Editing In Extremo (section)

==History==
{{Update|date=May 2022}}[[File:In Extremo.jpg|thumbnail|In Extremo on the stage]]
In Extremo began as two projects: a nameless, purely medieval band, and a rock band. They became known at that time through frequent appearances at medieval market meetings, at which they performed their acoustic pieces and sold CDs of their renditions of traditional songs. On 11 April 1995, during the recording for that year's season, Michael Robert (Micha) Rhein (alias "Das letzte Einhorn", "The Last Unicorn") found the project name "In Extremo".

Most of the band members perform under stage names. The initial members of the medieval band were Das letzte Einhorn (vocals), "Flex der Biegsame" ("Flex the Flexible"; bagpipes), "Dr. Pymonte" (bagpipes), Conny Fuchs (who left the band before the official release date, due to her pregnancy, and was replaced by Dr. Pymonte) and Sen Pusterbalg (replaced shortly after the official release by "Yellow Pfeiffer", "Yellow Piper"; bagpipes). The band originally consisted of "Thomas der Münzer" ("Thomas the Coiner"; guitar), "Der Morgenstern" ("The Morning Star"; drums) and "Die Lutter" ("The Lutter", bass guitar). Der Münzer subsequently left the band and, {{as of|2000|lc=on}}, the band's guitarist is "Van Lange". As noted below, almost all of the band members play multiple instruments.

The increasing number of visitors, success of their CDs and the popular interest, as well as cross-pollination from groups such as [[Corvus Corax (band)|Corvus Corax]] and [[Bathory (band)|Bathory]], encouraged In Extremo in 1995 to attempt to start a band combining bagpipes and other traditional instruments with rock guitars. The result was the current incarnation of In Extremo, a rock group that integrates modern instruments like the drum set, electric bass and guitar with the acoustic elements previously used for the medieval songs, and which plays both types of music as well as a hybrid of the two.<ref name=aaa>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/in-extremo-mn0000097563/biography|title=In Extremo - Biography & History - AllMusic|website=AllMusic|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref>

In August 1996, they began work on the first In Extremo album, which already contained two tracks of the new rock project. Because the album had no official name, it became known as ''Gold'' because of the golden cover. In February 1997, like the single "Der Galgen" ("The Gallows"), it quickly sold out in medieval markets.

In Extremo played separately as a medieval band and a rock band, until on 29 March 1997, when they played their first live rock concert. Since that time, they have given this date as their date of establishment. The two projects were officially merged on 11 January 1998. April 1998 saw the first "high occupancy" In Extremo concert in the Rabenstein castle in [[Brandenburg]].

Over the years, the band's music became more [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]]-based, while at the same time becoming increasingly commercially successful. The classical instruments, however – bagpipes, shawms and lutes – still play a large role. The band is likewise noted for their conspicuous stage costumes and known for using [[pyrotechnics]] in their concerts, including Der Morgenstern playing cymbals which have been set on fire.

In February 2010, In Extremo announced that Der Morgenstern left the band because of musical differences. In June, Florian "Specki T.D." Speckardt was announced as his replacement on drums. Since then, they have proceeded to release five albums: ''Sterneneisen'', ''[[Kunstraub]],'' ''Quid Pro Quo'', ''Kompass zur Sonne'' and ''Wolkenshieber'', all of which have reached the top 10 in the German charts, with ''Sterneneisen'', and ''Quid Pro Quo'' and ''Kompass zur Sonne'' all having number 1 positions for a time.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In July 2020, the band played an online livestream concert for [[Wacken Open Air|Wacken]] World Wide.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wacken World Wide: So seht ihr "Heaven Shall Burn" und "In Extremo" im Live-Stream|url=https://www.netzwelt.de/news/180197-wacken-world-wide-so-seht-heaven-shall-burn-extremo-live-stream.html|access-date=1 August 2020|website=netzwelt|language=de}}</ref>

===Appearances===
[[File:In Extremo (ZMF 2018) jm77568.jpg|thumb|In Extremo at the [[Zelt-Musik-Festival]] 2018]]
The band's first major appearance was in the first part of the 2001 video game ''[[Gothic (video game)|Gothic]]''. A group of travelling musicians called 'In-Extremo' plays their version of the song "[[Herr Mannelig]]", from the album ''[[Verehrt und angespien]]'', by the gallows outside the Old Camp Castle in the second chapter of the game.

With their success, the music programs also began to pay attention to In Extremo. They were invited on the television program ''Viva Interactive'', where they gave a 15-minute call-and-response and played two songs. They rejected at that time an invitation to ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' to play "Küss mich" ("Kiss Me"), because it was, according to Das letzte Einhorn, not their environment. Nevertheless, they did accept a further invitation to ''Top of the Pops'' in 2005 and played "Nur ihr allein" ("Only You Alone").

At the same time, their band's audience grew with live appearances, from marketplaces to festivals like [[Rock am Ring and Rock im Park|Rock am Ring]], the Taubertal Festival, and the [[Nova Rock Festival|Nova Rock]] in Austria. Their largest public appearance, however, had In Extremo opening for the farewell tour of [[Böhse Onkelz]] in June 2005, with about 120,000 spectators.

In Extremo last participated on 9 February 2006, in the [[Bundesvision Song Contest]] of [[Stefan Raab]] for the [[Thuringia|Free State of Thuringia]]; Das letzte Einhorn was born in [[Dingelstädt]] and grew up in [[Leinefelde-Worbis|Leinefelde]]. Both cities lie in North Thuringia. The group occupied the third spot with "Liam (German)". Beforehand, they had introduced themselves on 2 February on the television show ''[[TV total]]''.

In Extremo also played in 2006 at the [[Wacken Open Air]], as well as on the [[M'era Luna Festival]] in [[Hildesheim]]. At the end of the year, they played in the framework their "10 Year Anniversary Tour" in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

===Success===
The first In Extremo album that attracted attention was ''[[Verehrt und angespien]]'' ("Worshipped and Spat At"). It achieved an at-the-time sensational 11th place in the German album charts. The subsequent album, ''[[Sünder ohne Zügel]]'' ("Unbridled Sinners"), reached 10th place.

The band had further success with the album ''7''; it came in third place on the German charts. The video of the single "Küss mich" was frequently shown on German music television. The singles reached high chart placements.

The eighth album ''[[Mein rasend Herz]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockhard.de/megazine/reviewarchiv/review-anzeigen.html?tx_rxsearch_pi1%5Breview%5D=17871|title=RockHard: Review anzeigen|website=[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> ("My Racing Heart") achieved third place on the album charts in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.de/album.asp?artist=In+Extremo&title=Mein+rasend+Herz&cat=a&country=de|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141018151031/http://www.officialcharts.de/album.asp?artist=In+Extremo&title=Mein+rasend+Herz&cat=a&country=de|url-status=dead|title=charts.de|date=18 October 2014|archive-date=18 October 2014|website=officialcharts.de|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> Three singles were published from this album: "Nur ihr allein" ("Only You Alone") on 17 May 2005, "Horizont" ("Horizon") on 12 September 2005, and "Liam (German)" on 3 February 2006. On 10 February 2006, the second live CD/DVD, ''Raue Spree'', was published, coming in at fourth place of the German charts. In addition, the ''7'' and ''Raue Spree'' achieved gold status in early 2007.

The ninth album ''Sängerkrieg''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sängerkrieg-mw0000795186|title=Sänderkrieg review|work=Allmusic|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> ("Singers' War") went to first place on the album charts of Germany on 23 May 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://musik.naanoo.com/musik/in-extremo-am-31-juli-ius-primae-noctis-live-im-internet|title=In Extremo|date=19 June 2008|website=naanoo.com|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> In Austria, it reached the thirteenth and in Switzerland the twenty-second place. In Germany it was the 41st-best-selling album of the year in 2008.