Your way in
Folk metal 1993
Traditional instruments and folk melodies built into metal. Every region has written its own version.
- Heaviness
- 6
- Speed
- 6
- Melody
- 9
- Where from
- UK / Finland
- Tempo
- 120-180 bpm
- Song length
- 4-7 min
- Written about
- Folklore and myth, Nature and the seasons, Drinking, extensively, Pre-Christian religion
- Vocals
- Sung and screamed
Why this one
| You said | Folk metal | Match | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shouting, but I can still hear the words When someone is singing, what should come out? | mixed | 80% | ×3 |
| Light How much weight do you want behind it? | 6 out of 10 | 60% | ×2 |
| A steady walk What pace? | 6 out of 10 | 90% | ×2 |
| This century Does it matter when it was made? | 1993 | 72% | ×1 |
| Somewhere else entirely What should the words be about? | Folklore and myth, Nature and the seasons, Drinking, extensively, Pre-Christian religion | 100% | ×1 |
| No. Texture and force are enough. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? | 9 out of 10 | 20% | ×1 |
| Weighted mean | 73% | ||
Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 6 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, era 1, about 1, melody 1 out of 10. Folk metal ties with the next, and won on being the broader of the two. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.
Five records, in this order
- 1The one to put on first
Finntroll, Nattfödd 2004
Finntroll - Nattfödd. Black metal at Finnish polka tempo, and it works.
- 2Then
- 3Then
- 4Then
- 5One step further in
Alestorm, Captain Morgan's Revenge 2008
Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge. Exactly what the title promises.
The first is Folk metal's own entry point. After it come Folk metal's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.
If that is not it
-
No wave 73%
A total refusal of melody and standard tuning. Short-lived, extreme and hugely influential on noise rock.
On the other branch of the tree entirely, and 6 steps from Folk metal.
The way into No wave -
Post-metal / atmospheric sludge 71%
Sludge with post-rock logic: long songs, crescendos and instrumental passages. Neurosis invented the form.
4 steps from Folk metal, meeting it only at Heavy metal.
The way into Post-metal / atmospheric sludge
Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.
What your answers ruled out
- Light put 12 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Death metal, Brutal death metal, Sludge metal. Worth 2 of 10.
- This century put 43 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Blues rock. Worth 1 of 10.
- Somewhere else entirely put 106 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Punk rock, Hardcore punk, Alternative rock. Worth 1 of 10.
- No. Texture and force are enough. put 40 genres at the bottom of that one question, among them Folk metal, Folk rock, Emo. Worth 1 of 10.
Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.