Meredead

Meredead is the fourth studio album by the German/Norwegian symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes. It was released on April 20, 2011 on Napalm Records.

Title

The title is inspired^[3] by the Old English compound noun meredēað, literally "sea-death", which is attested (in the genitive plural meredēaða) in the passage rodor swipode meredēaða mǣst, literally: "the greatest quantity of sea-deaths scourged the skies", in Exodus, the second poem of the Junius manuscript, in the section telling the story of the Crossing of the Red Sea.^[4] Alternatively, meredēað could be translated as "sea of death" or "deadly sea" in view of a later passage in the same text: meredēað geswealh, literally "sea-death swallowed".^[5] On her website, Liv Kristine explicitly recommends Marsden 2004, and quotes the explanation for meredēað given in the book, saying that Meredead could be translated as "dead by the sea".^[3]

Track listing

1. "Spirits’ Masquerade" - 6:31
2. "Étaín" - 3:58
3. "Velvet Heart" - 3:42
4. "Kråkevisa" ("Crow's Ballad", traditional) - 4:34
5. "To France" (Mike Oldfield cover) - 4:37
6. "Meredead" - 5:19
7. "Sigrlinn" - 8:47
8. "Mine Tåror er ei Grimme" - 2:54
9. "Empty Horizon" - 4:58
10. "Veritas" ("Truth") - 0:48
11. "Nystev" ("New Stave", traditional) - 4:39
12. "Tell-Tale Eyes" - 3:58
13. "Sorhleod" (bonus track; Old English for "Song Of Sorrow")

Personnel

^[6]

• Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull – lead and backing vocals
• Alexander Krull – keyboards, programming, harsh vocals
• Thorsten Bauer – lead, rhythm, acoustic guitars, bass
• Anette Guldbrandsen - backing Vocals and Choirs
• Carmen Elise Espenæs - backing Vocals and Choirs
• Maite Itoiz - backing Vocals and Baroque Guitar
• John Kelly - backing Vocals
• Chirstina Roch - Uileann Pipes
• Jann Kirchhof - Fiddle
• Thorsten Bauer - Mandoline
• Lingua Mortis Orchestra - choirmaster: Victor Smolski
• Choirs performed by al dente - choirmaster: Veronika Meßmer

Credits

• Music by Thorsten Bauer, Alexander Krull
• Lyrics by Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
• Published by Warner Chappell Music
• Produced by Alexander Krull
• Recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by Alexander Krull at Mastersound Studio
• Assistant Recording Engineers Thorsten Bauer, Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull
• Programming & samples by Alexander Krull
• Orchestra Arrangements by Leaves' Eyes

References