---
title: "Medieval Metal"
type: "MusicGenre"
url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/medieval-metal"
parent: "Folk Metal"
bands: 8
era: "mid 1990s"
---

# Medieval Metal

**Medieval Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the mid 1990s. TheMetalNet maps 8 bands and 35 albums under it.

Medieval metal is a branch of folk metal that fuses distorted guitars with the instruments and melodies of medieval music — bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, shawms, lutes, and frame drums. It emerged in mid-1990s Germany with bands like Subway to Sally, In Extremo, and Schandmaul, often singing in German and drawing on medieval poetry and folk song. The sound swings between rousing, dance-like anthems and heavier, dramatic passages. It is closely tied to Germany’s medieval-market and festival culture.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Genre | Medieval Metal |
| Level | Sub-genre |
| Parent genre | Folk Metal |
| Formative era | mid 1990s |
| Bands | 8 |
| Albums | 35 |
| Formation span | 1995 to 2025 |

## Bands

- [In Extremo](https://themetalnet.com/band/in-extremo) (1995)
- [Tanzwut](https://themetalnet.com/band/tanzwut) (1996)
- [Elli Berlin](https://themetalnet.com/band/elli-berlin)
- [SPIRE](https://themetalnet.com/band/spire-908c4868) (Russia, 2014)
- [Strixskog](https://themetalnet.com/band/strixskog) (United States)
- [Nathanael](https://themetalnet.com/band/nathanael)
- [Medievo (BR)](https://themetalnet.com/band/medievo-br) (2025)
- [A Balance Divine](https://themetalnet.com/band/a-balance-divine) (2025)

## Where it is played

- [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 1 bands
- [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 1 bands

## Bands formed by decade

| Decade | Bands formed |
| --- | --- |
| 1990s | 2 |
| 2010s | 1 |
| 2020s | 2 |

---

Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/medieval-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/medieval-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt