Schandmaul

Schandmaul's sound rests on a deliberate clash of eras. Electric guitar and bass sit alongside bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy and shawm, the reedy medieval woodwind, giving this Munich-area group a folk rock identity that is very much their own. The name, roughly 'malicious tongue' or 'backbiter', belongs to a grinning skeletal jester who doubles as their mascot.

The group took shape in the summer of 1998, when six musicians from Munich and its surroundings met at a folk rock concert. Tired of performing only cover versions, they wrote their own songs for the night, starting with Teufelsweib, and first performed at the Die Hexe bar in Gröbenzell. Their debut self-produced album Wahre Helden was followed by Von Spitzbuben und anderen Halunken in 2000, and the record label F.A.M.E. picked them up in 2001. Narrenkönig reached No. 70 and Wie Pech & Schwefel, with new bassist Matthias Richter, climbed to No. 13. The 2005 acoustic project Kunststück reached No. 12, and Mit Leib und Seele in 2006 gave them their first top ten album. Anderswelt peaked at No. 8, and Unendlich in 2014 reached No. 2 and earned gold for 100,000 copies.