Viking metal

Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating from the fusion of black metal and folk music. Nordic, characterized by lyrics and a theme focused on Nordic mythology, paganism and the Viking age. Some of their common traits are slow tempo, heavy riffs, use of clean vocals with guttural voices, folk instrumentation, and the use of keyboards for atmospheric effects. It originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a rejection of Satanism and the occult, in favor of a Viking and pagan ideology opposed to Christianity. This subgenre bears similarities to pagan metal, although the latter has a broader mythological focus and generally uses folk instrumentation. Most of the gangs come from the Nordic countries and their members claim descent, directly or indirectly, from the Vikings. It is the most characteristic heavy metal movement in Scandinavia.

Although artists and groups such as Led Zeppelin, Yngwie Malmsteen, Heavy Load and Manowar had previously dealt with Viking themes, Bathory are generally credited as the pioneering ensemble thanks to the albums Blood Fire Death (1988) and Hammerheart (1990), which renewed interest in Viking culture among heavy metal musicians. For their part, Enslaved followed this trend through the EP Hordanes Land (1993) and the album Vikingligr Veldi (1994), as well as Burzum, Emperor, Einherjer and Helheim, among others, helped develop the subgenre in the mid-1990s. Through the work of artists such as Falkenbach, viking metal spread from the Nordic countries to others with Viking or Germanic heritage and ever since He has influenced musicians all over the world.

Features

Sound features

Website Allmusic identifies viking metal as synonymous with Scandinavian metal, calling their sound "loud, chaotic and often augmented by sorrowful keyboard melodies", while journalist Ross Hagen classifies it as a subgenre of black metal that has abandoned satanic imagery. Likewise, Cosmo Lee of Stylus magazine points out that this musical style "runs the spectrum from folk, to black and death metal". Sociologist Deena Weinstein mentions that bands typically rely on heavy use of keyboards, which are often played with a "fast, galloping rhythm" and which also add "local cultural traits" such as traditional instruments and ethnic melodies. Historians Steven P. Ashby and John Schofield note the similarities to folk metal, but point out that one of the differences lies in the fact that the latter more frequently uses folk instruments.

Despite the similarities with black, some death metal bands, such as Unleashed and Amon Amarth, also incorporate Viking themes into their music and have therefore been categorized as as representatives of viking metal. The writer Heather O'Donoghue points out that the genre is defined more by its theme than by its musical qualities and remarks that "it is based on Nordic themes although not on a musical sense; Bathory's works are by no means medieval music. Instead, it is the titles and covers of their albums, the names of the bands and the lyrics of their songs that show evidence of their Viking interest". i> more like a crossover of genres than a description of a given sound, writing that the term "is one of many that fall into a complex web of genres and subgenres that is constantly changing, depending on the rise and fall of genres." trends". Furthermore, they point out that due to its origins in black metal, "it has diversified —at least in aural terms— and now encompasses a range of styles that run from black and what could justifiably qualify as classic rock".

Theme and lyrical approach

The bands of viking metal They often use Viking symbolism, such as Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.

Viking metal draws elements from black metal, but uses Norse and Viking lettering and symbology instead of satanic imagery. The genre also combines other attributes of black metal. black and death metal, especially the glorification of violence and virility through the use of weapons and interest in their ancestral roots, especially the heritage of the pre-Christian times. Visual media such as album covers, promotional photos, and their merchandising reflect the songs' dark, violent perspective and Viking theme. Writers Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski note that the covers Some of the groups' works are frequently decorated with archaeological finds from the Viking Age: Thor's hammer is a common icon, but other artifacts such as ships from Oseberg or even helmets from Sutton Hoo also appear, while some assemblages incorporate imagery still older, such as Finland's Moonsorrow, which uses prehistoric rock carvings and megaliths. Other Finnish bands, such as Ensiferum, Korpiklaani or Turisas, draw on shamanism and Lappish traditions, further extending the definition of viking metal .

While many bands use visual elements related to the Viking period to assist their music, others do not. For example, the members of Týr —a group originally from the Faroe Islands— don't wear Viking armor or garb at their concerts, so apart from their heavily folk-influenced music and lyrics, they're indistinguishable from their peers. the members of other heavy metal bands.

Deena Weinstein notes that although the Norse pantheon is large, gangs often turn their attention to Odin, the god of war, and Thor, "whose hammer defended the pagans from the Christians". Trafford and Pluskowski, on the other hand, point out that many bands identify primarily with their local roots—such as Moonsorrow with Finland or Einherjer with Norway—and with a European feeling in the background. Although most songs include English lyrics, the ensembles they often use other languages such as Norwegian, Old Norse, Swedish, Danish, and to a lesser extent Icelandic, German, and Finnish. In 2013, The Wall Street Journal published an article stating that heavy metal fans around the world learn languages like Norwegian and Finnish to understand the lyrics of their favorite bands.

Paganism and Opposition to Christianity

The gender groups focused their attention on Nordic deities such as Odin.

According to Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski, the imagery of viking metal encompasses not only elements of the Viking age, but "also encompasses the semiology of black bands and death metal as the exaltation of violence and hyper-masculinity expressed through weapons». However, in viking, this semiotic system merges with an interest in ancestral roots, especially pre-Christian heritage "visually expressed through Viking mythology". Trafford and Pluskowski note also that "extreme and obsessive hatred of Christianity" was one of the hallmarks of black and death metal bands, but in the early 1990s, Bathory and other formations began to distance themselves from Satan as the main opponent of Christianity, to place their interest in Odin and the Vikings. Many artists show their affiliation with Ásatrú and treat Christianity as a foreign influence that was forced upon them and therefore, as an evil that must be punished. The aforementioned Trafford and Pluskowski state that some musicians found the motivation to act and point to Varg Vikernes' church burning as an example. These writers further emphasize that various groups, like Enslaved or Einherjer, they simply express their interest in Norse mythology and reject the satanic bent of black metal.

Relationship with pagan metal

Deena Weinstein considers viking the progenitor of pagan metal and points to Bathory's album Hammerheart (1990) as the first work of pagan metal i>. The sociologist also points out that it is normal for the pagan to descend from it, since the Vikings were the last pagans in Europe to slowly and reluctantly convert to Christianity. The writer Imke von Helden highlights similarities between the two genres, but also highlights some key differences: "[The pagan] deals mainly with pagan religions and finds a broader context, where not only Norse mythology has a place, but also Celtic myths, fairy tales and other elements of folklore, in addition he uses traditional instruments such as the violin or the flute more frequently than in the viking».

Influence of shanties

Aaron Patrick Mulvany states that viking metal “has little to do with traditional instruments and melodies. In fact, bands in the genre mostly confine themselves to using Norse mythology as a source for their lyrics, and often extol them through shanty melodies that are purposely intended to evoke passages." According to Mulvany, the genre is primarily grounded. in shanties, a type of singing that "because of pirate movies and TV shows has been stereotypically associated with Vikings". Steven P. Ashby and John Schofield agree with Mulvany that musically, bands are often oblivious to their true Viking past and encompass a broader maritime sentiment.

Keith Fay of folk metal outfit Cruachan highlights the influence of shanties on viking, albeit in a rather dismissive way. In an interview for Terrorizer magazine he remarked that “there's really no Viking music, so all these Norse bands use shanties to match their music. Many of these groups, especially the larger ones, are labeled as folk metal, but they don't really understand what folk music is very well."

History

Forerunners: 1970s to mid-1980s

Led Zeppelin was one of the first groupings to include viking theme in his lyrics.

The use of Viking themes in heavy metal and hard rock predates the advent of viking metal, for example, the Lyrics to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" (1970) and "No Quarter" (1973) include allusions to Viking travel, exploration, and violence. Swedish band Heavy Load frequently recorded tracks on Viking affairs, like the track "Son of the Northern Light" (1978), plus critic Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic points out that the song "Stronger than Evil" (1983) "makes Heavy Load the first viking metal». For his part, guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has frequently resorted to issues such as heroic warriors, hyper-masculinity or Vikings, for example, on the album Marching Out (1985). Manowar also embraced Viking imagery more than other bands and, according to Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski, this formation was "widely ridiculed". It occurs even within heavy metal, but it achieved a considerable —and fanatical— following". However, both authors remark that although Manowar uses Viking scenery, its members do not adopt it and also point out that " In any case, Manowar's version of the Vikings is oriented more towards Conan the Barbarian than towards history, the sagas or the Edda: what matters to the band is indomitable masculinity and for its members, the Vikings are simply the men barbarians par excellence".

Viking metal: since the late 1980s

Bathory

The album Blood Fire Death (1988) by Bathory was one of the first examples of viking metal.

The roots of viking metal stem from Scandinavian metal, particularly in the black and death metal scenes. i> at the end of the 1980s. The vanguard of this movement resides in the Swedish band Bathory, whose first work, titled with the same name and released in 1984, is considered one of the first albums of black metal . Their fourth album Blood Fire Death, released in 1988, includes two early samples of viking metal, the songs "A Fine Day to Die" and " Blood Fire Death", which critic Eduardo Rivadavia describes as "probably the first true examples" of the genre. The album cover features the painting Åsgårdsreien by Peter Nicolai Arbo, which depicts the god Odin in the myth of the Wild Hunt. Bathory followed up on the Viking theme with the release of Hammerheart in 1990, a conceptual work dedicated to the Christian invasion of the Norse people and which like its predecessor, it has another period painting as its cover, The Last Voyage of a Viking by Frank Dicksee. This was followed by Twilight of the Gods from 1991 —titled after Richard Wagner's opera of the same name— and Blood on Ice, recorded at the end of the 1980s, but which was not released until 1996. Likewise, Rivadavia remarks that Hammerheart "formally introduced" to the world of metal the "archetypal album of viking metal" and that thanks to this work, Quorthon —the founder of the band — "he became a standard-bearer for an entire generation of marginalized teenagers of Nordic descent" and that "the album's global reach and vision engendered deep anti-Christian hatred in the regional extreme metal scene » which culminated in the violent crimes committed by members of the Norwegian black metal community in the early 1990s. Quorthon explains in the booklet for the album Blood on Ice that that the reason for dealing with topics about Vikings was an intentional decision to move away from Satanism, which he himself described as "a hoax created by another hoax".

Characteristics of Bathory's Viking songs include "lengthy Wagnerian epics, ostentatious arrangements, choral vocals and ambient keyboards". Aaron Patrick Mulvany notes that the albums The Swedish set's '90s ushered in an initially slow and even confusing Viking-themed trend. For example, the writer points out that on the album Nachthymnen (1995), the Austrian black metal group Abigor incorporates Viking themes and Germanic paganism, although according to him "it should not be seen as exemplifying the viking trend". According to Mulvany, the album's folk elements "are predominantly textually or musically evocative, rather than historically accurate".

Enslaved

Enslaved acting in 2012.

In 1991, Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson formed the Norwegian band Enslaved, which in the opinion of Aaron Patrick Mulvany is probably the "first true viking metal band". Robert Müller, editor of the German edition of Metal Hammer magazine mentions that his EP Hordanes Land (1993) is the first authentic recording of this genre, while critic Eduardo Rivadavia cites that his Their debut album Vikingligr Veldi (1994), includes "many melodies borrowed from folk music that lend authenticity to their vicious, fast-paced black metal". With Bathory as an influence, Enslaved's proposal was to create "viking metal dedicated to retelling legends and lore from ancient Norway without attacking Christianity through its own creation: Satan". His second studio effort, Frost (1994), is in the words of critic Jason Anderson, "an important release for this subgenre of extreme music". For his part, from his album Eld (1997), Rivadavia highlights the "Viking theme, strong guitars, drum blastbeats, complex structures, abundant harmonies and time changes" of the group.

Burzum

Varg Vikernes, one member of Burzum.

Varg Vikernes' musical project Burzum helped inspire viking metal through racism, its nationalism, its ideas contrary to the Judeo-Christian tradition and a yearning to return to paganism. Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski believes that Vikernes' beliefs, which culminated in the burning of several churches—including Fantoft's 12th-century stavkirke in Bergen—reveal the confusing nature of ideas about Vikings in the black metal scene. i> norwegian. Both also point out that «his interests were not originally focused on the Middle Ages but on the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, as Vikernes adopted the name Count Grishnackh, based on an orc from The Lord of the Rings and the name Burzum is a word used in Tolkien's language to refer to darkness". These writers further postulate that the aforementioned musician "attempted to restore Norse paganism by burning churches". While imprisoned for murder, Vikernes published the book Vargsmål, which Trafford and Pluskowski call a version of Hávamál, albeit "with an eye to My fight". Vikernes himself connected the burning of churches with an idea of reviving Viking paganism and stated that his first burning – carried out in the church of Fantoft on June 6, 1992 – led many to associate it with Satanism, because he did it on the sixth day of the week, the sixth day of month six and was therefore a reference to the number of the beast, but that he actually chose that date because the first recorded Viking raid dated from 6 June 793.

Other pioneers

Mortiis singing live in 2016.

Alongside Bathory, Enslaved and Burzum, other bands and artists have been credited as pioneers of this musical genre. Emperor's original bassist, Mortiis, is according to critic Steve Huey "an indispensable force in the genesis of the epic sound of Norwegian viking metal" and that despite his brief stay in the mentioned group, they were "his musical interests are the catalysts for mixing chaotic black metal with synth melodies based on Norwegian folk music".

Other notable bands within the genre include Borknagar, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Ensiferum, Einherjer, Moonsorrow, Thyrfing and Windir. According to Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski, the last four are the "most influential" bands » of the genre and write, that except for Enslaved, Einherjer's covers «give them the feeling of being the most viking set of all, due to the prevalence of Viking artefacts”. These authors note that these covers cover the complete chronology of Norse pagan art from the 8th to the 12th century. On the other hand, critic Craig Harris of Allmusic notes that Darkwoods My Betrothed "combines songs about their ancestors and the Norse gods with electrifying, powerful arrangements, creating a new style called viking metal".

Amon Amarth and Unleashed

Unleashed during a 2018 concert.

Amon Amarth and Unleashed musically interpret death metal but incorporate Viking themes, therefore they are considered to have broadened the spectrum of the genre. Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, authors of the book Lords of the chaos, write that Unleashed “never showed any affinity with the bloodthirsty interests of the groups around them. Instead, he makes a discovery similar to Bathory's and drew creative stimulus from the pre-Christian paganism of his native Sweden". Amarth, declares: «It is strange to classify a group by the content of their lyrics, since, in that case, Iron Maiden is a viking metal band, Black Sabbath is a viking metal band. metal, Led Zeppelin is a viking metal band". For his part, Johnny Hedlund of Unleashed remarks that his group "has always played and always will play death metal i>" and further claims that "you will only find Viking lyrics on only three or five songs on every album since 1991. I don't think this defines our style in any way."

Outside the Nordic countries

According to Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski, virtually all viking bands claim descent from the Viking people and after its creation in Scandinavia, this musical genre would reach areas historically associated with Vikings, such as the United Kingdom, Russia and Normandy. In addition, groups of this musical style would also appear in the United States and Canada whose members claim to have Viking ancestry either through Scandinavia or England. Meanwhile, some members of the scene Norse consider it impossible for anyone to be descended from Vikings, unless they are Northern Europeans. However, the scene would also reach nations united by their common Germanic heritage such as Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands, and thus Trafford and Pluskowski highlight the Austrian group Valhalla, which makes extensive use of Viking iconography, such as horned helmets. Another notable Austrian group is Amestigon, who on the cover of his work Remembering Ancient Origins (2000) shows a wooden panel from the church of Hylestad depicting a scene of Sigurd murdering Regin.

One of the first projects of the genre formed outside the Nordic countries is Falkenbach, founded in Germany in 1989 by Vratyas Vakyas and which mixes black metal and folk music, with lyrics about Western mythologies, religions and popular traditions. For their part, the Dutch bands Heidevolk, Slechtvalk and Fenris are also described as representatives of this style, although the vocalist of the first, Joris Boghtdrincker, remarks that their group « he has never tried to take on a Viking or pan-Germanic role", but to write songs about Dutch history.

Influence on pagan metal

Graveland acting live in 2017.

Deena Weinstein comments that the genre "has traveled farther than any Viking ship, as self-described pagan metal bands who describe their music as viking can even be found in countries like the United States.", Brazil or Uruguay, among other places". The impact of this musical style was relatively strong in the Baltic countries and led to the development of a distinctive scene known as "Baltic war metal". Weinstein considers the Lithuanian group Obtest as the main example of this style and their album Tūkstantmetis (1997) as the origin of it. The sociologist highlights a comment by scholar Michael F. Strmiska that despite the claim that the Scandinavian countries were home to Europe's last pagans, "a point of special pride is the knowledge that Lithuania was the last nation in all of Europe to officially abandon its pagan traditions and convert to Christianity in 1387." Weinstein proposes another example of the viking influence on 'pagan metal; Graveland from Poland, whose album Thousand Swords (1995) features a wide variety of folk styles mixed with black metal and covers themes of Polish history and Slavic gods.