem, later included in the composition “Merseburger Zaubersprüche I” on the album Verehrt und Angespien .
• “Pavane” is an instrumental version of pavans Belle qui tiens ma vie by the 16th century French composer Tuano Arbo . Later, in a revised and “weighted” version, she appeared on the album Verehrt und Angespien .
• "Schaf Ödä Nix Schaf" - Balkan folk tune
• “Tourdion” - French folk XIII century.
• "Neva Ceng I Harbe" - Ottoman military march by Neva Çeng-i Harbi by Ali Ufki-bey (16th century).
• "Quant Je Sui Mis Au Retour" is a melody by French composer Guillaume de Macho (XIV century).
• “Lulbap / Como Poden” and “Villeman og Magnhild” are rock songs: the first is a fusion of songs “Ai Vis Lo Lop” and “Como Poden” (XIV century Provencal folk music and cantigas from the collection Cantigas de Santa Maria), and the second - Norwegian folk.

The 2006 reissue also contains two bonus tracks - the very first version of “Villeman og Magnhild” recorded on tape in 1996, as well as a new song “Lute” by In Extremo themselves.

• The composition “Intro - Ecce Rex / Bandary” is the longest in the history of the group (more than 8 minutes).
• The title of the song “Schaf Ödä Nix Schaf” is a reference to an interesting story. Next to the studio where they recorded the album, there was a diner in which the Turks worked. These Turks, when In Extremo ordered kebabs from them, were always interested in broken German - “Schaf Ödä Nix Schaf?” (Scharf oder nicht scharf ?, which means “Spicy or not spicy?”, Meaning sauce) ^{[2 ]} .
• The track “Für Bo” is a dedication to a friend and colleague of Michael Rain, a musician who died in a car accident in 1994 ^[2] .

• Das letzte Einhorn - vocals, cister
• Dr. Pymonte - bagpipes, shalmey, harp, flute
• Sen Pusterbalg - bagpipes, shalmey
• Flex der Biegsame - bagpipes, shalmey, flute
• Thomas der Münzer - guitar
• Kay Lutter - bass guitar
• Der Morgenstern - drums

• In Extremo official website