Related Research Articles
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.
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.
Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from the term "Viking metal". They have distanced themselves from other folk metal bands, emphasising that their music is pagan and spiritual and is challenging for its listeners, rather than happy or danceable. The band members have varying levels of pagan belief but they draw on pagan spirituality for lyrics and inspiration.
Subway to Sally is a German folk metal band founded in Potsdam in the early 1990s. Their music has clear folk and medieval influences, later also adding gothic and metal elements. With their continuous inclusion of oriental sounds and elements of classical music and the use of instruments seldom seen in metal bands such as bagpipes, shawm, violin, hurdy-gurdy and lute, Subway to Sally has acquired the label of medieval metal. The band has released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and two live DVDs. Their fame is centered mainly in the German-speaking countries, having played only a handful of concerts outside of that area.
Graveland are a Polish neo-Nazi pagan black metal band which was formed in 1991 by Rob Darken. They began as a black metal band before adopting a pagan and Viking metal style. The lyrics and imagery of Graveland are strongly inspired by European mythology, nature, winter and war. Their early work focused on Celtic and Slavic mythology, while their later work focuses on Norse mythology and Wotanism.
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band prefers the term melodic death metal.
Falkenbach is a viking metal group from Germany that is signed to Prophecy Productions. The name means "Falconbrook" in German.
Týr is a Faroese folk metal band. They have been characterised as one of "the islands' two most successful metal bands". Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around Viking lore, mythology, and history, taking their name from Týr, the god of war in Norse religion.
Drudkh is a Ukrainian black metal band. It currently consists of Roman Saenko, Thurios, Krechet, and Vlad. All four also were members of Blood of Kingu until it was disbanded. Their lyrics and artistic themes embrace Slavic mythology and Ukrainian nationalism. Many of the band's lyrics are derived from the works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ukrainian poets and especially Taras Shevchenko.
Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Nedland singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Jakhelln singing and playing guitar and bass. The duo experiment with a wide array of musical styles, frequently work on other projects, and rarely perform live under the Solefald name, leading them to describe themselves as "two stubborn goats pretending to be a band." According to the duo, their name is an Old Norse word for "sunset," taken from one of Theodor Kittelsen's paintings illustrating a poem of the same name by Theodor Caspari, published in the 1901 book Vintereventyr.
The Norse mythology, preserved ancient Icelandic texts such as the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and other lays and sagas, was little known outside Scandinavia until the 19th century. With the widespread publication of Norse myths and legends at this time, references to the Norse gods and heroes spread into European literary culture, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, and Britain. In the later 20th century, references to Norse mythology became common in science fiction and fantasy literature, role-playing games, and eventually other cultural products such as Japanese animation. Storytelling was an important aspect of Norse mythology and centuries later, with the rediscovery of the myth, Norse mythology once again relies on the impacts of storytelling to spread its agenda.
Drakkars in the Mist is the third album by the musical project Folkearth.
By the Sword of My Father is the second studio album of the musical project Folkearth.
A Nordic Poem is the first studio album of the musical project Folkearth. Because of the bad sound quality it was remastered and reissued. There was around 60 minutes of material, but some of it got lost.
Songs of Yore is the fifth studio album by the worldwide musical project Folkearth. It is Folkearth's first acoustic album. Some instruments used were acoustic guitars, cellos, Celtic harps, violins, accordions, whistles, flutes, bodrans, mandolins, banjos, clarinets, galician bagpipes, soprano recorders, and recorders.
Folkodia is an international music project formed in 2007 as an offshoot of Folkearth by musicians playing folk and Viking metal.
Einar Selvik, also known by his stage name Kvitrafn, is a Norwegian musician known for being the drummer of black metal band Gorgoroth from 2000 to 2004, and for fronting the Nordic folk project Wardruna, founded in 2002. Selvik and Wardruna earned international prominence for contributing to the soundtrack and score of the television show Vikings. Selvik is a founder of By Norse, a platform to support Norse and Norse-related art, music, literature, film and culture.
Heilung is an experimental folk music band made up of members from Denmark, Norway, and Germany. Their music is based on texts and runic inscriptions from Germanic peoples of the Iron Age, and Viking Age. Heilung describe their music as "amplified history from early medieval northern Europe". Their music is usually about Germanic deities, the Jǫtnar, and valkyries. "Heilung" is a German noun meaning "healing" in English.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Metalglory interview with Ruslanas Danisevskis". 11 June 2006. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ↑ "Holy Sword By the Sword of My Father note". 4 August 2006. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- 1 2 "Folkearth Myspace profile" . Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ↑ "Deadtide A Nordic Poem review". Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ↑ "Rockpages interview with Marios "Prince Imrahil" Koutsoukos". Archived from the original on 17 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ↑ "fourteen g interview with Marios "Prince Imrahil" Koutsoukos". 15 May 2007. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
