---
title: "Pagan Black Metal"
type: "MusicGenre"
url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/pagan-black"
parent: "Black Metal"
bands: 47
era: "mid 1990s"
---

# Pagan Black Metal

**Pagan Black Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the mid 1990s. TheMetalNet maps 47 bands and 141 albums under it.

Pagan black metal fuses black metal’s aggression with folk melodies and pre-Christian, heathen themes — European mythology, nature worship, ancestry, and heroism. It grew from Bathory’s Viking-era albums and the Norwegian scene, and bands often weave in folk instruments, chants, and epic, mid-paced passages. Poland’s Graveland and many Eastern and Northern European acts shaped its identity. It shares much ground with Viking and folk metal, distinguished mainly by its black-metal core and pagan worldview.

## Facts

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Genre | Pagan Black Metal |
| Level | Sub-genre |
| Parent genre | Black Metal |
| Formative era | mid 1990s |
| Bands | 47 |
| Albums | 141 |
| Formation span | 1977 to 2022 |

## Bands

- [Toto](https://themetalnet.com/band/toto) (United States, 1977)
- [Skyforger](https://themetalnet.com/band/skyforger) (1995)
- [XIV Dark Centuries](https://themetalnet.com/band/xiv-dark-centuries) (Germany, 1998)
- [Menhir](https://themetalnet.com/band/menhir) (Germany, 1995)
- [Trollech](https://themetalnet.com/band/trollech) (Czechia, 1999)
- [Изморозь](https://themetalnet.com/band/band-70042b2d) (Russia, 2006)
- [Taunusheim](https://themetalnet.com/band/taunusheim) (Germany, 1999)
- [Fimbulvet](https://themetalnet.com/band/fimbulvet) (2003)
- [Berserk](https://themetalnet.com/band/berserk) (Spain, 1998)
- [CrystalMoors](https://themetalnet.com/band/crystalmoors) (Spain, 1999)
- [Rauhnåcht](https://themetalnet.com/band/rauhnacht) (Austria, 2010)
- [Djur](https://themetalnet.com/band/djur) (Russia, 2002)
- [Folge dem Wind](https://themetalnet.com/band/folge-dem-wind) (France, 1999)
- [Woodtemple](https://themetalnet.com/band/woodtemple) (Austria)
- [Vrani Volosa](https://themetalnet.com/band/vrani-volosa) (Bulgaria, 2003)
- [Kurgan](https://themetalnet.com/band/kurgan-428e4497) (Ukraine, 2004)
- [Zgard](https://themetalnet.com/band/zgard) (Ukraine, 2010)
- [Draugr](https://themetalnet.com/band/draugr) (Italy, 2003)
- [Lux Divina](https://themetalnet.com/band/lux-divina) (Spain, 1998)
- [Winterwitch](https://themetalnet.com/band/winterwitch) (Canada, 2002)
- [Carcharoth](https://themetalnet.com/band/carcharoth-b63c6be2) (Spain, 2002)
- [Celtefog](https://themetalnet.com/band/celtefog) (Greece, 2012)
- [Fagyhamu](https://themetalnet.com/band/fagyhamu) (Hungary, 1998)
- [Valhôll](https://themetalnet.com/band/valholl) (France, 2007)
- [Vardlokkur](https://themetalnet.com/band/vardlokkur)
- [Mjød](https://themetalnet.com/band/mj-d) (Russia, 2016)
- [Ahnenkult](https://themetalnet.com/band/ahnenkult) (2010)
- [Morok](https://themetalnet.com/band/morok-37e985ce) (Russia, 1998)
- [Sigma Draconis](https://themetalnet.com/band/sigma-draconis) (Italy, 1999)
- [Boris Randall](https://themetalnet.com/band/boris-randall) (United States)
- [Azels Mountain](https://themetalnet.com/band/azels-mountain) (Poland, 2013)
- [Łza Zeschniętej Róży](https://themetalnet.com/band/za-zeschnietej-rozy) (Poland, 1993)
- [Popioły](https://themetalnet.com/band/popio-y) (Poland, 2011)
- [Urschrei](https://themetalnet.com/band/urschrei) (Germany, 2007)
- [Barbarous Pomerania](https://themetalnet.com/band/barbarous-pomerania) (2002)
- [Nordfrost](https://themetalnet.com/band/nordfrost) (Germany, 2009)
- [Asatru](https://themetalnet.com/band/asatru) (Germany, 2001)
- [Nów](https://themetalnet.com/band/now) (Poland, 1997)
- [Trollband](https://themetalnet.com/band/trollband) (Canada)
- [Vinterforest](https://themetalnet.com/band/vinterforest) (Germany, 2008)
- [Hremmgiefstol](https://themetalnet.com/band/hremmgiefstol) (2008)
- [Nomades](https://themetalnet.com/band/nomades) (2008)
- [Forgotten Spirit](https://themetalnet.com/band/forgotten-spirit) (1997)
- [Herugrim](https://themetalnet.com/band/herugrim) (Finland, 2022)
- [Morana](https://themetalnet.com/band/morana) (Montenegro)
- [Vigrið](https://themetalnet.com/band/vigri) (2014)
- [Náströnd](https://themetalnet.com/band/nastrond-64387c22) (Cuba)

## Where it is played

- [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 7 bands
- [Spain](https://themetalnet.com/country/es): 4 bands
- [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 4 bands
- [Poland](https://themetalnet.com/country/pl): 4 bands
- [Canada](https://themetalnet.com/country/ca): 2 bands
- [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 2 bands
- [Austria](https://themetalnet.com/country/at): 2 bands
- [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 2 bands

## Bands formed by decade

| Decade | Bands formed |
| --- | --- |
| 1970s | 1 |
| 1990s | 15 |
| 2000s | 16 |
| 2010s | 8 |
| 2020s | 1 |

---

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