Schandmaul

Formed by chance at a folk concert in 1998, the members of Schandmaul were most certainly fated to play together. That first chance performance was such a success, the group decided to form Schandmaul and continue playing medieval rock together; they’ve without doubt been delighting fans ever since.

Known for their intricate sound, unusual instruments (including the hurdy-gurdy and shawm) and big rock star productions, every Schandmaul album and tour has seemed more successful than the last and garnered increasing numbers of fans along the way. The release of their most recent album, “Unendlich”, peaked at number 2 in the German charts and their current tour is already proving to be a huge success.

At a Schandmaul show you’ll notice that the band wouldn’t have to do much work up on stage if they didn’t want to; their legions of fans know their songs so well that Schandmaul could easily only play the opening bars to each of their tracks and have the audience do the rest. Thankfully, though, this is not how Schandmaul operate, instead they perform with verve. “In Deinem Namen” is an amazing song that they often use to open their gigs and set the tone for the evening. “Kaspar” and “Lichtblick” also struck me as real highlights, but the real scene-stealer for me was their powerful encore performance of “Dein Anblick.” Schandmaul are definitely a band to go and see ASAP!