As a metal-head, I have to ask...! What is this "folk-metal" subgenre that (ahem) someone keeps talking about

Question

Seriously...a new type of metal is born at least every year, so what bands are folk metal?

Answer 1

folk metal is an offshoot of black metal and viking metal. it uses more melody's than ether kinda like the newer burzum albums imagine black metal sang with melody's and harmony's and put an occasional Norse storyline to it all

Answer 2

Folk metal is metal that basically just tells stories like folk music would. Bands like that generally produce concept albums and usually blend folk metal with other subgenres. The only folk metal band I can think of off the top of my head is Wintersun, who is also a melodic black metal band and one of my personal favorites.

Answer 3

Folk metal has been around for quite some time; we just been too busy to recognize it's value to the metal genre.

Most music critics consider Metallica to lead the few into this intricate marriage of acoustic guitar with the sharp crunch/sting of "Italian metal" tuned guitars. Of their song portfolio, Metallica's "Unforgiven" I think nails the folk-metal genre by example.

Other examples are songs like "Silent Lucidity" by Extreme and you'll even find some in the song portfolio of Whitesnake as well.

Any song blending acoustics w/ metal guitar--and some well written lyrics bordering on athem--is, in my view, prime examples of Folk Metal.

Answer 4

Folk metal is just as what it's called, a mixture of folk musical style and metal style.

-snip of info from wikipedia:-
Folk metal bands can come across as vastly different from one another.The differences apply to both the metal base of the music as well as the folk elements. The range of metal styles in folk metal include black metal, thrash metal, power metal and doom metal.

As most folk metal bands are from Europe, the most common folk music used are European. A Celtic style can be found in such Irish bands as Cruachan, Primordial, Geasa, Waylander and Mael Mórdha as well as bands outside Ireland, including Eluveitie and Tuatha de Danann. Scandinavian folk styles are represented by such bands as Finntroll, Týr, Korpiklaani and Trollfest. Beyond that, one can find many other styles of folk music as pursued by bands from the respective country or ethnic group. This includes Moravian (Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy), Latvian (Skyforger), Lithuanian (Obtest), Estonian (Metsatöll) and Russian (Butterfly Temple, Troll Gnet El), Middle-Eastern (Melechesh, Orphaned Land) and even Native American (Guahaihoque, Tezkatlipoka). Names such as Celtic metal and oriental metal (referring to the Middle-Eastern bands) have been used in reference to these particular styles of folk metal while other neologism such as Native American metal or tribal metal can be commonly found as well.
-end snip from wikipedia-

Other bands that you can look into not listed above

Vintersorg - labeled as viking/folk
Turisas - labeled as folk/symphonic
Agalloch - labeled atmospheric folk

If you want to read the whole info in wikipedia link provided in source.

Yeah with all the subgenres within subgenres it's confusing. Some labels/classification is helpful but when you start splitting hairs it can get confusing, especially when you're starting to listen to a particular style.

Haven't heard much folk metal but of the ones I've heard I liked most of them.

la2

Answer 5

lol- that's why I asked aHEM, to define it. The genres couldn't be any More different. Like saying "gangsta rap muzak"!

-Edit-

Weesy:

Metal in general has a looong traditon of using fantasy imagery in the lyrics. Ain't new to this "folk metal" thing. Just look at Dio songs/ album covers.

Answer 6

Yep, sounds like the typical closed mindedness to different music styles that most here tend to have. I'll throw ya a few bands of choice and it's up to you to form your own opinion.

Subway To Sally from Germany. Imagine Rammstein meets Jethro Tull!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=27423445

Waylander from Northern Ireland mixes Folk with Black Metal with a Celtic style.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=35937790

Finntroll from Finland mixes Black Metal with Viking and Folk, interesting really.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=161265285

Answer 7

As far as I can tell, it's metal with violins, and people writing songs about forests and wizards and **** like that. If you wanna hear some to see if you actually like it, check out Raventhrone, Korpiklaani, or look out for album covers with forests and wizards on them. I personally think this genre sucks, and am perfectly happy with some Dio or Iron Maiden.

Answer 8

a million. (classic) Heavy metallic > stressful rock 2. Thrash metallic > means metallic 3. Groove metallic < hair/glam metallic 4. dying metallic < black metallic 5. modern-day metallic > symphonic metallic 6. determination metallic < commercial metallic 7. Doom metallic or sludge metallic: Its an analogous element. Or a minimum of little or no difference. 8. individuals metallic >gothic metallic? optionally available: I previous college hardcore punk.

Answer 9

Music has gotten to the point that nobody even listens to it anymore. They just endlessly classify it into silly little genres so they'll have something to talk about.

Answer 10

I hope it's not Simon and Garfunkle meets Pantera...lol