Pagan metal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pagan metal

Development phase: Early 1990s
Stylistic precursors
Black metal , folk metal , other metal and folklore of the respective country of origin
Pioneers
In the Woods ... , Primordial , Falkenbach
Instruments typical of the genre
Electric guitar - electric bass - drums - folk instruments, possibly keyboards or synthesizers

Pagan Metal [ ˈpeɪɡən ˈmɛtəl ] ( English pagan "pagan") is a metal genre in which primarily mythological topics of pre-Christian religions are dealt with. Viking Metal is a related genre .

history

The first pagan metal bands emerged in the course of the second wave of black metal , but, in contrast to the satanic background of black metal, they took up paganism and therefore chose different names. The Norwegian band Enslaved, for example, called their music Viking Metal, Det Hedenske Folk's True Northern demo was advertised as “Heathen Metal”. The band Isengard of Darkthrone drummer Fenriz combined black metal and folk elements. He himself emphasized that at that time there was no folk metal and that pagan metal was "distant music of the future" at that time. The first bands that were assigned the name Pagan Metal were In the Woods… from Norway and Poccolus from Lithuania; the term also appeared in 1993 on Pagan Rites ' demo Pagan Metal , which was held in the classic black / thrash metal style. Also To Enter Pagan from Demo Dark Romanticism the Irish band Primordial is considered groundbreaking. On handouts for Graveland's The Celtic Winter and Behemoth's The Return of the Northern Moon , the term “Pagan Black Metal” can be found, but it is also rejected as self-contradicting. In Greece, Kawir was the first band to combine the local black metal style with pagan lyrics and in Russia, the band Forest Neofolk , which came from the area around Blazebirth Hall , combined elements of black metal. Early releases of pagan metal in Germany were Laeknishendr von Falkenbach , Durch den Nebel der Finsternis von Bergthron and the EP Cythraw by Mayhemic Truth . Other early pagan metal bands were Adorned Brood , Tumulus and Menhir . Black Messiah and Andras , who had been founded as black metal bands, later turned to pagan metal . In France, Belenos, Bran Barr and Aes Dana built a musical bridge to Celtic Metal from 1995 onwards , while Blut aus Nord released another key work after two demos with Ultima Thulée , although they subsequently moved away from Pagan Metal in terms of style. With Himinbjorg and Nydvind there were only individual representatives among the earliest groups with constant reference to the Nordic-Germanic world of legends.

Pagan Metal is mainly played in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. But a large scene has also established itself in Eastern Europe. From the end of the 1990s, there were also bands outside of Europe, such as Yaotl Mictlan ( USA , with reference to the Maya and Mexican culture), Magane (Japan) and Folkheim (Chile).

Since the explosion of the genres Folk Metal and Pagan Metal at the beginning of the 2000s, some festivals have specialized in Pagan Metal. The largest festival is the German Ragnarök Festival , which has been held since 2004.

Throughout Europe, the big festivals Paganfest and Heidenfest created a scene in which well-known representatives of the genre went on tour together. The bands also reached the USA through the Paganfest USA branch . The Paganfest festival tour was organized for the first time in December 2007, with Pagan and Folk Metal bands performing throughout Europe. In April 2008 the tour continued with a slightly different band offering and then continued under the name Paganfest USA in Canada and the USA. In the following year, this branch was renamed Paganfest America , as there were now several concert dates in Canada, and took place in April and May 2008. The second European Paganfest tour followed in September 2009. In March 2010 the Paganfest 2010 was organized as a Europe-wide tour with the bands Finntroll , Eluveitie and Arkona .

In autumn 2008 the European festival tour Heidenfest took place for the first time as a Paganfest offshoot, with concerts in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary. The headliners were Finntroll and Primordial. Here, too, an American offshoot followed under the title Heathenfest America in November 2009 with Eluveitie as the headliner. The second Heidenfest tour was held in September 2010.

The current international popularity of the genres and bands goes back not least to these first European and then worldwide tours, through which some large bands of the genre were made accessible to viewers worldwide. It is noteworthy that, despite the clear naming of the festival tours, no distinction is made between pagan metal and folk metal and bands with pagan lyrics appear synonymous with metal bands of other genres. The line-up of the Paganfest America and Paganfest 2010 included the thrash metal band Swashbuckle , which deals with pirates in its lyrics and is therefore in no way a pagan metal band.

music

Bands are assigned to the genre mainly because of the lyrics. Initially, the term was used for groups that were heavily influenced by Black Metal but held pagan rather than satanic views. Examples of this are (in their respective early phases) In the Woods…, the Viking metal band Enslaved, Primordial or Moonsorrow . Later on, bands emerged that “ enrich heavy and death metal with folk”, such as Týr or Ensiferum . The singing moves between guttural and clear singing.

Even today, many pagan metal bands take up the same stylistic elements as black metal bands, but take on pagan themes. The early works of many important bands in particular are often “rougher, more primitive and unadorned” than their later recordings and thus closer to their Black Metal roots. In Germany, bands from the now defunct Det Germanske Folket label, which mainly had Pagan Metal bands under contract, stood out in this regard in the 2000s. The band Riger deserves special mention here, whose music picks up on black and sometimes death metal elements. The texts are of a neo-pagan nature and deal with the modern relationship to Nordic-Germanic mythology. Other examples are Heimdalls Wacht and Helrunar .

The majority of the bands go one step further and combine folk instruments from the respective reference culture with music mostly derived from Black Metal. For the Swiss band Eluveitie , which refers to the pre-Christian Celtic culture, these are, for example, typical folkloric instruments such as the bodhrán , tin whistle , fiddle and bagpipes . From a purely musical point of view, these bands can also be assigned to Folk Metal and can only be distinguished from other bands that were influenced by the Middle Ages or piracy, for example, only by the pagan themes used in the lyrics. A famous representative from Finland is the band Moonsorrow, which combines folk metal with texts from Nordic-Germanic and Finnish mythology. The Finnish folk metal band Finntroll also turned to topics of Nordic mythology for the first time on their 2010 album Nifelvind , while previously they pursued an anti-Christian theme with reference to Nordic folklore (mainly by including trolls in the lyrics) .

Soundtracks like Conan the Barbarian also had some influence on the music. Quorthon of Bathory and Darken on Graveland / Lord Wind stated that their music from Conan soundtrack was affected.

The same is especially true of the American continent, where the mythology and folklore there is treated. Examples of this are Ch'aska , Guahaihoque , Yaotl Mictlan , Folkheim, Auka Runa and Aztra , who want to preserve the mythology of the “primordial cultures” with their music. In Asia , for example, the Japanese band Magane represents their culture. Representatives from the Middle East are for example Al Namrood from Saudi Arabia .

Often it is difficult to differentiate from the very similar Viking Metal and only possible through the lyrics. Some bands, including Falkenbach , Månegarm and Moonsorrow, are often assigned to both genres. Bands from both genres are also represented at most festivals, for example the Ragnarök Festival, because the scenes are closely linked. Critics therefore doubt that these are two different genres. Equilibrium , which were also assigned to these, but only used pagan themes on their debut album Turis Fratyr from 2005, are musically more clearly located in folk metal.

In the Slavic - Russian cultural area, the genres of pagan metal and folk metal have been more closely intertwined since their emergence in the early 2000s, which can be explained on the one hand by their more recent emergence analogous to the time of stylistic genesis in the west, on the other hand by the historical continuity of folklore in Eastern Europe and the associated conservation of post-pagan elements.

Texts

In terms of content, mostly mythological topics are dealt with, which are borrowed from the world of gods and legends of the Celts , Germanic peoples or other pre-Christian peoples. These are either reproduced in the original wording or integrated into your own lyrics. The treatment of historical topics is also not uncommon, for example some pagan metal bands sing about old battles and festivals in their songs. Often the lyrics are aggressively anti-Christian and glorifying war, or convey “a certain 'crisis awareness' regarding the present day.” Depending on the band's country of origin, the respective pre-Christian culture of the country is dealt with, in Germany for example that of the Teutons; sometimes bands refer specifically to regional folklore, like Andras to that of the Ore Mountains . In Eastern Europe, bands based on pre-Christian Slavic mythology have established themselves . However, pagan metal bands do not necessarily refer to the traditions of their country: the right-wing extremist Polish band Graveland, for example, also refers to Nordic and Celtic mythology . Since most of the NSBM bands also deal with pagan topics, non-political representatives of Pagan Metal are often accused of representing neo-Nazi ideas.

Appearance and clothing

While some of the musicians appear in traditional metal outfits , i.e. dressed in black and mostly wearing a band shirt, some go a step further. For example, the musicians of the band come XIV Dark Centuries historically accurate garb and thus try to imitate the appearance of Germanic warriors. Corpsepainting, for example, as with Morrigan, is rather rare and then only to be found in bands that have their roots in Black Metal.

The fans usually wear shirts with the band logo printed on them, which is typical of the scene, with the merchandising of pagan metal bands being dominated by runic scripts and symbols of Germanic mythology such as the Mjölnir . Many pagan metal bands, such as Gernotshagen , XIV Dark Centuries , Belenos or Falkenbach , have incorporated the Thorhammer into their band logo, comparable to the use of Petrus crosses and rodent feet in Black Metal.

criticism

Critics accuse the pagan metal scene of conveying values ​​such as honor , masculinity and militarism through a consciously martial habitus . Often the topic goes hand in hand with a transfiguration, catchwords such as “honor”, ​​“loyalty” and “brotherhood” largely masked historical facts and the hard life of the eras sung about. Partly linked to this basic thematic orientation, parts of this scene, just like parts of the black metal scene, are also accused of promoting right-wing radicalism, or at least tolerating it. In this context, the media often criticize a relatively high percentage of right-wing extremists among fans of these styles and the broad tolerance of these by the rest of the scene.

The right-wing extremist band Absurd is also assigned to the genre . The German band was founded in Sondershausen in 1992 , began as a rock band , appeared in openly right-wing extremist groups from 1995 and turned to pagan metal from 2001.

Even within the metal scene, criticism of unhistorical claims and excessive "ancestor worship" is sometimes made.

Some well-known representatives

For a complete list of all Pagan Metal bands represented in Wikipedia, see Category: Pagan Metal Band .

literature

  • Serina Heinen: Odin rules. Religion, media and music in Pagan Metal. Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2017, ISBN 978-3-8376-3431-0 .
  • Deena Weinstein: Pagan Metal . In: Weston, Donna et al. (Ed.): Pop Pagans. Paganism and Popular Music. 2013. Durham: Acumen, pp. 58-75.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Det Hedenske Folk's flyer for the True Northern demo . (English, leaflet for the True Northern demo by Det Hedenske Folk ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on April 17, 2010]). Flyer for the True Northern demo by Det Hedenske Folk ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Arlette Huguenin: DARKTHRONE: Too much black, not enough metal .
  3. ^ Christian Wachter: Progressive Heiden . In: Pagan Fire . No. 2 , 2008, p. 51 .
  4. ^ Marc Halupczok : Waldschrate & mead drinkers . In: Metal Hammer . Axel Springer Mediahouse, Berlin March 2010, p. 30 .
  5. ↑ Wounded . No. 5 , 1994, pp. 23 (English, Wounded ( Memento of May 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; accessed on January 29, 2010]). Wounded ( Memento from May 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ Pagan Rites : Pagan Metal , 1993.
  7. ^ Marc Halupczok: Waldschrate & mead drinkers . In: Metal Hammer . Axel Springer Mediahouse GmbH, Berlin March 2010, p. 31 .
  8. ↑ Leaflet for the demo The Return of the Northern Moon by Behemoth . (English, leaflet for the demo The Return of the Northern Moon by Behemoth ( Memento from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed on April 17, 2010]). Flyer for the demo The Return of the Northern Moon by Behemoth ( Memento from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Flyer for the demo The Celtic Winter from Graveland . (English, leaflet for the demo The Celtic Winter from Graveland ( Memento from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed April 17, 2010]). Flyer for the demo The Celtic Winter from Graveland ( Memento from February 14, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ^ "Everything is wrong with it, how can there be such thing as Pagan Black Metal? There's nothing pagan about Black Metal, heretic maybe, but not pagan. Either it's Pagan Metal or Black Metal, you can't mix these two. Satan is not pagan, Wotan and Sventevith are not satanic. " Warloghe . In: Northern Heritage , No. 1.
  11. ^ Vaso Prasa: Interviews: Kawir - Therthonax. metalzone.gr, February 22, 2008, archived from the original on March 21, 2012 ; accessed on January 26, 2010 (English).
  12. ↑ Paganfest America: Part II First Dates Announced.. Blabbermouth.net January 14, 2009; Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f Gunnar Sauermann: Svartsot . Ravnenes saga. In: Metal Hammer . Axel Springer Mediahouse München GmbH, November 2007, ISSN  1614-2292 , p. 110 .
  14. ↑ Keith Stevens: THE METAL OBSERVER - Review - MORRIGAN - Welcome To Samhain .
  15. ↑ Skelos: Lord Wind. Remebrance of the Atlantis' golden age. Castle of Vampiria, March 26, 2008, accessed May 27, 2013 .
  16. ^ Bathory : Blood on Ice . Black Mark Production , 1996.
  17. ^ Bathory. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008 ; accessed on May 27, 2013 (English).
  18. ↑ a b Helrunar interview . In: Nebelmond . No. 3 ( Helrunar Interview ( memento of March 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) [accessed April 27, 2010]). Helrunar Interview ( Memento from March 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ a b Christian Dornbusch in: Heidnischer Germanen-Metal , Polylux from April 27, 2006, by Alexander Dluzak.
  20. ↑ Maik Godau: Neo-Paganism and the Truth. ( Memento from February 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) On metalstorm.de, from Monochrom.