pagan metal

Pagan metal is an umbrella term for heavy metal music, which fuses extreme metal with the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region through thematic concept, ethnic melodies, folk instruments and/or archaic languages.

The genre is largely overlapping with folk metal with the main distinction being the use of specific lyrical themes dealing with indigenous European traditions, beliefs, mythology, military and political history.

Pagan metal is most popular in Northern Europe with most of the main bands of the genre also coming from there, such as Finntroll, Týr, Korpiklaani, Bathory, Skyforger and Moonsorrow.

"You can ask ten different bands what Pagan Metal is and you will get ten different anwers."
(Alan Averill / Primordial)

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Symphonic Post-Apocalyptic Reindeer-Grinding Christ-Abusing Extreme War Pagan Fennoscandian metal

A subgenre of heavy metal taking inspiration from Symphonic Black Metal and features lyrics about life in Finland and the mistrust of Finnish Christianity, and glorifying the Warlike Pagan lifestyles of the neighboring countries' history. The lyrics focus on the solution to the mundane Finnish lifestyle being the Apocalypse. The only band that plays this currently is Impaled Rektum.

"You guys look like a weird heavy metal band"
"Yes, we are a band"
"Really? What do you play?"
"Symphonic Post-Apocalyptic Reindeer-Grinding Christ-Abusing Extreme War Pagan Fennoscandian metal"