Viking Metal

Viking Metal is a Heavy Metal sub-genre that evolved from Black Metal in the early 90s.

Although, bands like Black Sabbath (especially with their TYR album), Led Zeppelin, Yngwie Malmsteen, Heavy Load, Manowar, and numerous others had explored Viking motifs before.

The genre was invented by the Swedish band BATHORY starting with their "Blood,Fire,Death" album when Quorthon, at his fans' request,introduced more and more melodic, classical music inspired, elements.

In this respect the following "Hammerheart" album would be the first album to contain such an approach both in music and the lyrical content.

Viking Metal GIF

On the next albums, BATHORY developed some of these musical ideas and adopted a cleaner voice resulting in what is called Viking Metal today.

When "Twilight Of The Gods" album was issued,Quorthon described it as being Power Metal in his interviews.

On the other hand, journalists were describing his previous LP "Hammerheart" as being "Doom Metal", probably due to the slow and long riffs and the general songs' structure.

In other words, as stated before, Viking metal arose from black metal in the late 1980s and early 1990s, sharing with black metal a stance against Christianity, while distancing itself from Satanism and occult elements in favor of themes related to Vikings and pagan beliefs,as well. 

Viking Metal bears similarities, in terms of lyrics, sound, and imagery, to Pagan Metal and the (more extreme part of) Folk Metal, as well, and a strict line cannot be drawn when it comes to define those three metal genres,as they are closely intertwined.

However, pagan metal tends to have a wider mythological scope and incorporates folk instruments to a greater extent. The majority of Viking metal bands hail from the Nordic nations, and almost all groups assert that their members have direct or indirect ancestry linked to their viking roots. 

 

Numerous scholars consider Viking metal, along with associated black, pagan, and folk metal styles, as part of a larger contemporary Pagan movement, as well as a global trend of renewed enthusiasm for and celebration of local and regional ethnic identities.

Additionally, death metal act such as Unleashed, the melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, and the Finnish Folk Metal band Ensiferum, which surfaced in the early 1990s, embraced Viking themes, expanding the genre beyond its original black metal roots.

 

One the other hand Enslaved, hailing from Norway, continued to build on the emerging Viking trend with their releases Hordanes Land (1993) and Vikingligr Veldi (1994). 

 

 

Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss GIF

Also, bands like Burzum, Emperor, Borknagar, Einherjer, Windir or Helheim, among others, played a significant role in
evolving the genre throughout the early to mid 1990s. 

As early as 1989, with the establishment of the German group Falkenbach, Viking metal started to spread beyond the Nordic nations to other countries with Viking histories or a broader Germanic legacy, influencing musicians worldwide. 

 

 

 

Later on the style started to spread its sails throughout the northern European countries and, then throughout the world, from Ireland to the Caucasus, Middle East and beyond.

 

Other bands who represent the genre should be: 

Ancient Rites, Doomsword, Equilibrium, Folkearth, Månegarm, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Graveland, Isengard, Moonsorrow, Kampfar, Varg, Vintersorg, Wintersun, Thyrfing, Sólstafir, TYR, Grand Magus, Korpiklaani, Nocturnal Mortum, Drudkh, Kroda, Cruachan, Mithotyn, Wolfchant.