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.
Archetype is the fifth studio album by American industrial metal band Fear Factory. It was the first album by the band not to feature Dino Cazares, with Christian Olde Wolbers handling both bass and guitar duties. It was released on April 20, 2004, through Liquid 8. It debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard 200 chart and is their highest charting album to date.
Elvenking is a heavy metal band from Sacile, Italy. They have released one demo and eleven full-length studio albums. Elvenking's music draws inspiration from different genres such as metal, folk, hard rock, pop, prog, and classical music.
The Goat of Mendes is the second studio album by English death metal band Akercocke. It was released on 11 September 2001, through Peaceville Records.
Dawn of Victory is the third studio album by Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, released in 2000. Like the previous albums, it centers on the story of Algalord and The Emerald Sword Saga. It was produced and engineered by Sascha Paeth and Miro. It is also the first album to feature drummer Alex Holzwarth.
Transilvanian Hunger is the fourth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was released 17 February 1994 by Peaceville Records.
Crimson Thunder is the fourth studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall. It was the first album the band worked on with producer Charlie Bauerfeind.
Sons of Northern Darkness is the seventh album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. Musically, it continues the blackened thrash metal style heard on the two previous releases At the Heart of Winter and Damned in Black. This was the band's first release on Nuclear Blast Records and the last album to feature Iscariah on bass, who admitted to only play bass on the opening track "One by One", with the rest of the album's bass tracks being played by vocalist/guitarist Abbath, which is the last time he would contribute to playing bass before his departure in 2015.
The Winter Wake is the third studio album by Italian folk/power metal band Elvenking. It features the return of original vocalist, Damnagoras, and the departure of guitarist, Jarpen. The lyrical content of the album centers around fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, and feeling alone and being an outsider or an outcast as well as hints at the music industry with songs such as the Skyclad cover, "Penny Dreadful".
In Sorte Diaboli is the seventh studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released in 2007. It is the band's first concept album. A site on the Nuclear Blast website was created for In Sorte Diaboli, in which a new promotional photo can be seen and an audio sample can be heard. This would be the last album by Dimmu Borgir to feature ICS Vortex, Hellhammer and Mustis.
Irradiant is the third album by the French technical death metal band Scarve. This is the last album to feature Guillaume Bideau's vocals as he joined the Danish industrial metal band Mnemic in October 2006. The digipak version of the album includes two live bonus tracks "Heaven-Sent" and "Luminiferous", two video clips; "Mirthless Perspectives" and "Emulate the Soul" as well as an extended CD-ROM feature.
Precambrian is the third studio album by German post-metal band the Ocean, released on 5 November 2007 through Metal Blade Records. It features several guest musicians, including Caleb Scofield, Nate Newton, Dwid Hellion (Integrity), Tomas Hallbom (Breach), Erik Kalsbeek (Textures) and musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Two Tragedy Poets is the fifth studio album by Italian folk/power metal band Elvenking. It was released through AFM Records on November 14, 2008. The album is mostly acoustic; it includes acoustic versions of two older tracks, "The Winter Wake" and "The Wanderer", both from The Winter Wake. The Japanese edition also includes a remake of "Skywards", originally released on the album Heathenreel. Although Elvenking's website says otherwise, instead of "The Wanderer " being a digipack bonus track, it's "My Little Moon".
Skyforger is the ninth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. Like the previous album, the lyrics to Skyforger are English translations of Finnish poems based on the Kalevala and written by Pekka Kainulainen. Unlike the two previous albums, it is based on different parts of several episodes, but all told from a single character's point of view. In this sense it is a return to Tales from the Thousand Lakes which told stories from different parts of the Kalevala. The last two albums focused on Kullervo and Lemminkäinen, respectively, and this one focuses on Ilmarinen.
Coat of Arms is the fifth studio album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton.
Red Silent Tides is the sixth album by Italian folk/power metal band Elvenking. It was released on September 17, 2010, through AFM Records in both standard and Deluxe Editions. The Deluxe Edition of Red Silent Tides included a second disc which contained their first demo album To Oak Woods Bestowed as a bonus disc. This album would also feature Raffaello "Rafahel" Indri on guitars alongside Aydan. Also this album would not feature Elyghen on Violins due to his trip out of Italy and was replaced by session player Fabio "Lethien" Polo for the remainder until Elyghen's return.
Requiem for the Indifferent is the fifth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica. It was released on 9 March 2012. The album was the first to feature solos by keyboardist Coen Janssen, which very rarely occur on the band's other releases, and was the final album to feature original member Yves Huts on bass guitar.
Era is the seventh studio album released by the Italian folk/power metal band, Elvenking. The album returns more to the band's traditional sound of folk metal and power metal incorporating more folk elements into the songs that were more so lacking from previous albums such as The Scythe and Red Silent Tides. Guest appearances on vocals by Jon Oliva (Savatage),, and Netta Dahlberg as well as a guitar solo performed by Teemu Mantysaari of (Wintersun) can be heard on the album. Prior to the album's release, Damna and Aydan did a sit down via YouTube going through the album track-by-track describing to fans where each song is coming from and what went into writing and recording the songs.
The Pagan Manifesto is the eighth studio album released by the Italian folk/power metal band, Elvenking. The album is a return to the band's pagan roots and sees a return to their original idea, concept and sound both lyrically and musically.
Wyrd is the second studio album released by the Italian folk/power metal band, Elvenking. The album is notable as it is the last to feature founding guitarst, Jarpen. It is also the only Elvenking album to feature Kleid as vocalist in place of Damnagoras. The album is considered to have a more focused approach with less longer songs as opposed to its predecessor, Heathenreel.
