Yes I'm looking for recommendations & I have read the "sticky post" on the proper way to do this.

I'm mainly an old school death metal fan (but like plenty of newer bands as well): Morbid Angel, Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, Dismember, Grave, Behemoth. The Amenta, Bloodbath & My Dying Bride.

I also am a huge fan of Pan Thy Monium & Sear Bliss. I thoroughly enjoy the varied sound of the non traditional metal instruments (also a sucker for medieval/renaissance sounds).

I don't care for TYR - too happy/power metal sounding. I prefer harsh vocals, but I like clean since it brings a balance (ala My Dying Bride).

I just started listening to the newest FINNTROLL, sounds pretty good even thought it has that happy/silly sound to some of it. I don't really want too many of these type of bands. 1 is enough. I want more serious & aggressive ones.

I tried ELUVEITIE but is too way too Gothernburgh-y for me. The folk influences sounded great, but otherwise is was "by the numbers" melo-death. I want it to sound natural & sincere, not "gimmicky".

Also, I'm NOT a fan of traditional black metal (DarkThrone, etc.). My favorite BM albums are: Marduk - Those of the Unlight & Absu - Barathrum. So I can do black metal, but only to a certain extent.

I did downloaded a few albums by (no chance to listen yet):
Suidakra, Askival, Equilibrium & Forefather

Feel free to ask me any other questions and thanks for your help.

You may like Nokturnal Mortum's album Weltanschauung. It's got a shit ton of folk music in it with a combo of harsh and clean vocals (mostly harsh). Production is good but you should know that it is NS (National Socialist) so this may turn you off of it. If you can look past the ideology then you should like the music.

Ensiferum
Moonsorrow
Vintersorg
Agalloch
Korpiklaani
Turisas
Kivimetsän druidi (harsh vocals + woman vocals)
Falkenbach
Trollfest
Wintersun

Early Aeturnus might be to your liking. Not so much folk instruments used, but it still borrows a lot from folk music. It's based in what I'd cal blackened death metal though, even if I constantly hear it referred to as black metal.

If you're into death metal but want some folk flavour then you should definitely check out Thronar.

Also give Arkona (Russian pagan metal) a hearing. A great balance of a harsh and clean sound. Especially their album Vo Slavu Velikim!

Are you a troll? What kind of a human being recommends Kivimetsän Druidi to ANYONE?

Kivimetsan Druidi is quite good, but not exactly fitting to this recommendation. Neither is Trollfest (he said 1 Finntroll sounding band was enough), Turisas, Thronar or Korpiklaani.

However, I second Arkona as well as maybe looking a bit more into Forefather, outstanding bands. If you happen to listen to Ensiferum and enjoy that sorta sound, then definitely check out Wolfchant. If not, definitely do NOT check out Falchion..

Other possibilites would be Thrudvangar for the harsher folk, XIV Dark Centuries for the medieval lighter folk, Pagan Reign for the highly melodic and harsher folk.

Most importantly would be; Asmegin's debut, Svartsot's Ravnenes Sagas, Waylander for great blackened Celtic folk metal - go with Reawakening Pride Once Lost. Others for the 'black' style is Menhir or Gernotshagen.

The_Boss gave you enough bands to keep you busy for a while. I'd recommend starting with the more accesable bands before delving into Thrudvangar or Gernotshagen. But when you're ready for more, I think Slavland and Skyforger would appeal to you.

If you're looking for epic viking metal, I couldn't recommend Manegarm's discography any higher. And if you liked Equilibrium, Thyrfing are a sort of similar, but more harsh and dark band.

Skyforger and Manegarm are also great bands to look into, not sure how I passed over both of them

Basically any Manegarm album is safe to check out, but I'd recommend their newest one, Varstenen, as a starting point. You can read my review of the album on this site.

Music seems to be decent, but those photos on the Myspace page make this band tough to take seriously. God, those are the epitome of lame

Thanks to everyone for all the recommendations, WOW that was fast.

I'll check back & let you know which ones I liked.

Try Finsterforst, excellent german band with a full time accordian player, it works extremely well with their music.

Forget all other recs and listen to Svartsot's debut.

Here's more of a "left field" sorta rec, but have you ever heard of Cadaverous Condition? Here's the info from MA:



So, maybe you will like them, maybe not

----------------
Now playing: Mudvayne - Mercy, Severity
via FoxyTunes

Ummmmm.....

How 'bout Bathory. Every era except the shit Octagon one.

This right here is the place to start. Svartsot is probably the only Folk band that could lose their folk instruments and sound like pure death metal. It's a pity that they have already disbanded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8hmszzyxxw


Also, very good choice in picking up Forefather. They have been consistently getting better and their latest release, "Steadfast", is phenomenal. 10 years from now when we look back on 2008, it will surely be a top 5 album no matter what type of metal you listen to.


Moonsorrow is also an awesome band. Their music is better taken in one album at a time instead of on a song by song basis. I recommend listening to "Kivenkantaja", letting it gestate for a week, and then listening to it again.

^

Well said, brother. Kivenkantaja is definitely my faveourite release from the titans of Moonsorrow. An album that I can come back to at any time and just expect brilliance. It's timeless, so make sure to give that one a hearing.

Have you tried Primordial?

Well for Pagan I can recommend you Hellveto, especially these albums: In Arms of Kurpian Phantom, Klatwa, Prelude to Dying, Zmierzch, In the Glory of Heroes.

I am not sure if this is what you are looking for, but Hellveto is still kick-ass.

Also I second, third or whatever Svartsot and Moonsorrow for them being awesome.

Heol Telwen maybe. They play very class blackened folk and sometimes incorporate the Breton language into their songs I think.

I'm going to suggest "Encrusted In An Oaken Legend", the only 7" by CERECLOTH (UK).

The music is "...a mixture of tight and technical MORBID ANGEL-style Death Metal (plus some Doom/Death touches) with SKYCLAD-esque Folk Metal riffs." (quoted from my blog, where you can download it...).

They also released a demo, but this had no real Folk influence.

Somebody already mentioned Arkona but I'll second them since they rule.

Oh, and Orphaned Land comes HIGHLY recommended.

you should try Nar Mattaru

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D8JgkxJnsI

Ensiferum (their self entitled album)

Moonsorrow, although they have heavy black metal elements

Vintersorg although they have heavy progressive influences.

Windir, although once again black metal influences.

Okay, I've exhausted myself and checked out every single band mentioned in this thread. I've narrowed it down to these bands (in no particular order):

---Standouts---
Nar Mattaru
Svartsot
Asmegin
Manegarm
Arkona

--The rest--
Primordial
Thyrfing
Finsterforst
Thronar
Pagan Reign
Agalloch
XIV Dark Centuries
Moonsorrow (any folk in it, sounds like total BM?)
Orphaned Land
Waylander
---------------------------------------------------------------

Nokturnal Mortem I liked but I can't get past the NSBM, totally kills it for me.

Also downloaded the Cerecloth. Thanks again everyone for all the recommendations. Pleasantly surprised to get sooo many posts in such a short period of time

Which Moonsorrow material did you listen to? Check out their album Kivenkantaja. It's very folk. And I agree about Nokturnal Mortum - I hate NSBM.

Check out Skyforger's first demo rerelease Semigalls' Warchant. I think you may enjoy how that one sounds.

I did forget to mention: Eluveitie

I'm noticing that even though I'm a death metal weenie, the folk doesn't work as good with the death metal as it does with the black metal or the less brutal material.

Somthing like Arkona feels soooo much more natural, which is what I'm prefering to go along with my "folk-ey-ness"

Yeah, Arkona are just great. Their latest album was excellent, check out my review for it.

I don't like that much folk metal, but I would definitely recommend Manegarm. Manegarm is very heavy yet still retains the folk sound. You might also like Guahaihoque(not sure if spelling is correct) from Colombia.

Also you might like Vintersorg, but my favorite cd by them is not really folk. Check out Cosmic Genesis and for the folkish Vintersorg try Till Fjalls.

Moonlyght you might like this one

I couldn't agree more on this one. Svartsot simply impressed me when i first listened to the entire album.

This thread has a really simple answer: Molested. Basically experimental death metal with folk influences before either folk or viking metal became popular. The description makes it sound like a gimmick band but they're actually really good, like a death metal version of Enslaved or a Incantation mixed with Norwegian folk music.

You also might like some of the older, more serious "metal"-sounding folk metal bands like Storm, Otyg and Isengard. Glittertind too.

I also recommend checking out Ensiferum. Don't hold a grudge against them if they're "happy sounding", they really are one of the best bands in this genre and chock full of ass-kicking energy. Their first two albums are the ones to listen to first.

And since you said you liked Finntroll, you might like Korpiklaani. It's in the same vein but less "dark" and circusy than Finntroll, and more punkish and revolving around folk instruments.

Seconding Arkona too, Vo Slavu Velikim is great!