Cultus Ferox – Stuttgart 2006

Röhre, Stuttgart, Germany
8th November 2006
Cultus Ferox

CORVUS CORAX, SALTATIO MORTIS, CULTUS FEROX and others - there are quite a few German bands these days combining Metal with its typical instruments (electric guitars, bass, drums) with medieval tunes from bag-pipes, shawms, flutes and different percussion instruments. This October evening, CULTUS FEROX were to appear in the Röhre Stuttgart, and as I had never seen them live on stage before, I was curious to see their show. The band’s sound is clearly orientated towards the medieval stuff, but they occasionally also use electric guitars and drums. A group like CULTUS FEROX is surely better off on a medieval market or festival, with the appropriate surroundings their music shows a lot more impact. Not too many visitors had made their way to the Röhre, and the attendees were a motley crew made up of Goths, Metal heads, and quite "normal" people, and from teenagers to a 72 year old lady everything was represented. After quite a long time of waiting, during which we asked ourselves who would be the guest act and if it eventually had cancelled, CULTUS FEROX finally entered the stage. No support act - I don’t know if this wasn’t able to perform or if it hadn’t been planned from the beginning. http://www.roehre-konzerte.de/



"Cultus ferox" is Latin and means something like "wild way of life". The band from Berlin has been started in 2002 and they were in the meantime able to gather a loyal following around them in Germany. Some of the band members were playing in the bands CORVUS CORAX and TANZWUT before they decided to do their own stuff with CULTUS FEROX. They are regularly appearing at the "Mittelalter Spectaculum" together with SALTATIO MORTIS. This year the band completed their extensive "Rumtour 2006" and they have released their latest and fifth full-length album "Unbeugsam"; also a DVD "Strandgut" with tour diary, videos, concert extracts and loads of information is available. CULTUS FEROX are St.Brandanarius (bagpipes, shawms, flutes, horns, vocals), Donar von Avignon (drums, percussion), Steffano di Panoptico (shawms, flutes, stringed instruments, hurdy-gurdy, vocals), Strahl der Animator (percussion, stringed instruments, vocals), PanPeter (bagpipes, flutes), El Böslinger (bagpipes) and Thomasius (drums). As guests on stage: Rudolphus (bass), Burny C (guitars) and RudelRudi (guitars); dance performance and occasional vocals by Romaneska and Ivanuschka. http://www.cultusferox.com



Music
The guys from Berlin play a mélange of medieval music with the typical old instruments like bagpipes, horns, flutes and different percussion stuff with more contemporary sounds from electric guitars and drums, whereas their emphasis definitely lies on the ancient instruments and tunes. Their compositions are quite catchy and very well suited for singing along. Concerning their lyrics, they are composed in the German and English tongue and treat themes like medieval lifestyle, legends and myths or heathen religion; some of the used lyrics derive from original ones from the Middle Ages. A few songs are also instrumentals. Most of the time ten guys were on stage, and it was so impressive to see the different instruments most of them were able to play. CULTUS FEROX are bandsmen in the sense of the word, and would add to each medieval market.


 
Performance
CULTUS FEROX’ show has something of how you would imagine the performance of a band of jugglers in medieval times. All band members were wearing fantastic costumes, reminding sometimes of pirates, then again being the typical Middle Age clothes. They were talking a lot to the audience, inviting them to sing along and dance, which was enthusiastically met; some fans seemed to know all lyrics by heart and celebrated their heroes with devotion. From time to time the adorable dancers Romaneska and Ivanuschka appeared on stage, each time in different costumes - in translucent matters like fairies, dressed like Spanish flamenco dancers or with a great fire performance - they really provided an attraction. During some songs they also did the additional vocals. All in all a very good and entertaining performance with a nice light show which only missed an appropriate surrounding, like a medieval market.