by Loucifer

Created on: May 29, 2007

I whole-heartedly agree that folk music is coming back into the lime-light. Even as an avid Metalhead I have found myself listening to a lot of folk-inspired bands.

One such band that deserves a mention is Finntroll. This band hails from Finland, but a lot of their lyrics are in Swedish. The reason I have the urge to mention them here is that while they are most definitely a metal band, they also encorporate obvious folk instruments and ideas into their music. Because of this, their style of music is often referred to as Folk Metal, or (more specifically to Finntroll) Polka Metal.... and they're not the only ones. Some others who are worth taking the time to check out are - Skyclad, Korpiklaani, Elvenking and The Butterfly Temple. There are also many bands that are described as "Viking Metal", but a lot of the time this creates the same sort of sound - it's just that the lyrical themes are a little different.

Folk Metal isn't really a new invention, despite only really becoming it's own genre and gaining popularity in recent years. Many a band have combined the odd folkish element into their music (maybe the odd track or two) and sometimes it goes unnoticed.

Folk is most definitely finding it's way into the mainstream - especially as far as Metal is concerned anyway.

Learn more about this author, Loucifer.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.