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viking black metal

Viking Black Metal

Sweden · 1990s
EpicDarkIntenseSentimentalSad

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Description

Viking black metal is a branch of black metal that fuses the raw, tremolo‑picked riffing, blast beats, and rasped vocals of the second wave with epic, folkloric melodies and overtly Norse/Viking themes. It keeps the cold, minor‑key harmonic language and lo‑to‑mid‑fi edge of black metal while foregrounding saga‑like storytelling, pagan spirituality, and nature worship.

Musically, the style balances aggression with grandeur: mid‑tempo, martial passages in 6/8 or 12/8 often sit beside faster blast sections; choirs, baritone clean refrains, and atmospheric keyboards broaden the scope; and occasional folk timbres (acoustic guitar, tagelharpa, Hardanger fiddle, flutes) deepen the archaic mood. The result is simultaneously windswept and heroic—dark yet triumphant.

History

Origins (late 1980s–early 1990s)

Bathory (Sweden) pioneered Norse‑themed, epic metal on Blood Fire Death (1988) and Hammerheart (1990), bridging early black metal ferocity with stately, hymn‑like writing. Around the same time, the Norwegian second wave of black metal provided the raw sonic template—icy tremolo riffs, blast beats, and harsh vocals—that would remain central to viking black metal.

Codification (mid–late 1990s)

Bands such as Enslaved, Einherjer, Helheim, and Mithotyn began merging Norwegian/Scandinavian folk modalities and Viking lyrical concepts with black metal’s sound. Long‑form songs, chant‑like clean vocals, and atmospheric keyboards became common, while artwork and imagery drew on runes, longships, and saga motifs.

Expansion and Refinement (2000s)

The style broadened across Europe. Falkenbach (Germany) and Moonsorrow (Finland) emphasized cinematic scope and folk coloration, while Windir (Norway) brought melodic poignancy and regional dialect to the genre. Production gradually became clearer without losing the genre’s frosty character, and some bands integrated progressive, symphonic, or ambient elements.

2010s–present

Contemporary acts often juxtapose traditional black metal intensity with spacious, post‑ and folk‑influenced arrangements. Authentic instruments, Old Norse/Scandinavian languages, and historically informed themes remain common. While tangential scenes have occasionally courted controversy, the core musical lineage persists as a distinctly northern, mythic strain within black metal.

Aesthetics and Themes

Lyrics typically reference Norse mythology, pre‑Christian rites, seafaring, harsh landscapes, and personal honor. Visuals favor runic typography, fjords, winter imagery, and woodcut‑style art, underscoring the music’s epic, ancestral focus.

How to make a track in this genre

Core Instrumentation and Tuning
•   Guitars: High‑gain, tight distortion; E or D standard (or drop tunings) for weight. Layer at least two rhythm tracks for a wide, icy wall. •   Bass: Double the guitars on key riffs; add counter‑melodies in calmer sections. •   Drums: Alternate blast beats and skank beats with mid‑tempo, martial grooves (6/8 or 12/8) and half‑time stomps. Use cymbal swells and tom rolls for transitions. •   Keys/folk colors: Pads, choirs, strings, or organ for atmosphere; optional folk timbres (acoustic guitar, tagelharpa, fiddles, wooden flutes) for thematic passages.
Harmony and Melody
•   Favor Aeolian and Dorian modes; weave in modal folk flavors (mixolydian cadences, pedal drones, parallel fifths/octaves). •   Write memorable, chant‑like motifs; develop them through sequence and call‑and‑response between guitars and keys. •   Use sustained pedal tones (open strings) under moving melodies to evoke vast, windswept spaces.
Riff and Rhythm Design
•   Combine tremolo‑picked, minor‑key lead lines with power‑chord foundations. •   Interleave fast blast sections (for ferocity) with mid‑tempo, rolling 6/8 “oar‑stroke” feels (for seafaring/martial imagery). •   Employ gallops and triplet figures to transition from aggression to grandeur.
Vocals and Lyrics
•   Primary: harsh, rasped vocals for verses. •   Contrast: baritone clean chants or layered male choirs on refrains/peaks. •   Topics: Norse mythology, sagas, rites, nature, fate, and honor. Use vivid, concrete imagery and archaic diction; consider Scandinavian languages or Old Norse for authenticity.
Arrangement and Form
•   Aim for 6–10 minute arcs. Open with ambient/folk intro, surge into blast‑driven verses, broaden with a mid‑tempo, choir‑backed refrain, and conclude with an extended, melodic coda. •   Orchestrate dynamics: drop to acoustic/keyboard interludes before the final climax.
Production Aesthetics
•   Keep clarity but avoid over‑polish; preserve grit in guitars and roomy reverb on vocals/choirs for a windswept feel. •   Pan doubled rhythms hard L/R; sit leads and choirs center‑top with supportive, dark pads beneath.
Quick Starting Template
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    Write a tremolo lead in A Dorian over pedal A with a counter‑riff in fifths.

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    Arrange verse (blast) → refrain (6/8 march + clean chant) → ambient break (drone/folk) → reprise and extended coda.

     •   

    Add rune‑like, chantable refrain text and layered choir harmonies.

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Influenced by
Black Metal
Black metal is a form of extreme metal defined by fast tempos, tremolo‑picked guitar lines, blast‑beat drumming, shrieked or rasped vocals, and a deliberately raw, icy production aesthetic. Harmonically, it favors minor and modal collections (especially Aeolian and Phrygian), open-string drones, parallel fifths and fourths, tritones, and sparse or suspended chord voicings over blues-derived harmony. Arrangements often employ layered guitars, long-form song structures, and enveloping reverb to create a bleak, otherworldly atmosphere. The genre’s visual and thematic language is equally distinctive: corpse paint, monochrome artwork, and lyrics exploring anti-dogma, nature, pagan myth, cosmic nihilism, and misanthropy. While some scenes have been associated with controversy and extremism, the musical identity centers on sound, atmosphere, and aesthetics rather than any single ideology.
Heavy Metal
Heavy metal is a loud, guitar-driven style of rock defined by heavily distorted riffs, thunderous drums, and powerful vocals. Its musical language emphasizes minor modes, modal (Aeolian, Phrygian) riffing, and energy over groove, often featuring virtuosic guitar solos and dramatic dynamic contrasts. Emerging from late-1960s blues rock and psychedelic experimentation, heavy metal codified a darker, heavier sound with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin. The genre values weight, intensity, and grandeur—whether through plodding, doom-laden tempos or galloping, high-energy rhythms—paired with themes that range from personal struggle and social critique to fantasy, mythology, and the occult.
Nordic Folk Music
Nordic folk music is the traditional and revivalist music of the Nordic region—primarily Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, with close ties to Sámi traditions. It centers on dance tunes (such as polska, springar, halling, hambo, polka and schottis), story ballads, and distinctive vocal styles like runo-singing and kulning (cattle-calling). Characteristic timbres come from regional instruments: the Swedish nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), the Norwegian hardanger fiddle (with sympathetic strings), Finnish kantele, various diatonic accordions, jaw harp, willow flute, and goat horn. Melodic language often employs modal scales (Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian), drones, and ornamented fiddle lines, with flexible meter and asymmetrical triple-time feels in many local dance traditions. Modern Nordic folk ranges from historically informed performance to innovative ensembles that blend traditional forms with contemporary harmony, improvisation, electronics, and global influences—while retaining the dance-driven pulse, modal color, and narrative focus that define the style.
Pagan Folk
Pagan folk is a contemporary folk style that draws on pre‑Christian European traditions, mythologies, and seasonal rites. It emphasizes acoustic, hand‑crafted instruments, trance‑like percussion, and communal chanting to evoke a ritual, nature‑centric atmosphere. Musically it is modal (often Aeolian, Dorian, and pentatonic), drone‑friendly, and rhythmically driven by frame drums, stomps, and simple ostinatos. Timbres from hurdy‑gurdy, lyres, tagelharpa, nyckelharpa, flutes, and bagpipes are common, with layered vocals ranging from intimate laments to massed, call‑and‑response chants. Aesthetically it sits between neo‑medieval revivalism, dark/ritual folk, and world/ethereal traditions, but unlike folk metal it avoids heavy guitars and drum kits, favoring earthy, organic production and a strong sense of ceremony.
Thrash Metal
Thrash metal is a fast, aggressive, and riff‑driven style of metal characterized by high-tempo, palm‑muted downpicking; tightly synchronized rhythm sections; and abrasive, shouted or barked vocals. Songs typically sit in the 180–220+ BPM range, with rapid alternate picking, chugging power‑chord riffs, and precise double‑bass drumming. Harmonically, thrash favors minor tonalities, chromatic movement, tritone tension, and modal flavors such as Phrygian and Aeolian. Structures are riff-centric and often feature brisk tempo changes, sharp stops/starts, and technically demanding solos that draw on pentatonic, natural/harmonic minor, and modal runs. Lyrically, thrash is frequently anti‑authoritarian and socio‑political, addressing war, corruption, media manipulation, and personal alienation. Compared to speed metal, thrash is more percussive, staccato, and palm‑mute heavy; compared to death metal, vocals are generally less guttural and the riffing slightly less dissonant, but the intensity and precision remain core to the style.
Danish Metal
Danish metal refers to the heavy metal output and scene originating from Denmark, spanning classic heavy metal, thrash, death, black, power, groove, and modern hybrid styles. It is internationally known both for its pioneering contribution to the first wave of black metal (via Mercyful Fate and the theatrical solo work of King Diamond) and for its durable, high-craft tradition of riff-driven, melodically rich heavy metal (Pretty Maids), alongside influential thrash (Artillery, Invocator) and death/groove lineages (Illdisposed, Konkhra, Hatesphere). In the 2000s, the scene broadened its mainstream visibility through Volbeat’s hook-forward fusion of metal, hard rock, and rockabilly, while underground currents continued to cultivate progressive, melodic, and extreme variants. Across its many branches, Danish metal is marked by crisp musicianship, a taste for dramatic storytelling, and a balance of European melody with aggressive rhythmic precision.
Swedish Metal
Swedish metal is an umbrella term for the metal music created in Sweden, notable for its blend of muscular riffing, dark atmospheres, and a pronounced sense of melody. It encompasses the Stockholm death metal sound with its trademark HM‑2 “buzzsaw” guitars, the Gothenburg school of melodic death metal with harmonized leads and catchy choruses, epic doom metal’s grandeur, and forward‑thinking rhythmic experimentation. Across styles it is recognized for high production standards, songcraft that balances aggression with hooks, and a lyrical palette ranging from Norse myth and epic history to existential introspection. Swedish metal’s breadth—spanning black, death, doom, power, progressive, and more—has made it one of the most influential national scenes in metal history.
Has influenced
Folk Metal
Folk metal blends the power and riff-driven intensity of heavy metal with melodies, instruments, scales, and storytelling traditions from regional folk music. Typical arrangements combine distorted guitars, bass, and drums with fiddles, flutes, whistles, bagpipes, accordions, hurdy-gurdies, bouzoukis, and other traditional instruments. Bands often draw on myth, history, and local folklore for lyrical themes, ranging from epic sagas and battle hymns to drinking songs and pastoral ballads. The style spans a spectrum from aggressive and blackened approaches to upbeat, danceable, and festive moods, making it one of metal’s most diverse and regionally distinctive subgenres.
Melodic Black Metal
Melodic black metal blends the cold, tremolo-picked fury of second‑wave black metal with the twin‑guitar harmonies, lead motifs, and songcraft associated with melodic death metal. It retains rasped vocals, blast beats, and a bleak atmosphere, but favors clearer production, memorable guitar themes, and dramatic minor‑key progressions over lo‑fi abrasion. The result is a sound that is simultaneously aggressive and epic, often evoking wintery landscapes, nihilism, myth, and existential grandeur.
Atmospheric Black Metal
Atmospheric black metal is a branch of black metal that emphasizes immersive, expansive soundscapes and mood as much as raw aggression. It typically blends tremolo‑picked guitars, blast beats, and harsh vocals with sustained synthesizer pads, reverbs, field recordings, and long-form, meditative song structures. The genre often evokes images of nature, wintry or forested environments, and cosmic vastness. Production ranges from lo‑fi, foggy textures to clear but distant mixes that preserve a sense of space. Harmonically, it leans on minor and modal colors, drones, and repeating motifs to create a trance-like intensity rather than riff-showmanship. Where traditional black metal can be claustrophobically fierce, atmospheric black metal opens the sonic frame—slower passages, ambient interludes, and dynamic arcs are common—so that ferocity and serenity coexist within the same piece.
Symphonic Black Metal
Symphonic black metal fuses the speed, tremolo-picked riffing, and shrieked vocals of black metal with orchestral writing, choirs, and cinematic arrangements. It expands the genre’s raw ferocity into a grand, theatrical sound that can feel both infernal and majestic. Keyboards or full orchestras handle strings, brass, and choral parts that support or counterpoint the guitars, while blast beats and double‑kick patterns drive the intensity. Harmonically, it leans on minor modes, chromatic motion, and diminished sonorities, often evoking Romantic and late‑Romantic classical drama. Lyrical themes tend toward the occult, mythology, Gothic romance, and horror, and productions range from deliberately grim to highly polished, integrating extreme metal power with film‑score scale.
Pagan Folk
Pagan folk is a contemporary folk style that draws on pre‑Christian European traditions, mythologies, and seasonal rites. It emphasizes acoustic, hand‑crafted instruments, trance‑like percussion, and communal chanting to evoke a ritual, nature‑centric atmosphere. Musically it is modal (often Aeolian, Dorian, and pentatonic), drone‑friendly, and rhythmically driven by frame drums, stomps, and simple ostinatos. Timbres from hurdy‑gurdy, lyres, tagelharpa, nyckelharpa, flutes, and bagpipes are common, with layered vocals ranging from intimate laments to massed, call‑and‑response chants. Aesthetically it sits between neo‑medieval revivalism, dark/ritual folk, and world/ethereal traditions, but unlike folk metal it avoids heavy guitars and drum kits, favoring earthy, organic production and a strong sense of ceremony.
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