Editing Viking metal (section)

=== Musical traits ===
[[File:Turock Open Air 2013 - Wolfchant 12.jpg|thumb|upright|Govern of [[Wolfchant]]. Keyboards are commonly used by Viking metal artists, and are often played at a "swift, galloping pace".]]

The term "Viking metal" has sometimes been used as a nickname for the 1990s Norwegian black metal scene, which was "noisy, chaotic, and often augmented by sorrowful keyboard melodies".{{sfn|AllMusic staff|n.d.a}} It has also been variously described as a subgenre of black metal, albeit one that abandoned black metal's Satanic imagery,{{sfn|Hagen|2011|pp=190–191}} "slow black metal" with influences from Nordic folk music,{{sfn|Jonsson|2011}} straddling black metal and [[folk metal]] almost equally,{{sfn|Dare|2014}} or running the gamut from "folk to black to death metal".{{sfn|Lee|2006}} Typically, Viking metal artists rely extensively on keyboards, which are often played at a "swift, galloping pace".{{sfn|Weinstein|2014|p=60}} These artists often add "local cultural flourishes" such as traditional instruments and ethnic melodies.{{sfn|Weinstein|2014|p=60}} It is similar to folk metal, and is sometimes categorized as such, but it uses folk instruments less extensively.<ref>{{harvnb|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=497}}; {{harvnb|Mulvany|2000|pp=46–47}}</ref> For vocals, Viking metal incorporates both singing and the typical black metal screams and growls.{{sfn|Freeborn|2010|p=843}}
[[File:20140830 Wuppertal Feuertal 0441 Korpiklaani.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Sámi Perttula of [[Korpiklaani]]. Viking metal often uses folk instruments, though not as extensively as the related genre of [[folk metal]].]]

Overall, Viking metal is hard to define since, apart from certain elements like anthem-like choruses, it is not based entirely on musical features and overlaps with other metal genres, with origins in black and death metal.{{sfn|von Helden|2010|p=257}} Some bands, such as [[Unleashed (band)|Unleashed]] and [[Amon Amarth]], play death metal, but incorporate Viking themes and thus are labeled as part of the genre.<ref>{{harvnb|Kahn-Harris|2007|p=106}}; {{harvnb|von Helden|2010|p=258}}</ref> Generally, Viking metal is defined more by its thematic material and imagery than musical qualities. Rather than being a mock-up of [[medieval music]], "it is in the band names, album titles, artwork of album covers and, especially, in the song lyrics that Viking themes are so evident."{{sfn|O'Donoghue|2008|p=178}} Viking metal, and the closely related style [[pagan metal]], is more of a term or "etiquette" than a musical style.{{sfn|Manea|2015|pp=187–188}} Since they are defined chiefly by lyrical focus, any musical categorizations of these two styles is controversial.{{sfn|Manea|2015|p=188}} Thus, Viking metal is more of a cross-genre term than a descriptor of a certain sound. Ashby and Schofield write that "The term 'Viking metal' is one of many that falls within a complex web of genres and subgenres, the precise form of which is constantly shifting, as trends and fads emerge and fade."{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=497}} From its origins in black metal, Viking metal "has diversified (at least in aural terms), and now covers a range of styles that run the gamut between black metal and what one might justifiably term [[classic rock]]".{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=497}} Christopher McIntosh writes that Viking metal, Viking rock, pagan metal, folk metal, [[neofolk]], and more could all fall under a broader genre term of "neo-Nordic."{{Sfn|McIntosh|2019|p=186}}

{{listen |filename=Bathory - Shores in Flames.ogg |title="Shores in Flames" by Bathory|description="Shores in Flames" by Bathory, from the album ''[[Hammerheart]]'' (1990), describes a Viking raid and features the sound of waves and prayerful singing.{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|pp=104–105}}}}
{{listen |filename= Enslaved - 793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne).ogg |title="793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)" by Enslaved|description="793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)" by Enslaved, from the album ''[[Eld (album)|Eld]]'' (1997), features "Viking themes, razor sharp guitars, blastbeat drums, and an ear for orchestration resulting in complex structures, bountiful harmonies and time changes".{{sfn|Rivadavia|n.d.f}}}}
Starting with the album ''[[Blood Fire Death]]'', one of the first definitive Viking metal releases, Bathory incorporated a diverse range of musical elements. While retaining the noise and chaos of previous recordings, the band took a more sorrowful and melodic approach, working in ballads based on Germanic and Norse folklore, [[Sea shanty|shanty]]-like melodies, [[Ambience (sound recording)|ambience]], [[Choir|choral]] intros, [[Acoustic music|acoustic instruments]], [[Anthemics|anthemic]] sections, and folk music elements such as [[drone (music)|bourdon]] sounds, Jew's harps, and [[Fife (instrument)|fifes]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Piotrowska|2015|p=104}}{{Harvnb|Nichols|2019}}</ref> Bathory added natural [[Found object#Music|found sounds]], such as ocean waves, thunder, and wild animal noises, in a style similar to that of ''[[musique concrète]]''.{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|pp=104–105}} Instruments were sometimes used to create [[onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]] effects such as drum sounds imitating thunder or a sledgehammer.{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|p=105}} The songs typically featured multi-sectional formal structures, following a pattern of three instrumental sections&nbsp;– [[introduction (music)|introduction]], [[bridge (music)|bridge]], and [[finale (music)|finale]]&nbsp;– and two vocal sections&nbsp;– [[stanza]] and [[refrain]].{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|pp=105–106}}

[[Enslaved (band)|Enslaved]], a formative band in Viking metal, performs primarily a black metal style, but has over time become more progressive.{{sfn|Sharpe-Young|2007|p=212}} Eduardo Rivadavia described the hallmarks of Enslaved as "Viking themes, razor sharp guitars, [[blastbeat]] drums, and an ear for orchestration resulting in complex structures, bountiful harmonies and time changes."{{sfn|Rivadavia|n.d.f}} The band evolved significantly with every album since ''[[Mardraum – Beyond the Within]]'' (2000).{{sfn|Rivadavia|n.d.g}}

The Faroese band [[Týr (band)|Týr]] has a standard rock band lineup with electric instruments, but makes extensive use of traditional Faroese music in its songs. Faroese ballads typically involve unusual time signatures, most commonly {{music|time|7|4}} or the alternative rhythms {{music|time|12|8}} or {{music|time|9|8}}. In an attempt to replicate these uneven signatures, Týr often places the [[accent (music)|accent]] on the weak beat of the [[bar (music)|bar]].{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|p=107}} In songs based on old Faroese ballads, Týr usually play in harmonic or melodic [[minor scale]] or else in [[Mixolydian mode#Modern Mixolydian|mixolydian mode]].{{sfn|Piotrowska|2015|p=107}}

==== Influence from sea shanties and popular media ====

Mulvany states that "Viking metal&nbsp;... is much less concerned with traditional aural materials like instruments and melodies. Instead, Viking bands limit themselves mainly to the use of Norse mythology as a textual source, which they often augment with stylized shanty-like melodies that are meant to evoke apropos images".{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=iv}} He elaborates: {{quotation|text=Although the majority of Viking metal bands&nbsp;... limit themselves primarily to textual borrowings, many others can be additionally classified as musically evocative of the Vikings. Unlike folk metal bands drawing from other mythologies, bands using Norse mythology as text have no musical-historical examples to augment their illusion. This has led to the creation of an ahistorical 'Viking music' that is used in tandem with the metal style to conjure up appropriate images.{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=36}}}} According to Mulvany, Viking metal draws heavily on [[sea shanty|sea shanties]] and media images of [[Piracy#History|pirates]] and Vikings, an influence evident in two basic forms of the genre. The first type "is largely [[steps and skips|stepwise]] in motion with many repeated note figures", is frequently in [[minor key]], and is primarily sung in unison.{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=36}} The second type uses an "arching ascent-descent structure" and is less dependent on lyrics, making it "more evocative of rolling waves on the open sea".{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=36}} As examples of the first type, Mulvany examined the structures of sea shanties such as "[[Drunken Sailor]]", the 1934 and 1996 film soundtrack versions of "[[Dead Man's Chest]]", [[Mario Nascimbene]]'s "Viking" song for the 1958 film [[The Vikings (1958 film)|''The Vikings'']], and the chant from Monty Python's "[[Spam (Monty Python)|Spam]]" sketch, and found similar structures in compositions by Viking and black metal bands such as Einherjer, [[Mithotyn]], [[Naglfar (band)|Naglfar]], and Vargevinter.{{Sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=36–42}} The second type, that of arching ascent and descent, Mulvany noticed in compositions by Einherjer and [[Borknagar]].{{Sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=37–38}}

The shanty influence results from stereotyping in which certain aural associations are equated with "images of sailors, sea-borne marauders, and Vikings", and "though rooted in traditional sea shanties, these aural images have been perpetuated through the media of pirate movies and television shows, and they have been extended&nbsp;– by association&nbsp;– to Vikings".{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=39}} Ashby and Schofield agree with Mulvany that musically, Viking metal bands generally are unconnected with a real Viking past, but instead connote a broader sense of the maritime, presuming that "this conflation of maritime contexts is a knowing one, but one nonetheless felt to be somehow evocative."{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=497}}

Keith Fay of the folk metal band [[Cruachan (band)|Cruachan]] has also noted the influence of sea shanties on Viking metal, although disparagingly. In an interview with British magazine ''[[Terrorizer (magazine)|Terrorizer]]'', he said that there is "no real defined 'Viking music', so all these Nordic bands use 'sea shanty' type tunes to match their music. A lot of these bands, especially the bigger ones, are called folk metal but they don't really understand what real folk music is; though I know this is not true for all of them."{{sfn|Sulaiman|Yardley|2010}}