Folk metal is a mix of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that began in Europe during the 1990s. It is known for using folk instruments and, to a smaller degree, traditional singing styles, such as those found in Dutch Heidevolk, Danish Sylvatica, and Spanish Stone of Erech. Sometimes, the music also includes soft sounds similar to those in folk rock.
The first folk metal bands were Skyclad from England and Cruachan from Ireland. Skyclad’s first album, The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth, was released in 1991 and is considered a thrash metal album with some folk influences. Cruachan’s early music, however, focused more on folk elements as a key part of their sound. Other early bands started appearing in Europe and other regions between 1994 and 1995. The German band Subway to Sally helped create a different style of folk metal called medieval metal. Despite these early efforts, folk metal was not widely known during the 1990s. It became more popular in the early 2000s, especially in Finland, with groups like Finntroll, Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, Turisas, and Moonsorrow.
Folk metal music is known for its variety, as bands often mix different styles of heavy metal and folk music. Many bands use a wide range of folk instruments, which is why some groups have six or more members. Some bands also use keyboards to create sounds similar to folk instruments. Lyrics in folk metal often focus on themes like fantasy, mythology, paganism, history, and nature.
History
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The English band Skyclad was formed in 1990 after vocalist Martin Walkyier left his previous band, the thrash metal group Sabbat. Skyclad began as a thrash metal band but added violins from session musician Mike Evans on several tracks from their debut album, The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth. This effort was described by Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic as "ambitious" and "groundbreaking." The song "The Widdershins Jig" from the debut album has been praised as "particularly significant" and "a certain first in the realms of Metal." With a full-time fiddler in their lineup, the band's second album featured a "now legendary folky jig style" and "more prominent inclusion of the fiddle playing lead lines and melodies normally associated with the lead guitar parts of most other rock bands."
Even with the departure of Martin Walkyier in 2001, Skyclad remains an active folk metal group today after nearly two decades since their formation. In contrast, the Portuguese band Moonspell had a brief tenure in the genre. Their first release was the 1994 Under the Moonspell EP with music that featured Lusitanian folk and Medieval influences. With the release of their debut album Wolfheart in the following year, the band made a transition into gothic metal and within a matter of years "quickly evolved into one of the major players of the European goth-metal scene."
Cruachan were formed in 1992 in Dublin, Ireland. From the outset, their intention was to mix the native Irish folk music of their home country with the more extreme side of metal music. Their debut album Tuatha Na Gael was released in 1995 and was a full folk metal album from start to finish. In the Italian book Folk Metal, Dalle origini al Ragnarök, a comprehensive history of the genre, author Fabrizio Giosuè credits Cruachan as being the very first real folk metal band. He acknowledges that Skyclad did have some folk parts in some songs before Cruachan, however, he goes on to say Cruachan used folk music as much as they used heavy metal music. Cruachan also used arrangements of known folk songs and melodies, Skyclad wrote folk "sounding" parts.
Spanish band Mägo de Oz was among early folk metal artists that were influenced by the Celtic folk music. The band introduced folk elements and instruments in their power metal-based music from their 1994 debut album. Another early developer of folk metal is the Finnish group Amorphis. They formed in 1990 with their debut album, The Karelian Isthmus, following two years later. Their sophomore effort Tales from the Thousand Lakes was released in 1994 with "plenty of fascinating melodies and song structures that drew heavily from the traditional folk music of their native country." The album received a favorable reception from fans with "its content quickly being exalted across the metal underground as perhaps the very pinnacle of atmospheric death metal achievement."
The German band Subway to Sally was formed in 1992 as a folk rock band, singing in English and incorporating Irish and Scottish influences in their music. With their second album MCMXCV released in 1995, the band adopted a "more traditional approach" and started singing in German. Taking Skyclad as an influence, Subway to Sally performs a blend of hard rock and heavy metal "enriched with medieval melodies enmeshed in the songs via bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, lute, mandoline, shalm [sic], fiddle and flute" and combined with "romantic-symbolic German-speaking poetry" in their lyrics. With chart success in their native Germany, they have since been credited as the band "that set off the wave of what is known as medieval rock."
This distinctly German phenomenon has been continued and expanded further by subsequent bands. Formed in 1996, the Berlin-based In Extremo has also found chart success with their "medieval style stage garb and unashamed usage of such bizarre, sometimes hand made, instruments as the Scottish bagpipes." Another band that has experienced commercial success in Germany is the Bavarian outfit Schandmaul. Describing themselves as the "minstrels of today," the band employs a musical arsenal that includes the bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, shawm, violin and mandolin.
The Irish band Cruachan was formed in 1992 by guitarist Keith Fay with their first demo recording distributed in 1993. Drawing inspiration from Skyclad's first album, Fay set out to combine black metal with the folk music of Ireland. Their debut album Tuatha Na Gael was released in 1995 and the band has since been acclaimed as having "gone the greatest lengths of anyone in their attempts to expand" the genre of folk metal. Cruachan's combination of Celtic music and heavy metal is known today as Celtic metal.
Parallel to Cruachan, the black metal act Primordial also released a demo recording in 1993 and "found themselves heralded as frontrunners in the burgeoning second-wave black metal movement." Irish music plays "a very big role" in Primordial but in "a dark and subtle way" through the chords and timings. The band has since "established themselves as one of the most unique sounding bands in the folk-meets-black metal field." Other early representatives of Celtic metal include the bands Geasa, Mägo de Oz and Waylander with both groups releasing a demo recording in 1995.
In later years, the genre expanded beyond Ireland, with bands from continental Europe incorporating Celtic influences into various forms of gothic, folk, and metal music. The German band Thanateros has been described as combining gothic rock and metal with Celtic and medieval folk elements. Their music has been characterized as a mixture of folk, gothic, and metal styles.
The Israeli progressive metal band Orphaned Land was formed in 1991 and released the demo The Beloved's Cry in 1993, "immediately creating a
Characteristics
Folk metal music has many different styles, with bands choosing various types of heavy metal. Some groups, like Primordial and Finntroll, play black metal, while others, such as The Lord Weird Slough Feg, use traditional or power metal. Midnattsol, a German-Norwegian band, mixes folk metal with gothic metal. Bands like Elvenking, Lumsk, and Týr use progressive styles. Some groups combine multiple heavy metal styles, such as Orphaned Land, which blends folk metal with progressive and doom/death metal. Orphaned Land was formed in 1991 and includes Jewish, Arabic, and other West Asian influences. Ensiferum mixes folk music with power and death metal. Some bands also use styles from other music genres, like punk rock in Glittertind's music or neofolk and post-rock in Agalloch's music.
The folk elements in folk metal often reflect the musicians' cultural backgrounds. For example, Finnic folk music is used by Finntroll, Korpiklaani, and Metsatöll. Baltic folk music appears in Skyforger's music. East Asian influences include Chthonic's use of Taiwanese folk music and Tengger Cavalry's use of Mongolian throat singing. Orphaned Land includes Middle Eastern influences. However, some bands, like Ymyrgar from Tunisia, focus on Norse mythology instead of their own cultural background.
Celtic music is found in bands like Cruachan and Waylander from Ireland, as well as Ithilien from Belgium and Eluveitie from Switzerland. Tuatha de Danann, from Brazil, uses Celtic music even though Brazil has no connection to the Celts. Bands like Elvenking, Ithilien, and Ensiferum use folk music from many different regions.
Folk metal music has a wide range of moods. Bands like Finntroll and Korpiklaani create fun and cheerful music that is easy to dance to. Other bands, like Thyrfing and Primordial, have a more thoughtful and calm atmosphere. Lumsk has a mellow sound, while Agalloch uses a "depressive ambient" style.
Some bands, such as Primordial, Moonsorrow, Turisas, and Folkearth, create music with an epic feel. Ensiferum and Wintersun are known for their melodic sound, while Finntroll and Månegarm use a more intense or harsh style.
Folk metal uses the same instruments as heavy metal: guitars, bass, drums, and vocalists. Some bands, like Tharaphita, avoid folk instruments and only use traditional metal instruments. Most folk metal bands use folk instruments, such as violins, tin whistles, flutes, and medieval bagpipes. Bands like Skyclad, Subway to Sally, and Korpiklaani include violinists in their lineups. Celtic metal bands like Cruachan and Eluveitie use tin whistles and flutes. Folk metal bands also use instruments from their cultural backgrounds, such as the Latvian kokles, Estonian torupill, Finnish kantele, and the hurdy-gurdy. Orphaned Land uses the oud and saz.
When folk instruments are not used, some bands use keyboards to mimic their sound. Bands like Storm, Empyrium, and Midnattsol use keyboards to replace folk instruments. Some bands add keyboards to their folk instruments, such as Skyclad and Tuatha de Danann.
The many instruments used in studio recordings can make live performances difficult. Orphaned Land uses 20 musicians in Israel but uses a computer for concerts elsewhere. Some bands, like Folkearth and Falkenbach, only perform in studios. Other bands have large lineups, with groups like Schandmaul, Korpiklaani, and Turisas having six or more members. Some bands, like Silent Stream of Godless Elegy and Eluveitie, have eight members, while Mägo de Oz has nine. Bands like Lumsk and Ithilien also use guest musicians to enhance their music.
Folk metal uses many different vocal styles. Some bands use extreme vocals, like the loud screams in Finntroll or the harsh sounds in Skyforger. Other bands, like Mägo de Oz and Metsatöll, use clean singing. Many bands use both extreme and clean vocals, such as Primordial and Turisas. Some bands use traditional folk singing, like the yoik vocals in Shaman, Finntroll, and Korpiklaani. Bands like Orphaned Land use chants and choirs. Choirs appear in the music of Arkona, Turisas, and Eluveitie. Chants are used by Týr and Windir. Some bands, like Falconer and Thyrfing, use "yo-ho-ho" folk melodies for their Viking metal style.
Orphaned Land mostly sings in English but uses other languages for their music. Týr also uses multiple languages. Other bands sing in their native languages, such as Mägo de Oz in Spanish, Moonsorrow in Finnish, and Lumsk in Norwegian. Medieval metal bands like Subway to Sally and Morgenstern sing in German.
Some bands have female lead singers, like Cruachan, Otyg, and Midnattsol. Other bands, like Orphaned Land and Elvenking, use guest female vocalists.
Popular themes in folk metal include paganism, nature, fantasy, mythology, and history. Folk metal has been linked to paganism since its early days.