On this webpage, you will find a selection of songs taken from the modern Viking metal bands Rebellion, Tyr, Einherjer, and Amon Amarth. Each song retells in its own way the exploits of the Norse gods from the Elder and Younger Eddas.

The twelve songs or videos here each have a brief description above with link below to the song lyrics and to a specific Eddaic tale or excerpt detailed in the song. At the bottom of the page is a brief biography section for each featured band as well as a list of other similar bands.

 

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The Killing of Ymir                                                        Odin Learns the Runes

 

Lyrics  Eddaic Tale                                                           Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

 Odin Gets the Mead of Poetry                                    The Offspring of Loki

 

Lyrics  Eddaic Tale                                                           Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

Loki Gets Sif's Hair and Thor's Hammer                    Loki Tricks Hod into Killing Baldr

  

Lyrics  Eddaic Tale                                                           Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

Hermod Pleads for Baldr                                              The Gods Hunt for Loki

  

Lyrics    Eddaic Tale                                 Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

Loki is Bound                                                                  Ragnarok is Beginning

 

Lyrics  Eddaic Tale                                                           Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

Thor Fights Jormangund                                               The Death of Odin and the End of the World

  

Lyrics  Eddaic Tale                                                           Lyrics  Eddaic Tale

 

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Featured Bands:

 

Rebellion is a German band founded in 2001 by Uwe Lulis and Tomi Göttlich. Their first album, released in 2002, was a metal journey through Shakespeare's Macbeth. Following that, they released a second album which featured more standard lyrics found in heavy metal; metal, war, death, etc. In 2005, they embarked upon a three album History of the Vikings. The first album was called Sagas of Iceland and used the sagas for much their lyrical content. The second album, released in 2007, was entitled Miklagard and dealt more with Viking history and expansionism, as much as metal can. The third album, released in 2009, was called Arise - From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök and it deals solely with the Norse gods from the beginning to the end of the world.

 

 

Tyr is an interesting band that was founded in the Faroe Islands in 1998. However, they did not release their first album, How Far to Asgaard, until 2002. Not the usual style of Viking metal, Tyr is one of the more easily understandable bands when they sing in English. Many of their songs are sung in Faroese which is one of the closest languages to Old Norse still spoken today. A few of their songs are based off of old folk songs from the Faroe Islands. After their first album, they released another in 2003 titled Eric the Red and then did not release another until 2006. This album, Ragnarok, as one might guess from the title, dealt much with the Norse end of the world. Their latest albums Land and By the Light of the Northern Star, released in 2008 and 2009 respectively, both have more of the conventional Viking Metal musical content.

 

 

 

Amon Amarth is a Swedish band originally formed in 1988 under the name Scum. They changed their name to Amon Amarth in 1992 which they took from Tolkein's Sindarin language and it is one of the names of Mount Doom. They are identified as one of the most popular Viking Metal bands in existence. Their first officially produced album, Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds, was released in 1996 but it was not until their next album in 1998, Once Sent from the Golden Hall, that they signed on with Metal Blade Records, the company that would produce the rest of their albums. Their lyrics deal mostly with Norse mytholgy, Viking life, and hating Christians. They have toned down the Christian hate in their later albums but it is still a prominent aspect of their music.

 

Einherjer was founded in Norway in 1993. Their music is mostly Viking Metal but they also have a good amount of folk influence as well. Like most Viking Metal bands, much of their music retells the Norse myths and each of their albums has a specific theme. They band split up in 2004 but announced in 2008 that they were reuniting to do some select live shows in 2009.

 

 

 

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If you like these bands, here are some other Viking metal bands you might enjoy:

 

Bathory

Battlelore

Ensiferum

Enslaved

Equilibrium (Website in German)

Eluveitie

Finntroll

Hammerfall

Korpiklaani

Leaves' Eyes

Moonsorrow

Rhapsody

Turisas

Wintersun