The Pagan Black Metal Thread

My Top Ten Pagan Black Metal albums:

1. Drudkh - Кров у наших криницях (Blood in Our Wells) (2006)

2. Winterfylleth - The Mercian Sphere (2010)

3. Saor - Aura (2014)

4. Ulver - Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (1995)

5. Winterfylleth - The Ghost of Heritage (2008)

6. Drudkh - Autumn Aurora (2004)

7. Árstíðir Lifsins - Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjǫll né firðir (2020)

8. Saor - Roots (2013)

9. Saor - Forgotten Paths (2019)

10. Helrunar - Baldr ok Íss (2007)

Pagan Black Metal is quite difficult to define I have found and wonder whether it is more a thematic than a musical differentiation. If you take the RYM genre definition literally then a lot of folk metal would seem to qualify, but that somehow doesn't feel right to me as there is already that genre available and would render the pagan black metal genre tag redundant. A quick glance at my personal top ten seems to suggest that most of these are actually atmospheric black metal in nature. Does anyone have any view as to what constitutes pagan black metal in order to clear up my personal confusion around the genre and do you think it is sufficient of a departure from conventional or atmospheric black metal to justify it's own sub-genre? I am genuinely interested to hear your opinions as I am far from sure of my own position on this.

As I'm familiar with most of these releases, I feel like I have to try and take a shot at this I guess. Pagan Black Metal has always been a pretty useless tag for me personally; whenever I see it I assume it's going to be some slightly more lo-fi Black Metal with a ton of tremolo progression with a lot of the melody coming from acoustic or other folky instruments. The fact that Paganism is attributed to the lyrics or themes never really did much to transform the music for me, as conventional Black Metal can commonly be (anti) religious in nature to begin with. I'm up for the discussion because to me Pagan Black Metal is on the heavier side of the spectrum spectrum of Folk Metal, leaning more towards traditional or atmospheric Black Metal songwriting styles while still using more traditional instruments or melodies and relishing in a more triumphant sound. Just like all other subgenres have their extremes, Pagan Black Metal is the opposite side of the coin to the Folk Metal that has people frolicking around at a Ren Faire with two pints of ale in their hand. I consider it to have a traditional or Atmospheric Black Metal primary and a Folk Metal secondary, not its own thing.

My two cents:

Pagan Black Metal = Black Metal music that utilizes tools borrowed from Folk &/or Viking Metal music without sacrificing on the trademark Black Metal atmosphere & aesthetic.

Folk Metal = Metal music built around Folk melodies & attributes. Often borrows the tools of Black Metal however the Folk components play the role of the protagonist & this doesn't allow the music to consistently achieve the dark & evil atmosphere & aesthetic that defines a genuine Black Metal release.

I've never seen the need for a Pagan Black Metal subgenre to tell you the truth & that may be something that we look at in the future.