subject: The Beginning of Viking Metal [print this page] The Beginning of Viking Metal The Beginning of Viking Metal
Quick Guide About Viking Metal
If you dip down deeper in heavy metal you will find a genre called Viking Metal. Viking Metal is another heavy metal sub genre that you will find in heavy metal. You will find elements of death, black and folk metal inside these metal bands. This is a fairly exciting and new genre of music. The style of Viking metal often has fast beats, an epic sound and keyboards. Their music has an imagination of Viking fantasy themes and battles. Heavy metal has also had a satanic feel about them, but Viking metal has nothing to do with Satanism. People will get this idea because of the melodies and hateful feel of the songs. Almost all Viking metal songs are about battles and warriors.
Viking metal has strong roots in Scandinavian countries such as Finland and Norway. Some of the instruments that Viking metal uses are accordion, panflute and harp. Viking metal likes to use deep growls and roars in their vocals to give the Viking sound a more metal atmosphere. Viking metal does give a dark and gray feeling behind the music. These types of techniques are found in Black metal, where most Viking metal bands start.
Battles in warfare are the majority of song meanings in Viking metal. The earliest signs of Viking metal were Led Zeppelin. Vikings and other famous gods were the topic of some Led Zeppelin songs. Viking metal uses choir singing in their music. Black Sabbath experimented with this style of vocals. One of the first full written Viking metal songs was Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Rising Force. In 1985 they also had a song called "I am a Viking." Bathory was the first band to make a full album with all the Viking metal elements. In 1988 "Blood Fire Death" became a black metal album with a Viking atmosphere. Bathory continued to make Viking metal, but started to incorporate Folk metal instruments. This became one of their stronger and more popular albums.
The pagan culture is referenced in Viking metal. Northern Europe is the prominent birth place of most Viking metal bands. Black metal is often a starting point for most Viking metal bands. Music is often dramatic, epic and mythological. You will find other metal elements like Folk and Traditional. Bands often seemed in English language which gives them a wider audience in the European area.
Here is a list of some of the most prominent bands in Viking metal. Most of these bands have a different genre background while creating Viking metal. Ensiferum, Enslaved, Amon Amarth, Manowar, Equilibrium, Bathory and Vanaheim.
Viking metal is going on for more than 20 years in the heavy metal community. This is still one of the underground and smallest heavy metal genres to the metal community. Even with the unpopularity bands like Ensiferum, Amon Amarth, Enslaved and Bathory continue to create albums and songs. A strong fan base and community has continued to grow inside of Viking metal. Bands will continue to create great albums and others will join the genre in hopes that it will become more mainstream in the metal community.
