Genre story · Metal
Pagan Metal
Pagan Metal grew as a name for several European metal currents around the start of the 1990s. Artists drew on local mythology, pre-Christian belief and traditional musical material, but they did so through different metal styles. Bathory's Viking-era records, Skyclad's folk-metal experiments and Cruachan's work with Irish material show separate directions rather than one uniform sound or community.
A recording may use harsh black-metal vocals, cleaner heavy-metal melodies or traditional acoustic instruments. Lyrical references do not dictate tempo, rhythm or instrumentation. Academic research specifically describes the absence of a cohesive musical formula, which makes this category as much about cultural context as musical technique.
Listening examples
- 1990BathoryHammerheart
- 1991SkycladThe Wayward Sons of Mother Earth
- 1995CruachanTuatha na Gael