In Extremo is one of the most famous folk metal bands, originating from Berlin, Germany in 1995. The band's musical style combines heavy metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard metal instruments with traditional instruments such as the bagpipes, harp, hurdy-gurdy and shawm. Versions of well-known traditional/medieval ballads make up the main part of their repertoire, though over the years the band has also begun to write some original material using the German language.