OHRENSCHMAUS

Ougenweide were a German group on a similar medieval kick to the likes of Steeleye Span in the UK; indeed, their name and several of the sources they take their lyrics from are in archaic High German, so the overall effect is a bit like an Anglophone folk band performing in Chaucer's English. This is a mellow, sunny folk-rock album with extensive medieval influences, much like the sort of thing that the UK's own Gryphon might have turned out during their Midnight Mushrumps phase, offering a charming and approachable structure within which they work more esoteric medieval motifs and techniques. Not a classic of its type, but a decidedly enjoyable one nonetheless.