Folk Metal

Folk metal is a tricky style of metal to encapsulate in a single blog post, since it varies so wildly depending on its geographic location. Many of these metal genres I've discussed before have ties to some sort of place: Thrash metal has the Bay Area in California, death metal had the Tampa area of Florida, and second wave trve kvlt black metal resides in the forests of Norway... but folk metal has a unique and differentiable sound depending on what cultures produced it. So let's talk about it.

So what is folk metal? Generally, it's described as a fusion of metal with traditional folk music, usually with heavy usage of folk instruments, including but not limited to the flute, violin, or accordion. However, while retaining folk melodies in their music, some bands rely more on standard metal instrumentation. Lyrical content of the genre is most commonly related to nature, mythology, paganism and fantasy. In some ways, this may seem overlapping with Viking metal, and that assumption would be keen. Viking metal and folk metal have long had overlapping sounds, bands, and fanbases. However, I find that folk metal has often (though not always) removed itself thoroughly from a black metal background, allowing for a wider range of experimentation.

Folk metal found its origins in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. It will continue to be a primarily European style for its duration. Bands like Skyclad and Waylander would lead the charge, injecting jaunty folk music into their more traditional heavy metal sound. As the idea began to spread, so did its geographic influence. Bands from many countries would begin to contribute their own forms of folk music in metal contexts: Ireland provides Cruachan and Primordial. Spain comes forward with Mägo de Oz. Norway would provide Isengard, Borknagar, and Storm; all of which are heavily black metal-influenced and cross over into Viking metal. Germany produced Falkenbach, Subway to Sally and Empyrium. Sweden comes forth with more mighty Viking metal-crossovers with Vintersorg and Thyrfing. Before long, each of these countries and more would develop their own distinct sound within the folk metal spectrum.

Recommended '90s folk metal listening:
1. Skyclad - Prince of the Poverty Line (1994)
2. Empyrium - Songs of Moors and Misty Fields (1997)
3. Falkenbach - ...Magni Blandinn Ok Megintiri... (1998)
4. Primordial - A Journey's End (1998)
5. Vintersorg - Ödemarkens Son (1999)

Waylander, Cruachan, and Mägo de Oz in particular would lead a specific subgenre of folk metal that would take off a bit more than other regional variants: Celtic metal. The origins of the genre lie Celtic folk music being injected into things like Celtic rock or Celtic punk. Celtic metal is localized on regions with Celtic roots like the British Islands, France, Spain, Switzerland and Germany, but in the last years the genre has expanded worldwide. Other famous bands include Eluveitie, Suidakra, and Tuatha de Danann.

Recommended Celtic metal listening:
1. Cruachan - Tuatha na Gael (1995)
2. Waylander - Reawakening Pride Once Lost (1998)
3. Mägo de Oz - Finisterra (2000)
4. Eluveitie - Spirit (2006)
5. Suidakra - Crógacht (2009)

In the mid-1990s, another distinct style of folk metal arrived: Medieval folk metal. As the name would imply, Medieval metal takes most of its traditional elements from Medieval folk music. It arrived as an offshoot of the German Neo-Medieval movement of the 1990s, alongside its tamer but oft-crossed over genre Medieval rock. Led by bands such as Subway to Sally and In Extremo, Medieval metal quickly gained an ardent but niche following. Most folk instrumentation is relatively period-accurate, with heavy emphasis on things such as the shawm or hurdy-gurdy. Bands following the initial wave include Schandmaul, Ignis Fatuu, Saltatio Mortis, Folkstone, and Obsequiae, among others.

Recommended Medieval folk metal listening:
1. Subway to Sally - Bannkreis (1997)
2. In Extremo - Verehrt und angespien (1998)
3. Saltatio Mortis - Aus der Asche (2007)
4. Ignis Fatuu - Es werde Licht (2009)
5. Obsequiae - Suspended in the Brume of Eos (2011)

Folk metal flourished in the 2000s. As word got around of a new method of expression musical and cultural tradition through the modern vessel of metal music, more and more regional variants began to pop up. Some bands continued to meld the genre with black metal and Viking metal, leading to the massive success of some of the genre's biggest bands: Finland's Moonsorrow, the United States' Agalloch, and Ukraine's Nokturnal Mortum, just to name a few. Others would take a much more symphonic, epic approach to the sound, like Germany's Equilibrium, and Finland's Ensiferum and Turisas. Others still would take a lighter path, making fun and bouncy music sometimes influenced by traditional folk styles like humppa and joik, such as Finland's Korpiklaani and Finntroll. Some bands stuck to a more metal ideal and fused with power metal like Elvenking and Týr, or maybe progressive metal like Wuthering Heights and Orphaned Land.

Recommended '00s folk metal listening:
1. Ensiferum - Ensiferum (2001)
2. Korpiklaani - Spirit of the Forest (2003)
3. Finntroll - Nattfödd (2004)
4. Moonsorrow - Verisäkeet (2005)
5. Turisas - The Varangian Way (2007)

In the 2010s, folk metal was primarily led by the bands established in the prior decades. Moonsorrow, Primordial, Falkenbach, Orphaned Land, Nokturnal Mortum, Elvenking, and many more all continued to release incredible music. Among the new blood were bands such as progressive metal fusion bands like Wilderun and Lör, atmospheric black metal legends Negură Bunget, previously-mentioned Medieval metallers Obsequiae, and other names that rose to prominence such as Arkona, Dalriada, Tengger Cavalry, Triddana, Falconer, Myrath, Aiumeen Basoa, and the wonderful melodic death metal band Æther Realm.

Recommended '10s folk metal listening:
1. Negură Bunget - Vîrstele pămîntului (2010)
2. Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa (2011)
3. Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen (2014)
4. Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth (2015)
5. Lör - In Forgotten Sleep (2017)

In summary, folk metal remains one of metal's most varied and most acquired tastes. On paper, it doesn't seem as though traditional folk music would have much of a place in such a genre like metal, but upon further inspection, one comes to realize that it embodies everything that metal stands for: being true to your roots, expression of individualism, and the creation of a culture. Metal in itself is a culture. Folk metal simply introduces one culture to another.