Album #12 from Germany’s prime Pagan Folklorists, Faun.  Hex is a mesmerizing collection of songs about powerful women of many cultures – witches, healers and wisdom-dispensers

Release Date:  5^th September 2025

Label: Pagan Folk Records

Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital

FAUN – GERMAN PAGAN FOLKLORISTS

Welcome to Hex – the 12^th studio album from durable German Pagan Folklorists, Faun.  Formed in 1998, with Musical Director Oliver Satyr (Magister Artium of Medieval Philology) a constant presence in the band’s occasionally volatile line-up, Faun specialize in deep, dark folk music with origins in the medieval traditions of Europe, particularly Germany, England, Scandinavia and the Celtic nations.

New album, Hex, is a mesmerizing and mystical collection of intricate tunes and songs that highlight and celebrate powerful women – specifically witches, healers and wise women – in several cultures.  And, instead of dwelling upon the cliché of the evil witches of fairy tale, these songs focus upon the various aspects of female magic and ask the legitimate question of why it’s such women that were/are feared, rather than the people who saw fit to persecute them.

TRULY ATMOSPHERIC

As on Faun’s previous album, Pagan (2022), Hex sees Faun combining medieval instruments such as hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, lute, bowl fiddle, harp and flute with modern synthesizers, beats and polyphonic vocals – and the result is truly atmospheric.

I’m reminded immediately of Lankum by opening track, Belladonna, a dark, deep, Irish-inspired chant.  The visual image of a mist, rising around the Faun ensemble as they march relentlessly forward is irresistible, whilst a comforting female voice fronts an ominous mélange of medieval instrumentation and distorted electric guitars.  And the beat drives on.

PRE-CHRISTIAN DIRGES, ARTHURIAN LEGEND AND VIKING RITUALS

Based on the English pre-Christian mourning song, Lyke Wake Dirge, the forceful Lament is as atmospheric as heck.  There’s a sincerity in the vocals and grandeur in the music – a full-on blend of pipes, hurdy-gurdy and keyboard.  When the phrase ‘Dark Folk’ was coined, I can only imagine that the ‘coiner’ had tunes like this one in mind…

Nimue, the Arthurian sorceress who, according to legend, imprisoned Merlin in a sacred tree, is recalled in the song, Nimue.  Light vocals from guest Chelsea Wolfe contrast with grinding, surging, guitars and a galloping rhythm, and the overall effect is of a summer’s day in the deepest bowels of Mordor.  And it’s the Vikings and the ritual sacrifices of their nature religion that provide the subject matter for the engagingly hypnotic Blot.  Moraharpa and flute provide an intro, before the rituals are recited to a rich, medieval-flavoured backing of pipes and hurdy-gurdy.

SHIVERS DOWN THE SPINE

The German-language lyrics to Zauberin (it means ‘sorceress’) clearly tell a fascinating story and the medieval instruments that accompany the tale are in full voice.  The vocals are melodic, but it’s the spoken words that send the shivers down the listener’s spine; non-German speakers may not understand them but they’ll sense that, whatever it is that the Zauberin is saying, it isn’t pleasant…

Woodland animal sounds yield to a fingerpicked guitar for the haunting, pastoral, Lady Isobel.  The vocals have an eerie edge in a song that manages to be both enchanting and unsettling.  It’s a complete contrast to Black Eyed Dog, a Nick Drake cover that’s been given a fascinating medieval makeover, with joyful vocals, hurdy-gurdy and a thumping percussive rhythm.

EXHILERATING – AND A TOUCH SCARY…

Faun are joined by Swedish musicians, multi-instrumentalist Daniel Pettersson and drummer Daniel Fredriksson, for Vals, a stately instrumental with, unsurprisingly, an authentic Scandinavian feel, before we take a dive back to 11^th century England with the excellent Ylfa Spere, one of the album’s real highlights.  The song’s lyrics recite an Old English spell and the recitation is interspersed by wild bursts of pipes and drums that are exhilarating – and a touch scary, too.

Based upon another spell, this time the one recorded by Isobel Gowdie during a witch trial in Scotland in 1662, Hare Spell is another song with cold, chilling lyrics, delivered by a voice that is warm and enticing.  And, once again, pipes, drums and hurdy-gurdy blast away in wild abandon.

A MIDDLE-EASTERN BODY-MOVER

Turkish vocalist Fatma Turgut is the guest for Umay, perhaps my favourite track on the entire album.  Flutes set a Middle-Eastern scene, into which the band’s staple medieval instrumentation slots so very comfortably.  The song is a real body-mover that I can imagine going down a storm in Faun’s live shows, and Fatma’s vocals are, quite simply, stunning.

And, to close, Faun have chosen the mystical Alfar, a song about the spirits that inhabit the elven hills of Iceland.  It’s another compulsive foot-tapper of a song, with intimate vocals, and it gathers momentum as it surges towards its climax.

Hex is an excellent album that seamlessly combines influences from many places, cultures and traditions to produce music that is engaging, entertaining and, occasionally, challenging.  Highly recommended.

FAUN – ON THE ROAD

And Faun are about to take Hex on the road for an Autumn European Tour that takes in shows in Germany, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, The UK, Czechia, Poland, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.  Full details of the tour are available here.

Watch the official video to Nimue – a track from the album, featuring guest vocalist Chelsea Wolfe – below:

Faun: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / YouTube / Spotify

Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube