It is no surprise that there are many prolific heavy metal bands from Sweden considering that it is home to the great Vikings. The incredible depth and passion captured by Scandinavian metal songs truly depict how far the genre has come since its introduction in the early 1980s.
Swedish Metals Bands
One may wonder why there are so many metal bands in a country of just over 9 million people. Arguably, the pioneer of the genre is Bathory, a Swedish metal band that was formed in March 1983. Before this, other groups had been just been regular rock bands such as Abba. Bathory was among the first bands to perform Viking metal.
They had famous studio albums such as ‘The Return’ which was released in 1985, ‘Under the Sign of the Black Mark’ (1987), ‘Blood Fire Death’, a 1988 classic, and ‘Hammerheart’. These had famous songs such as ‘One Rode to Asa Bay’, ‘A Fine Day To Die’ and ‘Call From The Grave’.
Metal Songs
Fans of heavy metal songs have certainly heard of bands such as Candlemass and Amon Amarth. Opeth also gained a reputation for its blend of progressive metal and death metal. Some of its best songs include ‘Blackwater Park’, ‘Demon of the Fall’ and ‘Deliverance’. There is no denying the impact that Swedish metal bands have had on the rock genre. They even went as far as to introduce new sub-genres such as death metal and Viking metal.