--- title: "Folk Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/folk-metal" parent: "Folk Metal" bands: 392 era: "mid 1990s" --- # Folk Metal **Folk Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the mid 1990s. TheMetalNet maps 392 bands and 1,356 albums under it. Folk metal fuses metal with traditional folk music — acoustic and folk instruments, regional melodies, and lyrics rooted in mythology, history, nature, and heritage. England’s Skyclad pioneered it on The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth, grafting fiddle onto thrashy metal, and the style exploded in 2000s through Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, and Eluveitie. It spans rowdy, drinking-song energy to epic, battle-ready grandeur, and overlaps with its Celtic, Viking, medieval, and pagan offshoots. Flutes, fiddles, accordions, and hurdy-gurdies sit alongside the guitars. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Folk Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Folk Metal | | Formative era | mid 1990s | | Bands | 392 | | Albums | 1,356 | | Formation span | 1974 to 2025 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [Ensiferum](https://themetalnet.com/band/ensiferum) (Finland, 1995) - [In Extremo](https://themetalnet.com/band/in-extremo) (1995) - [Korpiklaani](https://themetalnet.com/band/korpiklaani) (Finland, 2003) - [Finntroll](https://themetalnet.com/band/finntroll) (Finland, 1997) - [Subway to Sally](https://themetalnet.com/band/subway-to-sally) (Germany, 1990) - [Eluveitie](https://themetalnet.com/band/eluveitie) (Switzerland, 2002) - [Primordial](https://themetalnet.com/band/primordial) (Ireland, 1987) - [Corvus Corax](https://themetalnet.com/band/corvus-corax) (XG, 1989) - [Tanzwut](https://themetalnet.com/band/tanzwut) (1996) - [Alestorm](https://themetalnet.com/band/alestorm) (United Kingdom, 2007) - [Letzte Instanz](https://themetalnet.com/band/letzte-instanz) (Germany, 1996) - [Schandmaul](https://themetalnet.com/band/schandmaul) (Germany, 1998) - [SuidAkrA](https://themetalnet.com/band/suidakra) (Germany, 1994) - [Moonsorrow](https://themetalnet.com/band/moonsorrow) (1995) - [Skyclad](https://themetalnet.com/band/skyclad) (United Kingdom, 1990) - [Saltatio Mortis](https://themetalnet.com/band/saltatio-mortis) (Germany, 2000) - [Týr](https://themetalnet.com/band/tyr-50fc4742) (Faroe Islands, 1998) - [Cruachan](https://themetalnet.com/band/cruachan) (Ireland, 1992) - [Turisas](https://themetalnet.com/band/turisas) (Finland, 1997) - [Equilibrium](https://themetalnet.com/band/equilibrium) (Germany, 2001) - [TrollfesT](https://themetalnet.com/band/trollfest) (Norway, 2003) - [Alkonost](https://themetalnet.com/band/alkonost) (Russia, 1995) - [Dalriada](https://themetalnet.com/band/dalriada) (Hungary, 1998) - [Falkenbach](https://themetalnet.com/band/falkenbach) (Germany, 1989) - [Tuatha de Danann](https://themetalnet.com/band/tuatha-de-danann) (Brazil, 1995) - [Wolfchant](https://themetalnet.com/band/wolfchant) (Germany, 2003) - [Adorned Brood](https://themetalnet.com/band/adorned-brood) (Germany, 1993) - [Metsatöll](https://themetalnet.com/band/metsatoll) (Estonia, 1999) - [Аркона](https://themetalnet.com/band/band-baad262d) (Russia, 2002) - [Feuerschwanz](https://themetalnet.com/band/feuerschwanz) (Germany, 2004) - [Forefather](https://themetalnet.com/band/forefather) (United Kingdom, 1997) - [D](https://themetalnet.com/band/d) (Japan, 2003) - [Heidevolk](https://themetalnet.com/band/heidevolk) (Netherlands, 2002) - [Saurom](https://themetalnet.com/band/saurom) (Spain, 1996) - [Silent Stream of Godless Elegy](https://themetalnet.com/band/silent-stream-of-godless-elegy) (Czechia, 1995) - [Finsterforst](https://themetalnet.com/band/finsterforst) (Germany, 2004) - [Skyforger](https://themetalnet.com/band/skyforger) (1995) - [Percival Schuttenbach](https://themetalnet.com/band/percival-schuttenbach) (Poland, 1999) - [Wardruna](https://themetalnet.com/band/wardruna) (Norway, 2003) - [Glittertind](https://themetalnet.com/band/glittertind) (Norway, 2001) - [Midnattsol](https://themetalnet.com/band/midnattsol) (Germany, 2002) - [Svartby](https://themetalnet.com/band/svartby) (2003) - [Lumsk](https://themetalnet.com/band/lumsk) (Norway, 1999) - [Cultus Ferox](https://themetalnet.com/band/cultus-ferox) (Germany, 2001) - [Svartsot](https://themetalnet.com/band/svartsot) (Denmark, 2005) - [Waylander](https://themetalnet.com/band/waylander) (Ireland, 1993) - [Eilera](https://themetalnet.com/band/eilera) (France, 2000) - [Lyriel](https://themetalnet.com/band/lyriel) (Germany, 2003) - [Pentagram](https://themetalnet.com/band/pentagram-8c2e4f17) (Turkey, 1987) - [Dia Psalma](https://themetalnet.com/band/dia-psalma) (Sweden, 1993) - [Nucleus Torn](https://themetalnet.com/band/nucleus-torn) (Switzerland, 1997) - [Otyg](https://themetalnet.com/band/otyg) (Sweden, 1995) - [Ásmegin](https://themetalnet.com/band/asmegin) (Norway, 1998) - [Kivimetsän Druidi](https://themetalnet.com/band/kivimetsan-druidi) (Finland, 2003) - [Klabautamann](https://themetalnet.com/band/klabautamann) (Germany, 1998) - [Mael Mórdha](https://themetalnet.com/band/mael-mordha) (Ireland, 1998) - [Satarial](https://themetalnet.com/band/satarial) (Russia, 1993) - [Star of Ash](https://themetalnet.com/band/star-of-ash) (Norway, 2001) - [Калевала](https://themetalnet.com/band/band-5f9dc75f) (Russia, 2007) - [Тінь Сонця](https://themetalnet.com/band/band-485008c9) (Ukraine, 1999) ## Where it is played - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 42 bands - [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 38 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 19 bands - [United Kingdom](https://themetalnet.com/country/gb): 15 bands - [Norway](https://themetalnet.com/country/no): 15 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 13 bands - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 12 bands - [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 11 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1970s | 2 | | 1980s | 8 | | 1990s | 75 | | 2000s | 146 | | 2010s | 93 | | 2020s | 17 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/folk-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/folk-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt