You never knew you loved... Forging Viking metal
While some music is written to
reflect modern issues, trends, and
pop culture, others straddle the line
between historical and escapist.
Such is the case in Viking metal, a
subgenre that emerged from black
metal but with distinctive subject
matter harkening back a millennia
ago.
At one point, despite origins and peak popularity in Scandinavia, Vikings had spread out and explored the entirety of Europe, and even hit ground in North America when they landed in Newfoundland. These days Vikings are usually stereotyped in the caricatured image of Wagner's Brunhilde, whose trademark blond braids and horned helmet were even featured in the Bugs Bunny parody What's Opera, Doc?
The Norse legends Wagner drew on, however, are the same that now feed Viking metal and include a pantheon of gods and goddesses, and legends of glorious Valhalla, the final resting place of warriors.
The music, while drawing on stories more than a 1,000 years old, only started being made in the 1980s when Swedish black metal band Bathory included two pioneering tracks in their fourth album, Blood Death Fire. Its genesis was bolstered in the early nineties by Enslaved, a Norwegian group now considered a leader in the genre.
In addition to being a subgenre within a subgenre, Viking metal's subject matter also helps define it as having niche popularity. Its frequent fusion with folk metal has helped to broaden its horizons, but mainstream success remains elusive. All the same, there is still a wide array of bands to choose from, especially if you aren't overly concerned with being able to understand the lyrics, which are infrequently performed in English.
Bathory: While it doesn't quite compare to Wagner's 15 hour long operatic cycle, compared to most modern music, ten and a half minutes of music still qualifies as epic. The title track of 1988's Blood Fire Death qualifies as such not only in length, but also in intensity and of course in importance to the musical genre it helped create.
Amon Amarth: Jumping ahead a full two decades, the progress of Viking metal is clearly audible when compared to Amon Amarth's Twilight of the Thunder God in 2008. The album included Guardians of Asgaard, a track featuring Lars Goran Petrov, formerly of the death metal band Entombed.
Equilibrium: In less than a decade this band has cycled through six drummers and four keyboardists, having recently replaced their lead singer as well. Equilibrium is notable for its unique combination of folk metal, black metal, symphonic elements, and recurring Viking themes, which can all be heard in Blut Im Auge from 2008's Sagas.
At one point, despite origins and peak popularity in Scandinavia, Vikings had spread out and explored the entirety of Europe, and even hit ground in North America when they landed in Newfoundland. These days Vikings are usually stereotyped in the caricatured image of Wagner's Brunhilde, whose trademark blond braids and horned helmet were even featured in the Bugs Bunny parody What's Opera, Doc?
The Norse legends Wagner drew on, however, are the same that now feed Viking metal and include a pantheon of gods and goddesses, and legends of glorious Valhalla, the final resting place of warriors.
The music, while drawing on stories more than a 1,000 years old, only started being made in the 1980s when Swedish black metal band Bathory included two pioneering tracks in their fourth album, Blood Death Fire. Its genesis was bolstered in the early nineties by Enslaved, a Norwegian group now considered a leader in the genre.
In addition to being a subgenre within a subgenre, Viking metal's subject matter also helps define it as having niche popularity. Its frequent fusion with folk metal has helped to broaden its horizons, but mainstream success remains elusive. All the same, there is still a wide array of bands to choose from, especially if you aren't overly concerned with being able to understand the lyrics, which are infrequently performed in English.
Bathory: While it doesn't quite compare to Wagner's 15 hour long operatic cycle, compared to most modern music, ten and a half minutes of music still qualifies as epic. The title track of 1988's Blood Fire Death qualifies as such not only in length, but also in intensity and of course in importance to the musical genre it helped create.
Amon Amarth: Jumping ahead a full two decades, the progress of Viking metal is clearly audible when compared to Amon Amarth's Twilight of the Thunder God in 2008. The album included Guardians of Asgaard, a track featuring Lars Goran Petrov, formerly of the death metal band Entombed.
Equilibrium: In less than a decade this band has cycled through six drummers and four keyboardists, having recently replaced their lead singer as well. Equilibrium is notable for its unique combination of folk metal, black metal, symphonic elements, and recurring Viking themes, which can all be heard in Blut Im Auge from 2008's Sagas.
