I don't know where it became a bad album. When has Tyr ever during the course of modern history released something that was even remotely good to begin with?

Bathory's viking era owns everything Tyr has ever done, and that includes the atrocious vocals on Hammerheart.

I've also seen Tyr live. Not about to do so again, I can tell you. They sucked. Bad.

This man speaks the truth. I could never get into Tyr. They just sound so tame.

Well, is folk supposed to be untame? I mean, Moonsorrow's later works are tame but they still sound brilliant.

Eh, it's obviously based on opinion.

Not the type that I enjoy. And we must have different definitions of tame, because Moonsorrow's later stuff is anything but that. Listen to the vocals on Verisäkeet; absolutely throat-tearing brilliance. What I meant by them being tame is that I could never really get much out of their music. It seemed to just be there, never really doing much or emoting much. Hmm, maybe I should listen to them again. I did enjoy one or two songs.

By the way, did you enjoy Myrkgrav? (It was you I recommended that to, yeah?)

I'm wrong about Moonsorrow. I was talking about the whole acoustic interludes and intros and all that. The vocals and everything though, are very "untame". That was a bad example. The main question I was trying to get across was: Is folk metal supposed to be untame?

Now that I think of it, Tyr is tame in folk metal as Necrophagist is in death metal. If I were to compare. Thats not very relevant though.

Yeah! Trollskau, Skrømt og Kølabrenning is brilliant. The band picture is pretty awesome as well. Thanks!

I didn't know them and... fuck, I have to buy that album right now! Incredible album, extremely original. Thanks you two!

Wow, people have really turned on Tyr lately. After "Eric the Red" was reissued by Napalm, I never read a negative word about them. I think they're a pretty interesting and unique band, though not one of my favorites.

I must say that the review said it was pretty awesome, yet it had horrible vocals, and the whole thing was rather plain and boring, and the fifth song that had a part that consisted only of drums was even more horrid. So bleh, I wouldn't recommend that to anyone, even though it's my own personal opinion. I also wouldn't recommend Nokturnal Mortum, except for Goat Horns album, but meh.

However, from this thread, I got:
Enslaved - Vikinglr Veldi
Svartsot - Ravnenes Saga
Sorgsvart - 2006 and 2008 album with the unspellable names

I must say that the only one which didn't appeal me so much was Sorgsvart's 2008, but all the others are recommended to anyone who reads this post. ^^ Especially Svartsot, I haven't heard this much awesomeness in a while. Metal instruments + Flute + Harsh Vocal = Epic Win ^^

Also, Temnozor's Horizons... is a great album.

Horizons... is great, but Folkstorms is better.

I prefer Horizons, because the vocals on Folkstorm of the Azure Nights has that "slavonic shout" effect on the vocals too much. I don't say it's bad or anything, Arkona for example is one of the best songs I have ever heard, but I truly prefer Horizons in feeling and stuff like that. For example, Landscapes of Ice is my ringtone.

Some people might attack me now, but I think Borknagar's first album wasn't bad (I HATE THEIR LATER STUFF), Windir's first and second were better than their latter and were awesome, and Eluveitie's Slania is not even close to Spirit in any way, Spirit had a lot of folky stuff while on Slania there is not enough of it, only at some places, Spirit had a better structure all in all, and had better songs as well.

ChtoniC's new album is something I recommend to anyone, it's just so epic in every way. Female vocals, different types of male vocals, original instruments, etc, everything done right! ^^

I love that "Slavonic shout," Temnozor does it perfectly. As for Chthonic, I only have Relentless Occurrence (the packaging is amazing) and it's pretty damn good, though I don't often listen to it.

I've never heard Borknagar's first album, but I liked "The Olden Domain." I didn't like any of the later stuff I heard.

I agree with you about Windir. I like 1194 and Likferd, but there's something awesome about the first two albums that they lost later on. Arntor in particular is one of my favorite albums in the genre.

I don't quite agree with you about Eluveitie, though. I think Slania and Spirit are very close, but with Slania the folky stuff is mixed in with the metal better. In Spirit, the folky stuff stuck out more because it was often kept separate from the metal. That's what I've observed, at least.

Also, what do you think of Dalriada (fomerly Echo of Dalriada)? They seem to be somewhat popular in your country, but I've never heard a Hungarian's opinion on the band. I'm a big fan of their music.

Actually even though I'm hungarian I never really checked them out, I guess it's time to change that. Then I'll be sure to post my opinions on it. They are famous among hungarian metallers who like Folk metal, but usually I don't listen to bands that have hungarian lyrics. Dunno why.

Borknagar's The Olden Domain was nice as well, I prefer the first album though. The albums after The Olden Domain are quite close to horrid, there are a few good parts (I think on Quintessence?) but for example Origin and Epic were albums that I listened to, and deleted after the first listen. So meh.

Same here! Arkona and As The Autumn Razor Sing Above My Veins are my favorite songs! The Slavonic shout is what its all about! Plus, I think his vocals are awesome.



I thought Slania was a really good album. There was a lot of folk in it as well. Unless we are listening to 2 seperate albums. I mean, did you listen to the whole album? Spirit has some pretty unfolky moments as well such as Of Fire, Wind & Wisdom. That song is pretty based upon melodeath.

Mabye thats just me...I thought both albums were simply brilliant in every single way.

Those are my favs on the album too. This is the whole pont, those are the best songs, and the outro, the others are kinda weird in a way. The slavonic shout effect sounds nice in those, ESPECIALLY in Arkona, but I personally don't find it appealing in Folkstorm of the Azure Nights, for example (SONG).

I'll check out Dalriada a bit more when I'm not busy preparing for my exam... >.<

Well, I have found a band in this forum that might have been mentioned in this thread, but still, it's so awesome I have to mention it again.

Arkona [Rus] - Vo Slavu Velikim album. It's just so godly, so many instruments, so diverse, so variable... And so beautiful... I recommend it!

That's a boooooooring album. Seriously, if that's the only Arkona you've heard, you must listen to more. Check out Vozrozhdenie (AMAZING album) and Ot Serdtsa K Nebu. Both better albums, and much more interesting.

Oh, sorry about the confusion, I meant that that was all the Folk metal I had gotten into, but I was looking for something that had more of an emphasis on Folk instead of the metallic aspects of Folk Metal.

And thanks for the recs.

I remember someone here asking about Melodic Death/Folk and not getting any good recs, but I've found an amazing one. Runic. They only have one review here on their archives, but they are a very quality band. They have one album and it's incredible. Runic combines aggression with beauty in perfect harmony. Also recommended for those who like Folk Metal that doesn't overdo the Folk. Definitely on par with, if not better than Eluveitie, Falchion and bands like them.

Nobody listens to Menhir?

http://www.myspace.com/menhirofficial

http://www.myspace.com/menhirband


there's Allegiance in the black/viking metal genre. no folk instruments except some acoustic guitars here and there.

http://www.myspace.com/allegiance666

Hell yes. I just discovered their music yesterday and I must say, Allegiance are great. "Hymn till Hangagud" is my favorite album. Though the Folk elements on the album are subtle, the riffing stays intense and the overall song structure of the album is very diverse. Excellent band.

If Menhir are anything at all like Allegiance, I'll be sure to give them a listen as well.

I love the band. "Hildebrandslied" was my second favorite metal CD of 2007 (after Moonsorrow).

I'm looking for stuff that sounds as much like Ensiferum's self titled as possible. It is my favorite album of all time and no other folk metal I've heard is quite like it. Falchion was supposed to sound like them but they lacked the clean vocals which are really a huge part of Ensiferum's sound, so they weren't very satisfying. I don't care if it's a total ripoff, just suggest things you believe have some similarity to that sound and you will have helped.

although it's not in the same vibe you might like Wintersun, it's the band of Ensiferum's former singer. It's more powermetal than folkmetal

You might like Wolfchant's "A Pagan Storm." I'm not sure if it's any closer to the first Ensiferum album than Falchion, though.

Could Corvus Corax fit here???

definitely check out Metsatoll, fucking best folk metal.

Could somebody recommend folk/viking metal with a dark atmosphere, however epic and beautiful at the same time. I'd like to see clean vocals and played slowly at a doom-like pace.

I saw something similar to this a few pages back and it hadn't recieved any replies.

Check out Sankaritarina by Moonsorrow.

Perhaps Ereb Altor or Scald may be what you're looking for. Neither are very folky, but they are both Viking-themed doom and feature clean vocals.

If you're not opposed to a mixture of clean and harsh vocals, or Russian lyrics, you might enjoy Vo Skorbyah, which is a mix of folk and funeral doom. Their self-titled album was in my top 5 metal CD's of 2007.

Some of the better metal releases I've heard this year have been folk/viking metal records, which is a pleasant surprise since I love this subgenre of metal.

I'm specifically namedropping:

Equilibrium's "Sagas" - heavy and epic, but intermittently features a soft and gentle folk sound that I find works well to complement that overall power of the music
Eluveitie's "Slania" - most people are disappointed with this one, but I'm enjoying it. Good mix of melodeth and celtic folk music.

Great albums.

Those two are obviously by far the best Viking/Folk albums of the last year. They are simply fantastic and will be at the top of the heirarchy for years to come; I love both those albums.

Also I've recently discovered Heidevolk, an excellent Viking metal band was wondering if anyone could recommend (besides the famous obvious ones) bands that sound very similar.

Menhir and Gernotshagen, two of the better underground German bands. Not particularly "doomy" but folky, clean and harsh vocals, and incredible beauty mixed with the heaviness. And, oh yeah, EPIC.

Metsatoll has already been mentioned on this thread, but that would be my suggestion. They're not "Viking" related, but they have a similar style to Heidevolk.

assuming you didnt listen to Vargenstenen by manegarm? #1 viking/folk cd of all time my nigga check it out!


And I hope all of you in the US are planning to go to Heathen Crusade in November

www.heathencrusade.com

I'm looking for raw viking/black metal without keys or folk elements and especially without wind instruments. I personally find the combination of flutes and metal as a stupid combination (not to mention it sounds like Jethro Tull's "Aqualung"), and I don't think that Vikings lived in San Fransisco, California. Ultimately, if there's a band that sounds more like Maniac Butcher with viking themes, that'd be prime listening to these ears.

For those that don't know the band Kamaedzitca and are fans of Asmegin, Heidevolk, Skyforger, Slavland, etc. Check out the new album "Pyarune".

thye play Pagan Black/Death that is variably epic and powerful. The vocals can be Black/Death vocals but sometimes have vocals like Heidevolk and others that have throat singing.

I'm looking for bands that worship Vikings and the Gods in the vein of Amon Amarth.
Most bands mentioned here are very close to Black Metal which I'll probably give a miss...

Well, they did terrorised America (was known as Vinland) in the Viking Ages...

The Canadian band Bloodaxe might be to your liking. They play very raw viking/black metal and, as far as I remember, I don't think they use any keys or wind instruments. I haven't listened to them in a while, so I could be wrong. But I do remember them being pretty awesome.