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This is a list of Viking metal bands. Viking metal is a style of heavy metal music with origins in black metal and Nordic folk music, characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cross-genre term than genre, but it is typically manifested as black metal with influences from Nordic folk music. Common traits include a slow-paced and heavy riffing style, anthemic choruses, use of both clean and harsh vocals, a reliance on folk instrumentation, and often the use of keyboards for atmospheric effect.

Viking metal emerged during the late-1980s through the mid-1990s as a rejection of Satanism and the occult, instead embracing the Vikings and paganism as the leaders of opposition to Christianity. It is similar, in lyrics, sound, and thematic imagery, to pagan metal, but pagan metal has a broader mythological focus and uses folk instrumentation more extensively. Most Viking metal bands originate from the Nordic countries, and nearly all bands claim that their members descend, directly or indirectly, from Vikings.

Though artists such as Led Zeppelin, Yngwie Malmsteen, Heavy Load, and Manowar have previously dealt with Viking themes, Bathory from Sweden is generally credited with pioneering the style with its albums Blood Fire Death (1988) and Hammerheart (1990), which launched a renewed interest in the Viking Age among heavy metal musicians. Enslaved, from Norway, followed up on this burgeoning Viking trend with Hordanes Land (1993) and Vikingligr Veldi (1994). Burzum, Emperor, Einherjer, and Helheim, among others, helped further develop the genre in the early through mid-1990s. Through the work of artists such as the German project Falkenbach, Viking metal soon spread from the Nordic countries to other nations with Viking history or an even broader Germanic heritage, and has since influenced musicians across the globe. The death metal bands Unleashed and Amon Amarth, which emerged in the early 1990s, also adopted Viking themes, broadening the style from its primarily black metal origin.

Band	Formed	Origin	Notes
Adorned Brood	1993	Germany
Amon Amarth	1992	Sweden
Ancient Rites	1988	Belgium
Ásmegin	1998	Norway
Barbariön	2007	Australia
Bathory	1983	Sweden
Black Messiah	1992	Germany
Borknagar	1995	Norway
Brothers of Metal	2012	Sweden
Burzum	1988	Norway
Claim the Throne	2004	Australia
Darkwoods My Betrothed	1992	Finland
Destroy Destroy Destroy	2003	United States
Doomsword	1997	Italy
Drottnar	1996	Norway
Einherjer	1993	Norway
Elexorien	2004	Netherlands
Eluveitie	2002	Switzerland
Emperor	1991	Norway
Ensiferum	1995	Finland
Enslaved	1991	Norway
Equilibrium	2001	Germany
Falkenbach	1989	Germany
Fejd	2001	Sweden
Finntroll	1997	Finland
Finsterforst	2004	Germany
Folkearth	2003	International
Folkodia	2007	International
Forefather	1997	England
Glittertind	2001	Norway
Grand Magus	1996	Sweden
Heidevolk	2002	Netherlands
Heilung	2014	Germany, Denmark, Norway
Hel	1999	Sweden
Helheim	1992	Norway
Holy Blood	1999	Ukraine
Isengard	1989	Norway
Ithilien	2005	Belgium
Kampfar	1994	Norway
King of Asgard	2008	Sweden
Kivimetsän Druidi	2002	Finland
Korpiklaani	2003	Finland
Leaves' Eyes	2003	Germany Norway
Månegarm	1995	Sweden
Metsatöll	1999	Estonia
Mithotyn	1993	Sweden
Myrkgrav	2003	Norway
Moonsorrow	1995	Finland
Obscurity	1997	Germany
Primordial	1987	Ireland
Satyricon	1991	Norway
Skálmöld	2009	Iceland
Skeletonwitch	2003	United States
Slechtvalk	1999	Netherlands
Solefald	1995	Norway
Storm	1994	Norway
Svartsot	2005	Denmark
The Sword	2003	United States
Thyrfing	1995	Sweden
Trollech	1999	Czech Republic
Turisas	1997	Finland
Týr	1998	Faroe Islands
Ulver	1993	Norway
Unleashed	1989	Sweden
Vardøger	1994	Norway
Vintersorg	1994	Sweden
Windir	1994	Norway
Wintersun	2003	Finland
Wolfchant	2003	Germany

See also

• Viking metal
• List of folk metal bands
• List of heavy metal bands
• Heavy metal subgenres

References

• Freeborn, Robert (June 2010). Anderson, Rick (ed.). "A Selective Discography of Scandinavian Heavy Metal Music". Sound Recording Reviews. 66 (4): 840–850.
• Hoad, Catherine (2013). Wilson, Oli; Attfield, Sarah (eds.). "'Hold the Heathen Hammer High' - Viking Metal from the Local to the Global". Shifting Sounds: Musical Flow - A Collection of Papers from the 2012 IASPM Australia/New Zealand Conference. Dunedin: International Association for the Study of Popular Music: 62–70. ISBN 9780975774793.
• Kahn-Harris, Keith (2007). Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge. Oxford: Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84520-399-3.
• Weinstein, Deena (2014). Weston, Donna; Bennett, Andy (eds.). "Pagan Metal". Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781317546658.

Notes

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• Viking metal
• Viking metal musical groups
• Lists of heavy metal bands