| Viking metal | |
| Stylistic origins | |
|---|---|
| Cultural origins |
Late 1980s, Scandinavia
|
| Typical instruments | |
| Mainstream popularity | Minor, although with a strong underground following worldwide |
| Other topics | |
| Bands - Norse mythology - Norse paganism | |
Viking metal is a term used in reference to heavy metal music closely related to black metal and folk metal, which has a dramatic emphasis on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the life and times of Northern and Central Europeans prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well An electric guitar is a type of Guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current which is made louder The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. A folk instrument is an instrument that developed among common people and usually doesn't have a known Inventor. This is a list of Viking metal bands with articles on Wikipedia Norse mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and Legends of the Scandinavian peoples including those who settled on Iceland Norse paganism is a term used to describe the religious traditions which were common amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries prior to and Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Folk metal is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s Norse mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and Legends of the Scandinavian peoples including those who settled on Iceland Norse paganism is a term used to describe the religious traditions which were common amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries prior to and The Christianization of Scandinavia refers to the process of conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian people starting in the 8th century with It is disputed whether Viking metal can be considered a standalone metal subgenre or exists merely as an ideological off-shoot of other subgenres. Viking metal artists may perform in a primarily black metal or folk metal style, and as a result, terms such as "Viking black metal" and "Viking folk metal" are sometimes used to distinguish between approaches within the genre.
Contents |
Characteristics
Common among Viking metal is a reverence for pagan Germanic, or specifically Viking, culture with a rejection of contemporary Christianity and disdain for the Christianization of Northern Europe in favor of a pre-Christian and pre-Muslim Pagan society. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Thus, most Viking metal bands are derived from Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and German black metal groups, and are native Scandinavians and Germans, often associating themselves with pagan and Ásatrú beliefs. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an Umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements particularly those influenced by historical is Ásatrú ( Icelandic for " Æsir faith" auːsatruː in Old Norse; Norwegian Åsatru, Swedish
However, Viking metal bands do not exclusively sing about Vikings. For example, Thyrfing recently discarded their Viking lyrical themes, and a band such as Swedish band Unleashed who predominantly hail their Middle Aged ancestry lyrically do not fall under the Viking metal category. This page refers to the metal band Thyrfing For the mythological sword see Tyrfing Thyrfing is a Viking metal band from Sweden
The musical definition of Viking metal is wide and substantially varied. Its most common roots are black metal, folk metal and thrash metal. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Folk metal is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s Thrash metal (sometimes referred to simply as thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized by its fast tempo and aggression It should be noted that these are not mandatory; Tyr do not have black metal elements, Bathory do not have clear folk metal sounds and Kampfar do not utilise any blatant thrash metal influence. The Báthory (Batory were a Hungarian noble family of the Gutkeled clan Kampfar is a pagan The Viking metal sound usually contrasts the abrasive with the melodic, functions with hypnotic and mesmerising or bold and punchy guitar, proud shouts, growls and or clean singing. A keyboard is optional and usually plays a style akin to symphonic metal with more of an adventuring texture, or placed on top of an aggressive guitar riff. Symphonic metal or opera metal is a term used to describe Heavy metal music that has symphonic elements that is elements that sound similar to a More commonly, Viking metal bands are featuring relations of progressive metal into their music, such as Moonsorrow. Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Moonsorrow is a folk / Pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995.
The music is often highly romanticized and epic in composition and sound, reflecting tradition (usually Viking life) itself, and creates an atmosphere rich both in Germanic heroic and metal music tradition. While some bands sing in English to reach a wider audience, many write lyrics in their own native languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish or Icelandic) or archaic versions thereof.
History
Viking metal may be traced to its references to Nordic gods and warfare. The first group to use an early version of Viking metal was Led Zeppelin with songs like "Immigrant Song" and "No Quarter" with references to famous Vikings and Viking gods. Led Zeppelin were " Immigrant Song " is the opening track on English rock band Led Zeppelin's third album, Led Zeppelin III " No Quarter " is the seventh song on English rock band Led Zeppelin 's fifth album Houses of the Holy, released in 1973 But the first heavy metal band to combine all the elements typical of the genre was Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force with the song "I Am a Viking" in the 1985 album Marching Out. Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn in English (born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on June 30 1963 in Stockholm Sweden) is a Swedish Marching Out is an album by Yngwie J Malmsteen which was released in 1985 The first entire album to be dominated by such an ideology and musical reference can be traced to the Swedish black metal band Bathory, with the release of their fourth album in 1988, Blood Fire Death. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band formed by Quorthon in 1983 Blood Fire Death is the fourth album by Bathory, which continued the transition towards more epic songwriting begun on the band's previous album The album blended the aesthetics of black metal with an atmosphere of war and Norse mythology. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, Norse mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and Legends of the Scandinavian peoples including those who settled on Iceland Quorthon (the leader of Bathory) explains some of the philosophy behind the musical and lyrical changes from black metal to Viking metal in Bathory on the official website. Ace "Quorthon" ( February 17, 1966 – June 3, 2004) was the founder and song writer of the pioneering Swedish Black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos shrieked vocals highly distorted guitars played with Tremolo picking, [1]
Bathory would continue on to innovate the genre further with their next release in 1990, titled Hammerheart. Hammerheart is the fifth Album released by Bathory. It continued Blood Fire Death 's transition away from Black metal to what The album further explored the romantic elements of the previous album, and experimented with Scandinavian folk instruments and musical form. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well A folk instrument is an instrument that developed among common people and usually doesn't have a known Inventor. Along with Skyclad's The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth, Hammerheart helped form the metal subgenre folk metal. Skyclad are a British Heavy metal band with heavy Folk influences in their music The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth is the first album by British Folk metal group Skyclad, and is thus probably the first ever Hammerheart is the fifth Album released by Bathory. It continued Blood Fire Death 's transition away from Black metal to what Folk metal is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s The album is regarded by many as an important and influential release in Viking metal's history.
Confusion with Nazism
Some Viking metal fanbases, such as the online Viking metal broadcasting channel Valhala Radio, have experienced actions from anti-Nazi groups. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Valhalla Radio has been forced to put up a disclaimer on their site that clarifies that neither they nor Viking metal is linked to Nazism or racism.
The link between Norse mythology and Nazism is generally thought to originate in the years of the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Use of Norse symbolism was used to construct a Scandinavian nationalism based on their common Viking heritage. This symbolism was so extensively used that even today, some people falsely associate symbols such as Thor's hammer, the sun-cross, Oseberg-art, etc. The sun cross, a Cross inside a Circle, is one of the oldest and most widespread of symbols with Nazism.
See also
References
This is a list of Viking metal bands with articles on Wikipedia Viking rock ( Vikingarock in Swedish is a Rock music Genre that takes much of its themes from 19th century Viking romanticism, mixing itDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic