Stille Volk (meaning "The Silent People" in Dutch and German) is a folk band from the Pyrenees area of France. The band formed in 1994, and draws inspiration from Celtic and medieval music.
The members play mostly, sometimes exclusively, traditional instruments (except on the more experimental album Ex-uvies). The lyrics are usually sung in French, Catalan or Occitan, and are mostly pagan-themed, evoking nature, myths, magical beings and sorcery. The band members identify with a form of paganism they define as a nature-based aesthetic and having a subjective view of the world; they reject organised religion and political interpretations of paganism.
The band is sometimes associated with the folk metal genre, probably due to the use of electric guitars on the Ex-uvies album. The other albums, however, are not related to this genre in any way. It is notable, though, that the two members of Stille Volk play together in a folk metal band called Hantaoma, highly reminiscent of Stille Volk.
The name "Stille Volk" comes from "Encyclopedia of Elves" by Pierre Dubois where it was a name for "troglodyte elves [i.e. dwarves] from German mythology". The phrase "Stille Volk" is ungrammatical in German.
Members
Current members
Patrick Lafforgue – vocals, wind instruments
Patrice Roques – string instruments, choirs
Arexis – percussion
Sarg – string guitar, bagpipe, choirs (live)
Former members
Fred Neheride – drums
Instruments
Arab lute
Bagpipes
Bombarde
Bouzouki
Dulcimer
Drum machine
Flute
Guimbarde
Guitar
Horn
Hurdy-gurdy
Mandolin
Nyckelharpa
Portable organ
Psaltery
String tambourine
Violin
Discography
Hantaoma - 1997, Holy Records
Ex-uvies - 1998, Holy Records
Satyre Cornu - 2001, Holy Records
Maudat - 2002, Holy Records
Nueit De Sabbat - 2009, Holy Records
Pèira Negra - 2014, Holy Records
Milharis - 2019, Prophecy Productions
See also
Hantaoma is a folk metal band named after the first Stille Volk album featuring Patrick Lafforgue and Patrice Roques. Their debut album, Malombra, was released in 2005. The lyrics are sung entirely in Occitan. Sus Scrofa is a folk metal band co-founded by Arexis & Patrick Lafforgue. The band was formed in 1991, and split in 1994. The band reunited in 2015.