Tolkien Metal List

Hello, and welcome to my journey to explore the answer to the above question. This all came about because of some posts about how much metal owes to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. I already listened to some bands that used Tolkien as a source of inspiration, but I wanted to look for more. And boy, is there a lot to sort through. So I decided to create a list to document what I find for others who may be interested in Tolkien-inspired metal. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list (I am one person), and my posts are intended more as band profiles, not reviews (though I will be sharing my thoughts on the bands). With all that out of the way, here are my rules for Tolkien Metal and the bands that I will be covering:

1. Can be any subgenre of metal, but the lyrics must reference Tolkien’s works. Generic elves/dwarves/fantasy does not count. The band can (and probably will) have non-Tolkien related music as well. 2. While I do not have a minimum number of references needed for a band to count, Tolkien should be a main theme of either the band’s discography as a whole or of a specific album. Band name alone does not count (sorry Amon Amarth). 3. No Nazis. It is an unfortunate truth that both Tolkien and Metal have a Nazi problem. I refuse to give them a platform, and will do my due diligence to ensure that I am not promoting a Nazi band. If I fail, please let me know, and I will remove them from my blog. 4. The band must have released at least one full-length album. This is more for my sanity than anything else. There are a lot of bands that have only released a demo, a single, or an EP. I’m trying to keep this to a reasonable length.

I welcome submissions and recommendations for bands to add to the list. However, I would ask to keep band bashing off my blog. Music in general is very subjective, and metal even more so, so what one person likes, another may despise, and that’s ok.

Band List (Updates on Sundays):

Music Style: Melodic Black Metal

Country of Origin: Sweden

Years Active: 2019-Present

Current Member: Våndarr - Everything

Discography: Kingdoms That No One Remembers (2020)

Website: https://cirkeln.bandcamp.com/music and https://www.facebook.com/cirkelnband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBMWkZJ-1w

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~95

My Thoughts: Really returning to the roots of this blog with this band (yay solo black metal project from Europe). I joke, but I did enjoy Cirkeln’s first full-length album Kingdoms That No One Remembers. It was a well-put together album that had this great energy running through the entire work. I’ve noticed that mixing tends to be where these types of bands tend to have issues, but the music was well mixed and there was a nice balance between the vocals and the instruments. It was also nice to listen to a black metal band with Tolkien-based lyrics that wasn’t another variation on Summoning (I like Summoning, but Tolkien metal has a lot of Summoning knock-offs). Instead, I would describe Cirkeln’s sound as more Bathory inspired, while still being it’s own thing. Cirkeln has announced that his second album A Song To Sorrow will be released soon. I will be looking forward to it.

Side note, I love the album art from Kingdoms That No One Remembers. I want this as a poster.

Music Style: Epic Heavy Metal

Country of Origin: Poland

Years Active: 2003-2010, 2012, 2020-Present

Current Members: Mateusz Gajdzik - Guitars; Andrzej Sadowski - Guitars, Bass; Tomasz Pater - Guitars; Tomasz Twardowski - Vocals; Krzysztof Nowakowski - Drums

Discography: Witchking (2007) Hand of Justice (2008)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: The Witchking of Angmar was Lord of the Nazgûl and Sauron’s second in command during the Lord of the Rings.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/WitchkingBand/?ref=page_internal

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~145

Sorry, but there’s no new band this week, and there won’t be for a few weeks. I had top surgery this week, and I’m planning on putting this project on a brief hiatus while I recover. I hope to be back to recommending new Tolkien Metal bands in a few weeks. To tide you over until then, I have made a Spotify playlist featuring music from every band I have covered so far.

Music Style: Technical/Brutal Death Metal

Country of Origin: United States of America

Years Active: 2016-Present

Current Members: Zachariah Mitchell - All Instruments; Elijah Cirricione - Vocals

Discography: Hearken the Echo of Music (2017)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: The Mouth of Sauron was Sauron’s herald and messenger.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Mouthofsauronband/ and https://mouthofsauron.bandcamp.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSaclx3OHYiQZfq9VmOCQzg

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~250

My Thoughts: Bit of a disclaimer, I am not very familiar with technical or brutal death metal. When I listen to death metal, I tend towards melodeath. So I have no idea if this band is a good or bad example of the genre. That being said, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed listening to them.

If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know that I love contrasting sounds, and Mouth of Sauron does this rather well. Their music is peppered with these delightful little touches that elevate it a step above standard death metal. A song might have a soft piano intro that crashes headlong into screams and growls, while a different piece will have some strings come in to break up the wall of noise. I also particularly enjoyed the outro of “Nazgul Breath” (their best song, imo), which is an electric guitar solo that is heavily inspired by “Concerning Hobbits” from the LOTR films.

Music Style: Epic Black Metal

Country of Origin: Italy

Years Active: 2012-Present

Current Member: Saverio Giove - Everything

Discography: Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga (2013) Elenion Ancalima (2017) Afar Angathfark (2020)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: Emyn Muil is the name of the rocky region where Frodo and Sam met Gollum on their quest to destroy the one ring.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/EmynMuil and https://emynmuil.bandcamp.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaP-duA6zy-g9TEZOTp69DA

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~2,675

My Thoughts: Do I think Emyn Muil is a bad band? No. Do I think the band makes bad music? No. Do I think there’s anything wrong with the music from a technical level? No. Do I think this band needs to exist? No.

Music Style: Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal, Dungeon Synth

Country of Origin: Canada

Years Active: 2018-Present

Current Members: Dorgul - All Instruments, Vocals; Harslingoth - Vocals

Discography: Dush agh Golnauk (2018) A Battle in the Dark Lands of the Eye... (2019) Unfinished Conquests (2020)* Of the Lineage of Kings (2021)

*Instrumental Album

Tolkien Band Name Reference: The Keys of Orthanc unlock the tower of Orthanc (on of the titular Two Towers) and were given to Saruman by the Steward of Gondor so he could act as Warden of the Tower on behalf of Gondor.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/keysofOrthanc/ and https://keysoforthanc.bandcamp.com/music

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWmwkhXI_4XiuC9sEDzn5g

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~370

My Thoughts: When I defined Tolkien Metal for this blog, I was very focused on the lyrics. That is still true, but this band shows that it is also possible to capture the essence of Tolkien in an instrumental form. While three of their four full-length albums do include songs with lyrics, one of them, Unfinished Conquests, is purely instrumental. I’m not very familiar with dungeon synth, so I can’t tell you if this is a good or bad example of the genre, but I did enjoy listening to it, especially “Never Forgotten Heroes of the Ages” which had some really nice horns. Both in this album and in their other instrumental pieces they capture the scale and emotions of Tolkien’s work.

Music Style: Metal Archives - Epic Black Metal (early); Symphonic Black/Power Metal (later) Númenor - Epic Power Metal, Sword and Sorcery Metal

Country of Origin: Serbia

Years Active: 2004-2005 (as Franconian Frost), 2005-2009 (as Esgaroth), 2009-Present (current name)

Current Members: Despot Marko Miranović - Lead Vocals; Srđan "Sirius" Branković - Guitar, Bass; Mladen Gošić - Keyboard; Željko Jovanović - Additional Vocals; Marko Milojević - Drums

Discography: Colossal Darkness (2013) Sword and Sorcery (2015) Chronicles from the Realms Beyond (2017) Draconian Age (2021)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: Númenor was a kingdom of men on an island made by the Valar during the Second Age.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/N%C3%BAmenor-130231620372144/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MetalSoundMagazine

Monthly Spotify Listeners: ~830

My Thoughts: I wish I had found this band earlier. They have this really energizing blend of black and power metal that makes you want to grab a sword and ride off into battle. There’s also a sense of nostalgia as even though their first full-length album was only released in 2013 (the had released singles and EPs before this), they have an 80s/90s flavor to their sound. To put it simply, this is the music playing in the background of every scene airbrushed onto the side of a van.

I enjoyed basically everything of theirs I listened to, but my favorite albums were a tie between Sword and Sorcery and Draconian Age. Sword and Sorcery shows off how well they mix all their various musical influences and I think it serves as a good intro to their sound. Draconian Age is their most recent release, and opens up ridiculously strong with a guest appearance by Hansi Kürsch of Blind Guardian on the song “Make the Stand (At the Gates of Erebor)”. And it was glorious. However, the song on that album I was not expecting, but ended up really liking, was “Hall of the Mountain King”, which is a quasi-cover of the piece of classical music of the same title by Edvard Grieg. I say quasi-cover because the band keeps the tune, but wrote their own lyrics. The albums they have already released are great, but I’m also super excited for their current project. Númenor is currently working on a Blind Guardian tribute album. As you may be aware, I’m a fan of Blind Guardian, and this album sounds like it will be a real treat.

Music Style: Epic Symphonic Metal

Country of Origin: Finland

Years Active: 1999-2011, 2016- Present

Current Members: Jyri "Moredhel" Vahvanen - Guitars; Henri Vahvanen - Drums; Maria Honkanen - Keyboards, Flute; Kaisa Jouhki - Vocals; Jussi Rautio - Guitars (lead); Timo Honkanen - Bass; Tomi Mykkänen - Vocals

Discography: ...Where the Shadows Lie (2002) Sword’s Song (2003) Third Age of the Sun (2005) Evernight (2007) The Last Alliance (2008) Doombound (2011)

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BattleloreOfficial/videos (official) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ8fbG8Pxzjs_ecVaetGneg (topic)

Website: http://www.battlelore.net/

Spotify Monthly Listeners: ~14,000

My Thoughts: Before going any further, I would like to state that I do not think Battlelore is a bad band, and I do not think they make bad music. I just don’t think they meshed well with my personal tastes and my expectations for the band. I fully acknowledge this is a me issue, and me not being 100% on board with a band does not mean that other people won’t enjoy them. With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the band.

On paper, I should love this band. Finland is known for producing great metal bands. Additionally, even though Metal Archives claims their genre is Epic Symphonic Metal, Battlelore pulls inspiration from a variety of genres, such as folk metal, power metal, and gothic music. They are also thoroughly steeped in Tolkien’s lore, and cover some topics that aren’t common in Tolkien Metal (ex. “The Mark of The Bear” about Beorn). I know that in previous posts I have expressed my love of both female metal vocalists and playing with contrasting sounds, and this band has both. This band sounds right up my alley. So why did I struggle to listen to them?

Ultimately, for me, the issue is song pacing. And unfortunately, the root of the pacing issue is the female vocalist, Kaisa Jouhki. Whenever she has a solo, the music slows down to a crawl and any momentum the song had is gone. She kills a song’s energy and pacing to the point where a few times when I was listening, I thought I had changed songs halfway through. Additionally (and this may be a language issue) she doesn’t sound emotionally invested in anything she is singing about. Her vocals are very pretty and she’s talented, but I don’t believe she cares. I did enjoy the music around her parts, and when she was singing with a male vocalist, most of my issues with her weren’t as present.

Music Style: Folk Metal

Country of Origin: Mexico

Years Active: 2012-Present

Current Members: Serpent Tongue - Drums; Rhenkko - Guitars (lead); Jack Hammerhead - Vocals; Ceasar - Drums (rhythm); Giil - Bass

Discography: The Third Age (2014) Super Troll Blaster (2016) The Uruk Hai (2018)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: ‘Morguth’ is a reference to Morgoth, aka Melkor, the first Dark Lord and the original evil in Arda.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/morguth/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHHphkmxVNqp3ptDPtTfg_g

Spotify Monthly Listeners: ~35

My Thoughts: I kind of want Morguth and Wind Rose to tour together. Partially because I think it would be a fun show, and partially because I think their gimmicks complement each other. While Wind Rose is very into dwarves, Morguth is into orcs and trolls. Just look up at the logo and you can see the band’s tagline: True Orkish Rock N Roll. While Morguth isn’t quite as devoted to the orcs as Wind Rose is to the dwarves (they have plenty of songs that aren’t about orcs), it’s still a favorite theme of theirs.

I greatly enjoyed listening to this band’s discography. It’s very obvious (or they were very good at faking) that they are having a good time making this music. Even when the songs are about darker subjects there’s still a sense of fun and that the band is not taking itself too seriously. My personal favorite album of theirs was The Uruk Hai, with my favorite song of that album being “Rohirrim’s Ride”. Also, while they are a folk metal band, that is a very broad subgenre, so I would say they skew more towards the Finntroll version of folk metal than the Turisas version of folk metal. If that sounds up your alley, please go show them some love.

As a final fun note, I love the album art for Super Troll Blaster.

Music Style: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Country of Origin: Slovakia

Years Active: 2000-Present (there were a few breaks in that time)

Current Members: Pyros - Drums, Percussion; Khayo - Guitars; Lydia - Vocals, Flute; Grom - Vocals, Keyboard

Discography: Reginae Mysterium (2002) Grond (2003) Artifacts of Life (2020)

Tolkien Band Name Reference: ‘Orkrist’ is the Slovak spelling of Orcrist. Orcrist is a sword that was forged in Gondolin in the First Age and was wielded by Thorin Oakenshield in the Third Age.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/orkristofficial/ and https://orkrist.bandcamp.com/

Spotify Monthly Listeners: ~115

My Thoughts: It’s difficult to pin down this band’s specific music style, as the genre they are aiming at seems to almost change song by song. The official sources aren’t much help either. Everyone seems to agree it’s some take on Black Metal, but more specific than that is a bit complicated. According to the band’s Facebook page, they are Atmospheric Black/Doom Metal. According to Metal Archives (where I usually pull the music style info from), they are Melodic Black/Folk/Heavy Metal. At the same time, some of their albums are on Youtube channels like Symphonic Black Metal Promotions (Orkrist does not have a channel or topic page on Youtube). And I don’t feel familiar enough with the various Black Metal subgenres to have an official guess.

Sometimes, such as in When the Autumn Comes, they sound more like power metal. Sometimes they seem to be aiming more for a black atmospheric sound, especially in their instrumental pieces. And sometimes they sound like the background music for a Ren fair (their version of “The Fall of Gil-Galad” is a good example of the last one). This isn’t a case of changing music styles over time. All of those examples are from the same album, so it’s less of an evolution and more of a mutation. None of this is a complaint, in fact I admire their versatility. I’ve found, both through this project and in my personal listening, that many bands lock themselves into just one sound, so the fact that Orkrist does try so many things is great. The transitions between styles are also fairly smooth, especially if you’re listening through an album (I imagine it wouldn’t work quite as well in a shuffled playlist).