Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cross-genre term than a genre, but it is typically seen as black metal with influences from Nordic folk music. Common traits include a slow-paced and heavy riffing style, anthemic choruses, use of both sung and harsh vocals, a reliance on folk instrumentation, and often the use of keyboards for atmospheric effect.
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles. It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, Under These Rocks and Stones, was first released in Canada in 1996 and saw commercial success before being issued in the United States the following year to critical praise.
The Waterboys are a British-Irish folk rock band formed in London in 1983 by Scottish musician and songwriter Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained the only constant member throughout the band's career. They have explored a number of different styles, but their music is mainly a mix of folk music with rock and roll. They dissolved in 1993 when Scott departed to pursue a solo career. The group reformed in 2000, and continue to release albums and to tour worldwide. Scott emphasises a continuity between the Waterboys and his solo work, saying that "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal. Metal Hammer author Marc Halupczok wrote that Primordial's song "To Enter Pagan" from the band's demo "Dark Romanticism" contributed to defining the genre.
Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumentation with various other sounds.
Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, Sharon Shannon, was the best-selling album of traditional Irish music ever released in Ireland. Beginning with Irish folk music, her work demonstrates a wide-ranging number of musical influences. She won the lifetime achievement award at the 2009 Meteor Awards.
Ataraxia is an Italian neoclassical dark wave band founded in 1985. Fronted by vocalist Francesca Nicoli, it combines modern technology with archaic instrumentation. Its lyrical themes are frequently drawn from nature and ancient cultures.
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings were an American funk and soul band signed to Daptone Records. They were part of a revival movement of mid-1960s to mid-1970s style funk and soul music. They released their debut album Dap Dippin' in 2002, the first of seven studio albums. Their 2014 album Give the People What They Want was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Following Sharon Jones' death in 2016, the band released the posthumous album Soul of a Woman in 2017 and a compilation of cover songs in 2020.
Beverley Knight is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, The B-Funk, in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released eight studio albums. Widely labelled as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, Knight is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", "Come as You Are" and "Keep This Fire Burning".
The Creepshow is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario. The band formed in 2005 when the four original members got together with the purpose of starting a psychobilly band. The Creepshow writes the majority of their songs about horror films.
T. Thorn Coyle is a Neopagan author and teacher from the United States of America. They practiced within the Feri and Reclaiming traditions of witchcraft before developing their own approach integrating other spiritual practices. Their writings include urban fantasy and instruction on magical spiritual practice.
Elizabeth Hooijschuur, known by her pen name Freya Aswynn, is a Dutch writer and musician, primarily known for her activities related to modern paganism in the United Kingdom. She was an early exponent of a form of Germanic neopaganism centred on women and has influenced the international modern pagan community through her book Leaves of Yggdrasil. Aswynn was involved in the early neofolk music scene in London in the 1980s, when several musicians of the genre lived in her house in Tufnell Park.
"All I Need" is a power ballad written by Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt for Within Temptation's fourth studio album The Heart of Everything (2007).
Ivo Moring is a German record producer, songwriter, and percussionist, best known for his work with DJ Otzi as co-producer of "Ein Stern". He has worked with Heather Nova, Darren Hayes of Savage Garden, Jennifer Paige, Sarah Brightman, Limahl, Jordan Knight & New Kids On The Block, Cazzette, Sarah Connor, Lutricia McNeal, Chris Norman, Oonagh, Beyond the Black, Christina Stürmer, and Sandra und Coolio.
Insatiable is the debut studio album by Irish recording artist Nadine Coyle. It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 8 November 2010, through Black Pen Records. Looking to transition from the electropop styles of her previous music as part of Girls Aloud, Coyle began to work on a solo album during the hiatus of the group. She enlisted writers and producers such as Toby Gad, Guy Chambers and William Orbit, co-writing its thirteen tracks alongside them. Coyle began to embrace a more sophisticated sound with Insatiable, and its songs incorporate genres of pop rock and R&B.
Furor Gallico is an Italian Celtic metal and pagan metal band that had originated in Milan, Italy. The band was formed by a collaboration among Melissa, Stefano (guitar) and Becky in 2007. The band was formed upon the idea of playing new school Italian folk metal. They have released one demo album and three full-length album so far. Pagan was later added for vocals and Marco played the drums. Furor Gallico have songs in both English and in Italian, the band members take alternating roles in who writes the lyrics and composes the music in either language. The song Curmisagios was even written in dialetto brianzolo, a lombard dialect spoken in the area of Brianza, in western Lombardy. They make use of different types of vocals combined with folk instruments such as Celtic harp, whistles, violin and bouzouki.
Clair Marlo, is a Croatian-American record producer, songwriter, composer, educator, and performer.
Jahnavi Harrison, also known by her spiritual name, Jahnavi Jivana dasi, is a British musician known for her Hindu mantra meditation music (kirtan). She regularly appears as a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Something Understood programme and BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought.
Modern pagan music or neopagan music is music created for or influenced by modern Paganism. Music produced in the interwar period include efforts from the Latvian Dievturība movement and the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt. The counterculture of the 1960s established British folk revival and world music as influences for American neopagan music. Second-wave feminism created women's music which includes influences from feminist versions of neopaganism. The United States also produced Moondog, a Norse neopagan street musician and composer. The postwar neopagan organisations Ásatrúarfélagið in Iceland and Romuva in Lithuania have been led by musicians.
