Update 29/01/07 - Moreld added

Update 17/04/07 - Illuminandi added and some minor details changed

Well, it's true, there aren't many Christian folk metal bands around. This guide has the purpose to explore the few folk-influenced metal bands that exist.

1. Arvinger

Arvinger is the Christian viking metal band.
It's a Norwegian two-man-project with some guests like a keyboard player, female vocalists and a violin player.
Some of their songs are more black metal, others more folk metal; chants, choirs, violins etc create an epic sound and keep things interesting.



So far they have released one album titled Helgards Fall as well as one non-album-track titled "Til Evig Tid". This song -as well as two songs from the album- can be downloaded from the official homepage.
Currently they are working on a new album.

In case anyone wonders, the lyrics are in Norwegian.

In my opinion Arvinger are a good band, though the quality is not the best and the vocals could be better; some people are annoyed by the high screams. But if you like sophisticated viking metal, give this band a try.

2. Vardøger

Like Arvinger, Vardøger are from Norway and like Arvinger their songs vary between black metal and folk metal. However their whole style is very different from Arvinger.

So far they have released one EP titled Whitefrozen and one single song Almighty on a compilation which is very hard to get. The songs vary in style:
- "Desert Pale" is an oldschool black metal song
- "Inferno" is mostly black metal too but has a cool folky keyboard solo
- "Silent Witness" is a piano-based black metal "ballad"
- "Footprints of Thunder" is more viking metal with an epic sound
- "Almighty" is a real viking metal song with chants and a folky tune
- "Whitefrozen" finally is an atmospheric folk metal song with clean vocals only



The band has been declared dead for years, but they have played at Endtime Festival in Sweden. It is also rumored that they are working on a new CD, this currently appears unlikely to me though.

I highly recommend this CD to everyone who likes melodic black metal and viking metal. Especially the song "Whitefrozen" is a real masterpiece!
Some of their songs can be checked out at their official myspace.
There's also an old version of "Whitefrozen" with female vocals and Norwegian lyrics.

3. Holy Blood

Finally - the third of the "big three" of Christian folk/viking - is the band Holy Blood from the Ukraine. They started out as a death metal band but with their latest album Waves Are Dancing they have changed to the viking metal genre.



The music is an well-balanced mix of (again very high-pitched) black metal screams, choirs, atmospheric folk interludes and fast, slawic melodies, merry celtic metal and lead guitar parts. It should also be noted that they use real folk instruments like flutes and bagpipes.
If you want to know what the band sounds like, download "The Spring" and "To Heaven" from their official Homepage.

While they can't quite match with the secular rulers of the genre, this is still a strong album from a talented band. You can definitely buy this album, you won't be disappointed.
The band is still active and I'm optimistic, that they will release a new CD someday.

But be warned! Despite the English song titles, the lyrics are in Russian!

Update: The new album "Patriot" is on the way. A first mp3 and a video have been released, visit their homepage for downloads...

4. Vaakevandring

Vaakevandring was an atmospheric black metal band, that only released one Demo. For a long time this CD was hard to get, but meanwhile it was re-released over Momentum Scandinavia.



The music is mostly black metal, but two of the songs have a very folky touch to it, with chants and folky keyboard tunes, (which is the reason that this band is listed here).

To be specific, these two songs are "Fader Vaar" (which is the Lord's Prayer put to viking metal) and "Og Sorgen Stilnet I Smertens Vann". Yes, both songs are in Norwegian, though other Vaakevandring songs are in English.

In my opinion Vaakevandring were one of the best black metal bands the christian scene has ever spawned. Get their CD at any cost, not only for the two folk black metal songs, but also for "Someday", a beautiful, emotional song with great lyrics.

5. Slechtvalk

We're more and more leaving the fields of folk metal, and Slechtvalk from Netherlands are definately black metal, though the folk influences in their music can't be neglected, especially on the latest Album At the Dawn of War.



The band had three vocalists: Shamgar for black metal screams, Fionnghuala for soprano vocals and Othar, who sings cleanly in a very folkish way.
Besides that, the album has some epic elements and an atmospheric flute intro.
Also, the medieval costumes, war paint and weapons the bands wears on stage further encouraged me to list this band here.

So if you're more on the black metal side but still like the middle ages, vikings and fantasy, you will love this band, if not for the uplifting battle hymns.

6. Moreld

Some years ago in the deep forests of Norway there was a folk black metal one-man-project called Myrkheim; this project has evolved into a full band called Moreld, playing folk metal with clean vocals only (both male and female) and a focus on the keyboards.

I just discovered this band yesterday and I like their music very much, the music is a bit weird and dissonant; it makes me think of trolls walking through a mossy forest. Unfortunately they have used a drum computer, so the drum sound is not very pleasant.
The band is still worth checking out; on their official Homepage you can download three songs.

7. Illuminandi

After some really bad demos and a "best of" CD, Polish band Illumandi are now releasing a new EP entitled "Illumina Tenebras Meas" ("Enlighten My Darkness").



On this EP their music has improved a lot. The style has gone through changes too, it can be described as gothic metal with classical, dark metal and symphonic influences, but also a decent amount of folk metal (hence the mention here). The music is dominated by violin and cello and a mix of death vocals and clean singing. The sound and the songwriting have been compared to the band Haggard.
The lyrics are in Polish, English and Latin; fortunately the Polish songs have been recorded in English too.

Check out samples at their official myspace.

8. Other bands

That was it - there are no other bands.
Ok, actually there are a few bands or single songs who border on folk.

First of all the black metal band Antestor has some folk elements, especially on their CD The Return Of The Black Death. The CD is out of print and hard to get though.

Then I recently found a song called Shema Israel Adonai Elohenu Adonai Ehad which had a very cool jewish/oriental folk touch. (Follow the link to listen to it on last.fm) I didn't like any other songs of that band so far though.

Another favorite of me is the song The Victory Dance which is power metal with a cool celtic keyboard tune.

Savaot are an unknown thrash metal band from Macedonia. They're supposed to be "folk" or "ethno metal", but in my opinion there isn't much to their music.
You can download their whole demo at http://www.geocities.com/savaotmk/

Swedish mystery band Virgin Forest played an acoustic gig at Endtime festival in Halmstad in March. Their music was quite folky, using a hurdy-gurdy, a violin, a weird string instrument I have no name for and surprisingly unusual vocal harmonies.
It is unsure however, if their will be any future releases by Virgin Forest.

So this was all folk metal in the Christian scene I know. If you know more, let me know.
I'll do more of these guides in the future, probably a guide to Christian symphonic metal and other rare genres.

P.S.: Eluveitie aren't a Christian band ;)