Editing Viking metal (section)

=== Precursors ===
[[File:Manowar band.jpg|thumb|[[Manowar]] (seen here in 2009) is an early example of a band that made use of Viking themes.]]
The use of Viking themes and imagery in [[hard rock]] and [[heavy metal music]] predates the advent of Viking metal. For instance, the lyrics to [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "[[Immigrant Song]]" (1970) and "[[No Quarter (song)|No Quarter]]" (1973) feature allusions to Viking voyages, violence, and exploration,<ref>{{harvnb|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=60}}; {{harvnb|McIntosh|2019|p=186}}; {{Harvnb|Rivadavia|2018}}</ref> the former being inspired by the band's visit to [[Iceland]] while on tour. The Swedish band [[Heavy Load (band)|Heavy Load]] often wrote Viking-themed songs, such as the 1978 song "Son of the Northern Light" and the 1983 songs "Singing Swords" and "Stronger than Evil" from their album ''Stronger Than Evil'' (which features an imagined Norse warrior on the cover art), the latter song which music journalist Eduardo Rivadavia claims establishes a case for Heavy Load as the first Viking metal group.<ref>{{harvnb|Rivadavia|n.d.a}}{{Harvnb|Rivadavia|2018}}</ref> Silver Mountain, another Swedish group, according to Rivadavia possessed better "Viking metal credentials" than any other predecessors to the genre; they released the song "Vikings" in 1983 on their album ''Shakin' Brains''.{{Sfn|Rivadavia|2018}}

Many other bands in the early and mid-1980s featured Viking-themed music. Two British groups released Viking-themed songs: [[Iron Maiden]] released "Invaders", a song about Norse marauders from their album [[The Number of the Beast (album)|''The Number of the Beast'']], and [[A II Z]] released "Valhalla Force" on their [[extended play]] ''No Fun After Midnight''.{{Sfn|Rivadavia|2018}} In 1985, the American group [[Pantera]] released the song "Valhalla" on their album [[I Am the Night (album)|''I Am the Night'']], and the American band [[Crimson Glory]] released a song of the same name a year later on their [[Crimson Glory (album)|self-titled debut]].{{Sfn|Rivadavia|2018}} Swedish [[neoclassical metal]] guitarist [[Yngwie Malmsteen]] sometimes featured themes of hyper-masculinity, heroic warriors, and Vikings; for example, on his 1985 album'' [[Marching Out]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Huey|n.d.a}}; {{harvnb|von Helden|2010|p=257}}</ref> The British band [[Blitzkrieg (metal band)|Blitzkrieg]]'s 1985 album [[A Time of Changes (album)|''A Time of Changes'']] frequently references Viking themes with songs such as "Ragnorak" and "Vikings".{{Sfn|Rivadavia|2018}} [[Elixir (British band)|Elixir]], also from Britain, titled their 1986 debut ''[[The Son of Odin]]'', an album which includes a song of the same name that urges listeners to put their faith in Odin.{{Sfn|Rivadavia|2018}}

The German band [[Grave Digger (band)|Grave Digger]] and American band [[Manowar]], both of which formed in 1980, drew upon Norse myth as envisioned in [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''.{{sfn|Heesch|2010|p=72}} Faithful Breath – which wore fur and horned helmet costumes – and [[TNT (Norwegian band)|TNT]] also experimented with Viking themes.{{sfn|admin|2010}} Manowar adopted Viking imagery much more heavily than other bands, turning out copious amounts of songs devoted to Viking lore, and became known as the "champions of the furry loincloth"; they met with ridicule even within the metal community but attracted a cult following.<ref>{{harvnb|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=61}}{{Harvnb|Rivadavia|2018}}</ref> Unlike the later Viking metal bands, Manowar did not bother with the historicity of popular Viking image, and did not in any way identify with the Vikings, religiously or racially.{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=62}} Trafford and Pluskowski explain that "the Manowar version of the Vikings owes as much to [[Conan the Barbarian]] as it does to history, saga, or [[Edda]]: What matters to Manowar is untamed masculinity, and the Vikings are for them merely the archetypal barbarian males."{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=62}} Similarly, Vlad Nichols of [[Ultimate Guitar]] states that on Heavy Load's ''Stronger Than Evil'', which might be the earliest contribution to the idea of Viking metal, most of the songs have as much to do with historical Vikings as the 1958 [[The Vikings (film)|''The Vikings'']] film; that is, the portrayal of [[Norsemen]] is of warmongering invaders at best, and more so uses the Vikings as a means to sing about macho, loin-cloth wearing barbarians.{{Sfn|Nichols|2019}}