MARS: Apocalyptic acoustic folk

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

Named after the Roman god of war, the German apocalyptic folk duo Mars have developed an unmistakable, powerful and archaic sound since their formation in 2011. This manifests itself in three albums: “Blood Is the Food of the Goods” (2014 – recently re-released digitally!), “The Seeker” (2017 – available digitally as a re-release from today!) and “The Dark River” (released in January 2024). Always inspired by mythical, spiritual and pagan motifs, the two musicians mix acoustic guitar, percussion, exotic instruments and two voices in a unique way. Mars consists of Marcus Stiglegger (formerly :Golgatha:) and Oliver Freund (Vinur), who have already accompanied ROME, Of the Wand and the Moon, and Spiritual Front.

The album cover particularly catches our eye. Marcus explains: “Nadine En Noir is a graphic designer and artist from the Rhine-Main area who draws her inspiration from the same sources as we do. She first receives our album demo and works intensively on it for months at a time. She chooses different forms of artistic expression each time: Watercolor, ink, or even collage, as in the case of ‘The Seeker’. For this, she sought out bones, plants and other artifacts and combined them into four shamanic collages, which are depicted on the cover of the album and on the inlay of the LP. The four works represent the cycle of the year and thus the cyclical law that plays an important role on our albums.”

In our December/January issue, we conduct an in-depth interview with the two of them. But until “The Dark River” is released, let’s enjoy the re-release of “The Seeker”.