page_title: Folk metal
section_title: Instruments
hierarchical_section_title: Folk metal / Characteristics / Instruments
caption_attribution_description: Skyforger au Cernunnos Fest 07, le 16/12/07 à la Locomotive, Paris. Skyforger est un groupe de Pagan Folk Metal letton.
context_page_description: Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles. It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
  The earliest folk metal bands were Skyclad from England and Cruachan from Ireland. Skyclad's debut album The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth was released in 1991 and would be considered a thrash metal album with some folk influences, unlike Cruachan’s early work which embraced the folk element as a defining part of their sound. It was not until 1994 and 1995 that other early contributors in the genre began to emerge from different regions of Europe and beyond. Among these early groups, the German band Subway to Sally spearheaded a different regional variation that over time became known as medieval metal. Despite their contributions, folk metal remained little known with few representatives during the 1990s.
context_section_description: Folk metal feature the same typical instruments found in heavy metal music: guitars, bass, drums and vocalist. While a few folk metal groups like Tharaphita discard "any notion of utilising folk instrumentation" and "rely solely on traditional metal instruments," bands in the genre generally rely on folk instruments that range from the common to the exotic. Numerous folk metal acts include a dedicated violinist in their line up. This includes Skyclad, Subway to Sally, Schandmaul, Mägo de Oz, Ithilien, Silent Stream of Godless Elegy, Korpiklaani, Lumsk, Elvenking, Eluveitie and Tuatha de Danann. The tin whistle and flute can be found in such Celtic metal bands as Cruachan, Waylander, Ithilien and Eluveitie. The flute can also be found in other bands such as Metsatöll, Schandmaul and Morgenstern. Medieval bagpipes are used in bands like Folkstone and In Extremo. Some bands are also known to highlight more exotic instruments from their ethnic background or country, including Skyforger's use of the Latvian kokles, Metsatöll's use of the Estonian torupill, Korpiklaani's use of the Finnish kantele, Eluveitie and Ithilien's use of the hurdy-gurdy, and Orphaned Land's use of the oud and saz.
  In the absence of folk instruments, other bands in the genre resort to using keyboards to replicate the sound of folk instruments. This includes the aforementioned Storm, Empyrium and Finntroll as well as other acts like Midnattsol. Bands that supplement a folk instrument like the violin with keyboards include Skyclad, Mägo de Oz, and Tuatha de Danann.
  The large number of instruments that some bands rely on in recording their studio albums can be a hindrance for live performances. While Orphaned Land are able to perform onstage with twenty musicians in their homeland of Israel, they have to rely on a computer to replicate the roles of the guest musicians for concerts elsewhere. Some folk metal acts confine themselves to studio recordings and are not known to perform any live concerts. This includes Folkearth, and Falkenbach. Other folk metal bands expand their regular roster to include more musicians and consequently, it is not uncommon to find bands in the genre featuring six or more members in their line-up. Some of the sextets in the genre are Schandmaul, Cruachan, Korpiklaani, Turisas, and Midnattsol, while septets include Ithilien, Subway to Sally, In Extremo, and Lumsk. Both Silent Stream of Godless Elegy and Eluveitie boast eight members each while the line up of Mägo de Oz totals nine performers. Even when a band includes members dedicated to folk instruments, they might still rely on guest musicians to further enhance their sound. As an example, Lumsk added thirteen guest musicians to the band's seven members on their debut album Åsmund Frægdegjevar. At times, guest musicians are known to become full-fledged members of the band, as was the case in Skyforger and Turisas.
caption: Skyforger, seen here performing with bagpipes at the 2007 Cernunnos Fest in Paris, France, initially mostly relied on a guest musician to perform folk instruments before inviting him to be a fully fledged member of the band.[139]
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