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 (for example, Dutch Heidevolk, Danish Sylvatica and Spanish Stone of Erech). It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
The earliest folk metal bands were Skyclad from England and Cruachan from Ireland. Skyclad's debut album The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth was released in 1991 and would be considered a thrash metal album with some folk influences, unlike Cruachan’s early work which embraced the folk element as a defining part of their sound. It was not until 1994 and 1995 that other early contributors in the genre began to emerge from different regions of Europe and beyond. Among these early groups, the German band Subway to Sally spearheaded a different regional variation that over time became known as medieval metal. Despite their contributions, folk metal remained little known with few representatives during the 1990s. It was not until the early 2000s when the genre exploded into prominence, particularly in Finland with the efforts of such groups as Finntroll, Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, Turisas, and Moonsorrow.
The music of folk metal is characterised by its diversity with bands known to perform different styles of both heavy metal music and folk music. A large variety of folk instruments are used in the genre with many bands consequently featuring six or more members in their regular line-ups. A few bands are also known to rely on keyboards to simulate the sound of folk instruments. Lyrics in the genre commonly deal with fantasy, mythology, paganism, history and nature.
Folkmetal 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...
imagery, to pagan metal, but pagan metal has a broader mythological focus and uses folk instrumentation more extensively. Most Viking metal bands originate...
and Deströyer 666. Folk black metal, pagan metal and Viking metal are styles that incorporates elements of folk music, with pagan metal bands focusing on...
a list of folkmetal bands. The folkmetal genre is a fusion of heavy metal music with folk music. This includes the widespread use of folk instruments...
numerous other countries. Pirate metal is a subgenre of folkmetal that blends heavy metal, thrash metal, and sometimes speed metal with pirate mythology, and...
genres, such as thrash metal, speed metal, and folkmetal, may be combined with traditional-sounding songs like sea shanties. Folk instruments, such as...
Folk rock is a genre of rock music with heavy influences from English folk and American folk music. Combining the elements of folk and rock music, it arose...
revivals. This type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folkmetal, and others. While contemporary folk music is a genre generally...
folk punk, indie folk, folktronica, freak folk and Americana and fusion genres such as folkmetal, progressive folk, psychedelic folk, and neofolk. Definitions...
their permanent base of operations. Viking/folkmetal band Heidevolk are also gaining popularity. Dutch doom metal bands include Officium Triste, Deinonychus...
Medieval metal is a subgenre of folkmetal that blends heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where...
Extreme metalFolkmetal Celtic metal Medieval metal Pagan metal Glam metal Gothic metal Industrial metal Electronic metal (disambiguation) Kawaii metal Latin...
Folk horror Folk music Folk metalFolk punk Folk rock Folk religion Folk taxonomy Folk Plus or Folk +, an Albanian folk music channel Folks (band), a...
concentrated around medieval, renaissance, folk, and science fiction themes, directly influenced modern power metal bands. According to Dunn, the songs "Stargazer"...
regularly wearing it; many other black metal acts also adopted the look. Bathory inspired the Viking metal and folkmetal movements, and Immortal brought blast...
Zimerman; as well as popular music artists, and traditional, regionalised folk music ensembles that create a rich and lively music scene at the grassroots...
referring to folkmetal or black metal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal. Metal Hammer author...
Medieval metal or medieval rock is a subgenre of folkmetal that blends hard rock or heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly...
Celtic metal is a subgenre of folkmetal that developed in the 1990s in Ireland. The genre is a fusion of heavy metal and Celtic rock. The early pioneers...
92 – Festival of the best Ukrainian folk/pop/rock bands (Producer Rostyslav-show, 1992) Famous Ukrainian heavy metal bands include Fleshgore, Firelake,...
This is a list of Viking metal bands. Viking metal is a style of heavy metal music with origins in black metal and Nordic folk music, characterized by...
like Gåte and Odd Nordstoga have made folk music more accessible to younger crowds. Gåte fused folk music with metal and became very popular. Lumsk is another...
musical fusions, such as British folk rock, folk punk and folkmetal. There remains a flourishing sub-culture of English folk music, which continues to influence...
doom metal bands List of folkmetal bands List of glam metal bands and artists List of gothic metal bands List of grindcore bands List of groove metal bands...
– Japanese rock musician. Mägo de Oz – Spanish folkmetal band. Moottörin Jyrinä – Finnish heavy metal band, the umlaut in Moottörin is gratuitous, but...
is known for heavy metal acts, including from the death metal, black metal, doom metal, folkmetal, power metal, and symphonic metal subgenres. Finland...
British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though...
Canada and gave rise to the subgenre of Medieval folk rock and the fusion genres of folk punk and folkmetal. By the end of the 1970s the genre was in steep...
associated with Malayalam cinema. He is also a founding member of the folkmetal band The Down Troddence. He is known for his contributions to the films...
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