Viking metal is a sub-genre of Black metal music. Some leaders in the genre are Enslaved, Vintersorg, Otyg, Borknagar, Amon Amarth, Bathory, Einherjer, Mithotyn, Thyrfing, Ensiferum, Falkenbach and Finntroll. The lyrical content of the songs usually talks about Norse Mythology, Paganism, Vikings, and Christian oppression of the Norse Pagan religion. Arrangements are usually more complex than the somewhat simple early black metal that originated in Norway in the early 1990s, incorporating extensive acoustic and folk passages (esp. Ensiferum, Finntroll, and Thyrfing).
