There’s a skinny line between cheesiness and enchantment. It’s one which German neofolk ensemble FAUN have ridden onerous for nearly three many years now, fishing inspiration from the country thriller of the medieval age however by no means relinquishing their supremely listenable songwriting. Stacking devices as obscure because the hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, lute, flute, bowl fiddle and harp alongside fashionable synths and polyphonic vocals, their sound might be as dense as Scandic overlords Wardruna and Heilung. As an alternative, they like the poppier aspect of paganism: an airier various to fellow Teutonic heroes Corvus Corax and Saltatio Mortis.
Twelfth album Hex is a tribute. Beneath the route of bandleader Oliver Satyr – ‘Magister Artium of Medieval Philology’ – these 12 tracks discover the historical past of witches, feminine heaers and smart girls in Western Europe. Blot, for example, is a mournful exploration of Vikings’ naturalist faith, with its demand for ritual sacrifice. The surging Hare Spell is known as after an incantation recorded by Isobel Gowdie throughout a Scottish witch trial in 1662. Prancing opener Belladonna is steeped in previous Irish legend and delivered to life with pulsating reggae rhythms and crunching guitar. Shadows lurk however in the end hope and lightweight prevail.