Folk metal, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Heavy metal 1970
It split off from hard rock and blues rock when Black Sabbath tuned down and wrote riffs on the tritone. Volume, riff and a code of its own - every branch below starts here.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
Black Sabbath - the song Black Sabbath. The first thirty seconds are the genre's birth certificate.
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath (1970) - 2 What you asked about
Folk metal 1993
Traditional instruments and folk melodies built into metal. Every region has written its own version.
Sung and screamed. Clean singing and harsh vocals trade off, often chorus against verse.
Put on
Finntroll - Nattfödd. Black metal at Finnish polka tempo, and it works.
Finntroll, Nattfödd (2004) - 3 Where to go next
Pirate metal 2006
Power metal with accordion and lyrics about rum. A small genre, entirely shameless and very effective live.
Sung and screamed. Clean singing and harsh vocals trade off, often chorus against verse.
Put on
Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge. Exactly what the title promises.
Alestorm, Captain Morgan's Revenge (2008)
Assembled from the tree: every genre Folk metal descends from, in order. The last step is the gentlest of Folk metal's 4 subgenres - least harsh vocals first, then least heavy.