Fowk metal

Fowk metal is a kynd o metal muisic that taks elements o fowk muisic an jynes it thegither wi metal. Mair or less ony baund that jynes fowk muisic wi some kynd o metal is cried fowk metal - the metal is ordinar black metal, pouer metal or deid metal, tho ithir kynds is uised forby.

Muisical chairacteristics

Fowk metal bands aften soond gey different frae ilk ither for twa main raisons. First, they are commin frae different fowk muisic tradeetions (sae a fowk metal baund frae Finland is gaun tae soond different tae ane frae the Faroe Islands ) an sae the fowk elements will be disteenctive tae ilka kintra. Seicond, they are commin frae different kynds o metal (sae a fowk metal baund that haes strang deid metal influence winna soond the same as ane that haes strang pouer metal influence, e'en gin they draw frae the same fowk tradeetion e.g. German). The reenge o metal genres taen intil fowk metal is gey braid - some baunds draws frae ae kynd of metal, e.g. Elvenking taks pouer metal for ordinar or Windir uises anerly black metal. Ither baunds jynes thegither different kynds o metal - e.g. Turisas jynes pouer metal, a tait black metal etc.

Syne maist fowk metal baunds is frae Europe, the maist ordinar fowk tradeetions uised bi thaim is European. Baunds frae Ireland taks a mair Celtic soond, while baunds sic as Skyforger is mair Baltic soondin, syne they are frae Latvie. Essentially, baunds taks the fowk muisic tradeetions frae their ain kintra. This haes led tae labels sic as Celtic metal - it shoud be taen tae mynd that baunds that cries thaimsels Pagan metal, Celtic metal, North American metal etc. is for ordinar fowk metal.

Fowk metal baunds isna anerly diferent in their wale o kynds o metal an fowk, but in the wey that they jyne the twa thegither an aw. For example, fowk melodies can be played on a fowk instrument (sic as a kantele) or on the electric guitar or baith. Fowk melodies can be heard ower a metal rhythm, metal riffs can be heard ower fowk rhythms an sae on. Fowk melodies can be oreeginal or tradeetional - baunds whiles kiver hail tradeetional sangs; e.g. Ensiferum kivered a short sang frae the Finnish naitional epic the Kalevala on their Dragonheads EP. At the same time, baunds whiles taks sangs frae ither genres an chyngee thaim intae a fowk metal style; e.g. Turisas haed a kiver o Those Were The Days on ane o their early demos, an aften kiver Boney M's Rasputin live.

The muckle variations in different kynds o fowk muisic means that there is muckle variations in the fowk elements in fowk metal. Semple dance rhythms sic as jig an polka isna byordinar. At the same time, some baunds haes mair complex an progressive scrievins in their sangs - Turisas is a guid exemplar o siclike. Muckle, ruisin owerwirds for singin alang is gey ordinar, as they are in mony strynds o fowk muisic.

The degree that fowk muisic is uised in fowk metal chynges frae baund tae baund. Some plays mainly some kynd o metal wi a tait fowk eikit til it, while some haes fowk muisic (melodies, instrumentation etc.) as mair integral tae their muisic, sic as the Finnish baund Korpiklaani.

Vocals in fowk metal is raither varied, dependin on whit kynd o metal is bein uised as the metal element. Sae deid metal style harsk vocals, black metal style vocals, clean vocals, queirs etc. is aw uised.

Leerical themes

In some respects, fowk metal shares common grund wi ither genres o metal in leerical terms - sangs anent war, releegion etc. isna byordinar, for exemplar. It shoud be merkit that mony baunds sings in the leids o their ain kintra raither nor the Inglis (that's sae muckle a lingua franca in metal muisic as in ony ither sphere o communication). Maist fowk metal baunds will hae a mixtur-maxter approach, wi some leerics in the Ingles an ithers in, for example, the Finnish leid.

History

Some baunds taks maist o their leerics frae the history o their kintra. Skyforger frae Latvie is a guid exemplar. Korpiklaani hae a couple o sangs anent Finnish history, as dae Turisas.

Meethologie

Its mair common for baunds tae sing anent their kintra's meethologie. Týr frae the Faroe Islands haes mony sangs anent Norse meethologie, Korpiklaani aften sings anent Finnish meeths sic as trowes, as dae their kintramen Finntroll. Mair nor a twa-three fowk metal baunds frae Finland haes based leerics on their naitional epic, Kalevala.

Alcohol

A wheen o fowk metal sangs is anent drinkin, aften in a humourous mainer, but no aye. . Ensiferum haes One More Magic Potion on their album Victory Songs, Turisas haes One More on Battle Metal an Korpiklaani haes a wheen o thaim: Beer Beer, Wooden Pints, Happy Little Boozer an refers tae drinkin in ither sangs. In fact, Trollfest frae Norrowey cried their first album Wilkommen Folk Tell Drekka Fest that gaes ower intae Scots, neir eneuch, as Walcome, Fowk, tae the Drinkin Fest.

Naitur

As wi a wheen o fowk music, a wheen o fowk metal is anent forests, ainimals, huntin an bens etc. A great deal o this owerlaps wi leerics anent meethology an paganism. Leerics anent naitur is for ordinar a celebration o it.

Releegion

Some fowk metal is based on pagan releegion, aither throu the beliefs o the baund members or semply throu bein based on meethology. This haes led tae the term Pagan metal bein uised; that in maist cases is semply fowk metal wi a pagan focus. Skyforger aften sings anent Latvian paganism; Turisas scrieved in the liner-jottins tae Sahti-Waari, a sang on Battle Metal that is

"A sang raisin pints tae aw modren pagans athort the warld."

Mony fowk-metal baunds uises auld pagan seembols in their album airtwark etc. e'en gin they dinna sing anent paganism. Some fowk metal is hostile tae releegions sic as Christianity - Finntroll is a guid exemplar o this, but is whiles haurd tae tell gin they are bein sairious or no.
At the ither end o the scale is bands sic as Holy Blood frae Ukraine that's Christians an sings anent their faith in Jesus an their Christian faith in maist o their sangs sic as The Spring.

Fantasy

Some ither baunds, sic as Ensiferum haes sangs anent ordinar fantasy relatit topics wi nae speceefic reference tae paganism or meethology. Mony o the bands wi fantasy relatit leerics haes been influenced tae some degree bi Tolkien's wark The Lord of the Rings an ither sic fantasy beuks.

Politics

No mony fowk metal baunds sings anent politics. The main exception is Skyclad frae Ingland that hae a left-wing. libertarian view no aften tae be seen in metal. There's a wee element o faur-richt an Neo-Nazi fowk metal an aw, thou is shoud be merkit that whiles fowk lowp tae wrang conclusions anent the poleetical leanins o a baund based on their uiss o auld pagan seembols, that mony o haes been uised bi faur-richt groups an aw. A nummer o baunds sic as Skyforger haes publicly said they dinna uphaud Nazism, racism, the faur-richt etc. for tae evyte confusion an no be taintit wi the reputation o bein faur-richt thaimsels.

Fremmit Airtins

Fer mair anent fowk metal, see the wabstaids belaw:

• Gathering of Clans Archived 2007-07-08 at the Wayback Machine
• Encyclopaedia Metallum page anent Fowk Metal
• Metal Crypt - page wi braid defineetions o genres. Archived 2007-08-17 at the Wayback Machine