Viking metal

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Viking metal
Stylistic oreegins Black metal
Cultural oreegins Late 1980s, Scandinavie
Typical instruments Electric guitar, Bass guitar,
Drums, Keybuirds
an/or Nordic fowk instruments
Mainstream popularity Law
Ither topics
- Norse meethology - Norse paganism

Viking metal is a subgenre o hivy metal characterised bi its gallopin pace, keybuird-rich anthemic soond, bleakness an dramatic emphasis on Norse meethology, Norse paganism, an the Viking Age. In maist cases the viking-themed metal consists o ony combination o black an fowk metal.

Table o contents

Characteristics [edit]

Viking metal is "noisy, chaotic, an aften augmentit bi sorraeful keybuird melodies."[1] Like fowk metal baunds, Viking metal acts "generally utilize some acoustic an ither unuisual instruments in addition tae the traditional metal instruments."[2]

History [edit]

The genre o Viking metal wis pioneered bi the Swadish baund Bathory. Their first album Bathory wis released in 1984 an is "regardit bi mony as the first black metal record."[3] The baund's fowert album Blood Fire Death wis released in 1988 an includes twa early examples o Viking metal – the sangs "A Fine Day to Die" an "Blood Fire Death". Eduardo Rivadavia o Allmusic describes this as "possibly the first true example" o Viking metal.[4] It wis follaeed in 1990 wi the release o Hammerheart, a landmark album that "formally introduced" tae the metal warld the "archetypical Viking metal album."[5] Bi then the baund haed completely depairtit frae "the Satanic mould" an wis "squarely in Viking meethology."[6] The Viking metal muisic o Bathory wis characterised bi Wagnerian "lengthy epics, ostentatious arrangements, chorused vocals, an ambient keybuirds."[7]

The year 1991 saw the formation of the Norse group Enslaved.[8] Their debut album Vikingligr Veldi arrived in 1994 wi "mony melodies being borraeed frae ethnic Scandinavian fowk muisic tae lend additional authenticity tae the vicious, fast-paced black metal."[9] Inspired bi Bathory,[10] Enslaved set oot tae "create Viking metal devotit tae retellin Norawa's legends an traditions o auld." Their seicont album Frost, an aa frae 1994, wis "an important release for the extreme muisic subgenre o Viking metal."[11] Wi "Viking themes, razor sharp guitars, blastbeat drums, an an ear for orchestration resultin in complex structures, bountiful harmonies an time chynges,"[10] Enslaved haes syne been acclaimed as "probably the foremaist exponents" o the genre.[12]

See an aa [edit]

References [edit]

  1. Scandinavian Metal. Allmusic. Retrieved on 16 Juin 2008. .
  2. Bowar, Chad. Folk Metal Artists. About.com. Retrieved on 16 Juin 2008. .
  3. Ferrier, Rob. Bathory review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  4. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Blood Fire Death review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  5. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Hammerheart review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  6. Sharpe-Young, Garry. Bathory. MusicMight. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  7. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Requiem review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  8. Huey, Steve. Enslaved. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  9. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Vikingligr Veldi review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  10. 10.0 10.1 Rivadavia, Eduardo. Eld review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  11. Jeffries, Vincent. Frost review. Allmusic. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .
  12. Sharpe-Young, Garry. Enslaved. MusicMight. Retrieved on 27 Mairch 2008. .