The difference, by ear
Very close, and the distinction is production and lineage: viking metal is Bathory's cleaner, slower invention; pagan black metal keeps more of black metal's rawness and shriek.
Viking metal is part sung, part screamed where Pagan / Viking black metal is growled or screamed, at much the same pace, around 120 to 190 bpm. To hear the difference, play Bathory next to Enslaved. They share a root in heavy metal and arrived in the same year. Scandinavia appears in the origins of both.
In figures
Pagan / Viking black metal
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Black metal › Pagan / Viking black metal
In short
Black metal with Norse mythology and folk melodies. Bathory's later albums are the starting point.
How it sounds
- Modal melodies drawn from Nordic folk music, played on distorted guitars.
- Male choirs and marching drum patterns.
- Epic structures with long songs and dynamics running from silence to storm.
Key acts
- Bathory
- Enslaved
- Windir
Start here
The pickBathory - Hammerheart. Quorthon played nearly all of it himself.
Full page →Viking metal
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Folk metal › Viking metal
In short
Norse themes, male choirs and marching tempos. It sounds like a longship, not a tavern.
How it sounds
- Massive male choirs singing in unison, for the effect of an army.
- Marching tempos, heavy drums and broad keyboards underneath.
- Lyrics about Norse mythology, battle and the sea.
Key acts
- Bathory
- Enslaved
- Amon Amarth
- Týr
Start here
The pickBathory - Twilight of the Gods. The title track is fourteen minutes of solemnity.
Full page →