Essentially black metal, death metal, thrash metal etc. bands like that have a medieval/"Dark Ages" theme. Since I'm a huge cheesy power metal nut I know the typical medieval theme is used there but I wondered if bands of extreme variety play with that too. I recently got into bands like The Meads of Asphodel who are black metal with a medieval theme (they even wear suits of armor lol) Does anyone know of such bands?

Well, Summoning has a strong medieval vibe on their keyboards and ceirtanly their lyrical themes are somewhat medieval and
also based on Tolkien´s mythology which is pretty related to the same kind of imaginery.

Another band that comes to my mind instantly is Satyricon because of their all time classic, Dark Medieval Times. The title speaks for itself even if its not so clear on the sound of the band, they have a strong medieval/folk reminiscence until Nemesis Divina. If you dig black metal (not in the kvlt ultra lo fi way) you will like this.


Sleipnir is an american black metal band whose lyrics are solely about medieval themes, regarding said imaginery and mixing it with philosophy. I only find their first record, Dark Ages, to be truly worthy.

Bathory, while focused on viking life style, has produced some of the greatest pagan/medieval sounding music ever.

I find black metal to be very medieval when it comes to imaginery and lyrical inspiration. Even the sound makes me think about ancient forests and the black pest. Certain bands like Kampfar or Summoning capture those mental landscapes and fully apply them to their music, which even when It´s not about medieval themes, still has a strong reminiscence and an undeniable influence.


There are lots of doom metal bands with such lyrical themes but from and occultist perspective: Cirith Ungol, The Gates of Slumber, etc...If I think about another recommendation I´ll back!

There's this album, which sounds awesomely medieval. Their next one also has a similar atmosphere but sounds more modern and "Pink Floydian".

Viking metal is generally good for this sort of thing. More specifically, there are a couple of English black/Viking metal bands that play "Anglo-Saxon metal", i.e. music about England's early medieval history. The best among them are to my mind Forefather (the creators of the subgenre - good at catchy hooks without sacrificing too much rawness), Winterfylleth and Wodensthrone (both very atmospheric), and Iceni (raw and atmospheric). All can veer a bit too close to a myopic nationalism, but the music is fantastic.

In Germany, Heimdalls Wacht do atmospheric pagan black metal obsessed with Saxon history, but a lot of their songs are either in German or Low German (awesome to me - how often do you find bands that sing in your regional minority language?). In Scandinavia, you can really take your pick - from Enslaved to Windir bands do medieval themes, often in Old Norse.

Ensiferum play quality melodic black metal with an epic midevil flair

Moonsorrow may also fit the bill. They have a lot of horses and sword clanging in their songs that I love

Suidakra's MA page says they have medieval influences, and they play solid melodic death/black, but I'm not too familiar with them.

Try Obsequiae: http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Obs ... 3540290073