Top 10 Best Folk Metal Bands
Folk metal is what happens when the raw energy of heavy metal collides with the melodies and instruments of traditional folk music. It's a genre that blends the thunderous riffs and powerful drumming of metal with everything from fiddles and accordions to flutes and bagpipes. If you've ever wanted to headbang while feeling like you're marching into battle, drinking at a medieval tavern, or dancing around a bonfire in an ancient forest, folk metal is the way to go.What makes folk metal so unique is its ability to transport you to different times and places. Some bands draw inspiration from Viking legends, while others focus on Celtic mythology or Slavic traditions. Lyrics often tell stories of war, adventure, and folklore, making every song feel like a journey.
Now it's time to decide which folk metal bands stand above the rest. Vote for the ones you think deserve the top spots.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal." Absolutely amazing! They have such huge variation in each of their songs, with melodic instrumentals and powerful vocals. Definitely one of my favorite bands of all time.
The more you get into folk metal, the more you realize that Ensiferum is top in this genre. Good variation and never out of their style. Great music, even greater vocals.
Just an amazing blend of various styles, including folk metal and melodeath, with some of the best riffs of any folk metal band.
When a band goes as far as to dig up an ancient Celtic language to sing metal in, it doesn't get much more folk than that. Songs like Luxtos and Slania's Song have massive folk power.
They're simply amazing! The songs are so beautiful. Just listen to songs like "Inis Mona"!
Sometimes band ratings depend on how mainstream the band is, and nobody can ever deny Eluveitie's popularity throughout the world. I'm a huge lover of this band and genre from Bangladesh.
Korpiklaani is my first choice without thinking here! I was deeply surprised not to see them in the top 3. I'm sure they will climb higher. They are a fine representation of folk metal, not too extreme as Ensiferum, and very uplifting! The lyrics match the mood the music creates perfectly. Korpiklaani is folk metal!
It's impossible to be in a bad mood when listening to Korpiklaani. Their songs are simply wonderful. It seems they were born with their instruments in hand. They are just the best. I am a big folk metal fan, and they are my favorite.
Wintersun is a metal band from Helsinki, Finland and was originally created by guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, songwriter and vocalist Jari Mäenpää as a side project to folk metal band Ensiferum for whom he was lead singer and guitarist. Wintersun is more symphonic or melodeath than folk metal, but it does count. The debut album always had a Viking vibe to it, and Time I has obvious folk influences, like the oriental Japanese themes in the intros and scattered throughout the main songs.
Not my favorite in terms of folk metal. Ensiferum and Eluveitie beat it. Just thought I should explain why people call it folk metal.
Symphonic folk metal. Everything they do is literally gold. Jari and his team make wonderful music. Sons of Winter and Stars, Fly Into the Sky, Dark of the Sun. Still waiting for the new album, though.
Týr is a Faroese heavy metal band. Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around Viking lore, mythology, and history, taking their name from the Norse god of law and justice. I wish they would come to Georgia in the States. Every time I want to see them perform live, they are nowhere near me. I guess you could say it makes me shed a "Tyr."
My first folk metal band ever. I love the songs they sing. I can just imagine that I am on a Viking ship in the way of a great journey. That's it. I love them.
Tyr is one of the greatest metal bands, let alone an absolutely excellent folk metal band. The beautifully crafted and incredibly intricate instrumentation from the guitarist, coupled with an amazing drummer and enrapturing vocal delivery from Heri, make this band an absolute pleasure to listen to time and time again.
Alestorm is a heavy metal band originally from Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterized by a pirate theme, and as a result they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. This band took me to the metal universe. It is amazing. If you like metal, you'll like Alestorm for sure! Listening to Alestorm is amazing when you're with some metal friends at home and you want to heat up everybody!
Alestorm has always been that one metal band that never takes themselves seriously. They're like the Immortal of folk metal. Captain Morgan's Revenge is a damn fine album.
This band got me into folk metal. However, I am not surprised that they are so far down on the list as they are highly underrated.
Equilibrium is a German folk metal band. The band's music combines elements of folk music, power metal, black metal and symphonic metal with various other influences. This is an exemplary view of how great metal can get. I first heard their song "Blut Im Auge," which is a phenomenal song. But my favorite song by them must be "Erwachen," a spectacular song. I'm so happy I found this great band, even though I don't understand 95% of the lyrics. The sound says it all for me!
If it weren't for these guys, I wouldn't have discovered folk metal in the first place.
This band has a song that is one of the best pieces of music ever created, and that is "MANA."
Finntroll is a folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They combine elements of black metal and folk metal. It may not be the most technical of the bands out there, but it is certainly top-of-the-class folk metal! Catchy, folky melodies mixed with black metal and everything else possible.
They should be in the top 5, I think. They rock. I can party when they are playing. I almost lose my mind!
Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish God of war. Turisas is just amazing. The music itself varies like crazy, and the stories are great! #1 folk metal band in my honest opinion.
Turisas is number 1. Ensiferum is also really great, but Turisas wins! (But I'm not sure if Turisas is actually folk metal...)
Listen to the Battle Metal and Varangian Way albums and tell me Turisas is not number one. The orchestration in songs like Rex Regi Rebellis, As Torches Rise, To Holmgard and Beyond, and Miklagard Overture is just breathtaking, and Nygard's voice is surely one of the best in metal today.
Windir was a black metal band from Sogndal, Norway. The band combined black metal with folk music and mythology.
The Newcomers
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. That band is really awesome! They caught my attention from only one song. They are my second favorite folk metal band after Eluveitie.
They are GODS. Simply the best band on this list.
These guys should be WAY higher than 10th.
Very melodic, yet powerful music. One of those bands you will fall in love with, especially when listening to their album "Valdr Galga." Just like me.
Agalloch was an American black/folk metal band from Portland, Oregon. They were formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm. They released five studios albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums, and one live video before disbanding in May 2016. Incredibly folky, winter-like atmospheric black metal! I love it.
They are amazing. They have a unique sound that combines elements of folk metal, power metal, and symphonic metal with Celtic and some neoclassical influences, incorporating the violin as one of the many instruments in their music.
In their new album, Ira Dei, there is even some electronic music, creating a blend of folk/power/symphonic metal with synths (pure genius, fight me)! I also love the vocals. They have two singers, one male and one female, and they are both amazing. The female singer is one of my favorite female singers ever.
I love their music, and their song Ira Dei from the new album of the same name is just a masterpiece. I added it to the list of Best Songs of 2019, and I want it higher. That's how amazing it is. They are one of my current favorite bands and by far the best examples of folk metal. They are also one of my two favorite bands from Spanish-speaking countries (they're from Spain and their lyrics are in Spanish. The other is Stravaganzza).
Sorry this comment is super long, but I love this band so much!
Dalriada is a folk metal band from Sopron, Hungary that was formed in 1998 as Echo of Dalriada, but shortened their name to Dalriada in late 2006. Their third studio album Kikelet and all subsequent albums were successful in the top ten of the official Mahasz music charts. Hungarian kickass metalheads with a blonde broad who is able to lure you into sweet slumber just to scream your face off afterward. Epic, folk, speed, Hungarian poetry!
Their songs don't disappoint you! It's a shame that I never knew of them before 2016!
Cruachan is a Folk Metal band from Dublin, Ireland that has been active since the 1990s. They have been acclaimed as having "gone the greatest lengths of anyone in their attempts to expand" the genre of folk metal. One of the first folk metal bands and the founding fathers of Celtic Metal. A lot of today's folk metal bands are goofy and more folk than metal, but Cruachan balances both genres perfectly. They may not be the most mainstream, but they're still my favorite since they're one of the oldest, and they fuse metal with the music I hold closest to my heart: Irish Celtic music.
Why are they so far back in a genre they helped create?
Cruachan is awesome. They're Irish, and their style is called Celtic metal.
These guys, in my opinion, are the best folk metal band. I understand why the more recent ones are so high up, but personally, I've never been able to enjoy music in a language I don't understand.
Falkenbach is a pagan black metal group from Germany that is signed to Prophecy Productions. The name means "Falconbrook" in German. The one permanent member is Vratyas Vakyas. They are one of the very first Viking metal bands, starting in 1989, with their first release that same year. Gorgeous music. The clean vocals remind me of being a child in my father's arms as he sang me to sleep. So comforting.
This band really moves me, with its deep love of Viking culture told over the top of some truly masterful music.
Best folk metal band without question!
Mattias (the singer) has that perfect bard-type voice.
My favorite folk/power metal band.
Amazing band with lyrics about Vikings. I really recommend giving this band a listen!