The debut album from German folk metallers Grendel’s Sÿster has been my single most anticipated album for a few years now. I can’t remember if I first heard them with the Orphic Gold Leaves EP in 2018 or Myrtle Wreath the following year, but the band completely and totally entranced me at first spin and I have hit Myrtle Wreath in particular dozens of times since its release.
Many debut albums don’t live up to that kind of expectation; in a way it’s unfair to even put that on them. Despite the massive burden of my own anticipation that I approached the new album, Katabasis into the Abaton, Grendel’s Sÿster completely lived up to the challenge and even surpassed it- my friends, the album totally fucks. It’s nothing but wall to wall bangers. I am going to continue talking a bit about the album from here but honestly this was my album of the year– you can just go toss it on and skip to the interview, you don’t need the rest!
Katabasis into the Abaton is an album that sounds refreshingly original. In a world of heavy metal albums aping the same five or ten bands, Grendel’s Sÿster is diving into much more obscure influences and crafting a sound that is very unique and personal to them. Fans may hear not only hints of less-often-aped favorites like Fates Warning or Hammers of Misfortune, but also folk rock (my ears seem to pick up quite a bit of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, but that sort of folk rock is not something I am deeply familiar enough with to feel confident on that!) and even medieval music.
While this blend of sounds may sound eclectic, the end result is anything but- Grendel’s Sÿster have a very firm identity, mixed in with the musicianship and playing chops to make all of it work seamlessly. Given how varied the album is, shifting from ripping speed metal to a soft folk ballad to crushing doom to the most epic of heavy metal, it’d be easy to think that album flow would be a problem, but the music is a journey, everything tied together pleasantly by nuanced writing, peerless passion, and a sort of magic that you only get when bands focus on following their hearts to the exclusion of all else. The end result? My album of the year for 2024.
Read below for an interview with Tobias Fraund, the band’s guitarist, and pick up the album at Cruz del Sur Music.
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Hails Tobi! Thank you for doing this interview with Invisible Oranges. Congratulations on the successful release of your debut album! Given that it (like most of your discography) is released in both English and in German, which do you consider to be the definitive version of it? Which version is performed live when the band gigs?
I guess both versions are definitive, as both strive to create the same atmosphere. We always try both versions in the rehearsal room. Usually Caro has a hunch as to which version is to be the one for the stage. And we’ve had no objections to her choices so far. So it’s really been more of an intuitive thing. We use the German language versions for “Steinmännlein”, “Nachtmeerfahrt”, “Beifußweise” and “Graf und Nonne”.
When did the band decide to start using German in the first place- was that always in mind from the start before even writing any music? Why do bilingual versions of your releases?
It’s just something both challenging and adventurous. There’s not much traditional Metal with German vocals (although there are a couple of interesting recordings from the German Democratic Republic). I just wanted to find out whether it’s possible to evoke this mysterious archaic atmosphere of, say, early Fates Warning, Brocas Helm or Cirith Ungol records in German. I also enjoy reading old German literature, so it seemed like a fulfilling task to me.
We started recording both language versions with Orphic Gold Leaves (2017) when Caro joined the band.
How did you make the decision for the vinyl version of the new album which language version would be featured?
It was a difficult decision, that’s for sure. At the end of the day we felt that this was the right thing to do for an international audience. Our niche is pretty small already.
Circling back to your previous answer, you recommended a fondness for old German literature; what would you recommend to neophytes potentially interested in getting into it?
Maybe The Golden Pot by E.TA. Hoffmann or Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing by Joseph von Eichendorff. For poetry, The Wisdom of the Brahmins by Friedrich Rückert. Or the Song of the Nibelungs from the Middle Ages, if you’re in the mood for an heroic epic.
When the band started releasing music there was a quickness between releases, with something new each year from 2017 to 2019; however, it took another five years from Orphische Goldblättchen for the new album to materialize. What made it take so much longer than what came before it?
To be honest, I’d like to re-phrase the question: How the hell have you been able to finish recording the album in the first place? There was a pandemic going on, we had to re-record some of the stuff for technical reasons, all of us have jobs and also families with young children. It’s truly miraculous that we still made it, although there were times when I had nearly given up hope. Forgive me for sounding self-congratulatory, but that’s the way I see it.
What gave you the inspiration to persevere, continue writing music, and start booking shows again?
I think I learned that it’s not really my mission to be productive or successful, but to be faithful to the source. I have received these songs from the realm of the imagination and it is my duty to make them available in the ‘real world’. Also, I realized that focusing on the result instead of the process (however tough it may be) can take away the joy. So I did my best to shift to a more relaxed, yet still attentive attitude.
As for booking, that’s Till’s (dr) and Simon’s (b) job, which is a great relief to me, as I’m not the world’s greatest networker. We’ve played our first four shows this year (2024), which was pretty exciting for all of us.
That is exciting, I didn’t realize those were your first shows! How did they go? Was it difficult in any way to translate the music into a live setting?
Pretty good. I’m also not the world’s biggest stage person, but I thought it would be a bit lame not to go for it. Plus, the other three are really on fire now. We’ll play a few shows next year, that’s for sure. It seemed to me that the songs worked really well live. It was amazing to see that some people knew the lyrics and joined in for the chorus.
Though some of the influences of Grendel’s Sÿster are quite obvious, there’s a deep strain of archaism and folk history to the band that is a large part of your identity. Are there any influences on your composition that would perhaps be less obvious to the average modern heavy metal fan?
I think the most far-reaching influence on our music apart from Heavy Metal would be traditional European folk music, especially from Scandinavia, the British Isles and Germany. Many people in Germany are not really aware of the fact that there’s a long tradition reaching back hundreds of years. There are some local festivals where musicians meet and trade songs around the campfire, but in general, it’s pretty underground. You might also get a taste of that at the Rudolstadt Folk Festival, if you’re lucky.
There was some kind of a revival going on in the 1970s, with artists like Zupfgeigenhansel, Liederjan, Ougenweide, Folkländer or Hannes Wader (Volkssänger, Plattdeutsche Lieder), but it didn’t have such a lasting effect. One contemporary album I could recommend is Königskinder by the band Deitsch.
Of course, many Germans know some of the old songs from their childhood days, but I think many would think of Schlager music if you ask them about traditional music.
It’s a little different in Scandinavia, where people seem to be more appreciative of their musical heritage. There are many fantastic contemporary bands who play this type of unfiltered traditional ‘roots’ & trad./.arr. music, such as Triakel, Svanevit, Triller, Frifot, Kraja, Unni Boksasp Ensemble or older ones like Kebnekajse Gunnfjauns Kapell, Folque or Kalenda Maya. These are just some of my favorites; there are many, many more.
There are also some great Folk or Folk Rock bands from Great Britain and Ireland, especially from the times of the international Folk revival in the 1970s. These three are dear to my heart: The Watersons, Planxty, Steeleye Span.
I also love Renaissance and Baroque music; one artist I can heartily recommend is Rolf Lislevand (check out Nuove Musiche; Santiago de Murcia: Codex N°4; Diminuito; La Mascarade: Music for Solo Baroque Guitar and Theorbo; Alfabeto: Foscarini, Granata, Corbetta; Encuentro: Sanz & Santa Cruz). These albums have also influenced me quite a bit, although it might not be as obvious as with folk music.
How did you get into folk, Renaissance, and Baroque music in the first place? Is this something that the rest of your band is into?
I think it’s fair to say that I’m the folk music guy in the band. There’s a good Irish Pub called An Sibin in Darmstadt (the town I grew up in); we used to go there quite regularly to see live shows, although I was a metal kid. I think around this time it dawned upon me that in terms of atmosphere, there’s some significant overlap between Heavy Metal and Folk music. I also remember the moment when I heard Loreena McKennitt’s The Visit for the first time; someone played it on the car stereo on the way back from a castle (we were also into LARPing) and I felt like I’d been enchanted.
Back in the days, we used to make these huge hauls at the Darmstadt public library after school and discovered a lot of good stuff this way. The first Renaissance record I decided to buy was Shirley Rumsey’s Music of the Italian Renaissance. As for Baroque music, one of my school buddies introduced me to Johann Sebastian Bach’s work and it has never left me since. At the same time, he was – and still is – into Metallica. We didn’t feel there had to be a choice we had to make. So we might go to a classical concert one evening and to a Heavy Metal show the next.
The first time I caught notice of Rolf Lislevand must have been at Crazy Diamond Records, Heidelberg (no sadly defunct), around 2006. Nuove Musiche played in the background, and I was instantly spellbound. His interpretations sounded so intricate, playful and mysterious at the same time!
How do you approach merging these influences into your music without any feeling of jarring anachronism, tying together ancient sounds and the much more recent heavy rock ones that go into your band? Has it ever been a challenge making your vision for Grendel’s Sÿster into reality?
No, it has never been difficult so far. I can’t help writing in this style, anyway. There’s also no secret formula in the rehearsal room, where Caro would reliably add 7% Neu! or Till would complain that there’s not enough 1970s Hard Rock in the song. It doesn’t feel like we’re stitching together something, that’s for sure.
The biggest challenges so far have been of a more practical nature, such as finding the right people for the band or finding the time to record the songs.
You are quite active on Bandcamp, regularly buying and often reviewing albums from your fan page that shares a name with your band. How do you go about finding new music? What are some favorites from the last few years?
I usually check out record collections of users whose taste in music seems to be impeccable, judging from their virtual collection. Of course there’s tons of good stuff, in no particular order: Meduusa, Arkon, Els Focs Negres, Markgraf, The Temple, Serpent Rider, Sordid Blade, Quicksand Dream, Clarent Blade, Monasterium, Marmorlis, Ezra Brooks, Archdruid, Blood Star, Starscape, White Crone, New Light Choir, Terminus, Argus, Ice Sword, Old Wolf etc.
Thank you for talking with me about the new record and your music! Do you have any closing words for us?
It was a pleasure answering your questions. Support random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
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Katabasis into the Abaton released August 30th via Cruz del Sur Music.
