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Skyforger is a
heavy metal band from
Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of
doom metal band Grindmaster Dead.
Musical style and lyrical themes
Most of their songs are about
Baltic mythology
Baltic mythology is the body of mythology of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. Baltic mythology ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Baltic regio ...
and warfare; they also play
Latvian folk songs and their metal arrangements. Although Skyforger is known for their folk metal, the style on their demo ' is essentially
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
.
The band also has performed and recorded a number of folk songs, including the entirety of their
acoustic fourth album ', released in 2003. Folk elements can be found on all of their albums. In December 2005, during the presentation of their album, ''Semigalls' Warchant'', the band announced their next album would be experimentation with
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
. They later pointed out that Latvian history still has enough untold stories, meaning their lyrics will retain their folk/pagan fashion.
History
In 2010, Skyforger signed with American label
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...
and released their 5th studio album ''
Kurbads'' about the deeds of mythical Latvian warrior , son of
mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...
. The album received 2010
Annual Latvian Music Recording Award as the best rock album, as well as the 2010 Latvian Metal Music Award as the best metal album with Skyforger also winning the "Best Metal Band" category. Skyforger was featured on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's series "Close-Up" episode on
Latvian folk music.
In 2015, the band released their 6th studio album titled ' dedicated to the now extinct
Baltic people
The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.
One of the features of Baltic languages is the number o ...
Old Prussians
Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...
. Two of the album's songs are sung in
Old Prussian
Old Prussian was a Western Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoid con ...
(''Ei skīja, skīja'' and ''Rāmava''), while the rest are in Latvian. For the writing of the album, Skyforger recruited historian Agris Dzenis as a historical consultant. After releasing the album, the band embarked on a European tour on April 8. In 2016, ''Senprūsija'' received the
Annual Latvian Music Recording Award as the best hard rock/heavy metal album of 2015. In 2016, Skyforger also re-issued their 2003 album ''Zobena dziesma'' with 2 additional songs.
On June 3, 2017, Skyforger performed a one-time multi-media concert – metal opera "Kurbads. The Son of The Mare" – at Lielezers open-air stage in
Limbaži
Limbaži (, et, Lemsalu, german: Lemsal, liv, Limbaž) is a town in the Vidzeme region of northern Latvia. Limbaži is located 90 km northeast of the capital Riga. The population is 6888 people. During the Middle Ages, as part of Livonia, ...
as a part of a programme for
100th Anniversary of the Latvian Republic. On February 14, 2018, the performance was awarded Kilogram of Culture award as the "Surprise of the Year". On June 17, 2018, Skyforger played a special concert at the festival ''
Zobens un Lemess'' commemorating the 20th anniversary since the release of their first full-length album ' in 1998. On 18 November 2018, the centenary for the proclamation of Latvia, Skyforger released a video directed by Kristīne Neikena and starring actress for their song ''Nekas nav aizmirsts'' from album ''Senprūsija''.
Controversy
Skyforger was involved in some controversy with one of their former producers who believed they were affiliated with
Neo-Nazism. The reason for this was the cover of their album ''
Pērkoņkalve'', which depicts
Baltic god of thunder
Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European c ...
Pērkons wearing a
belt buckle
A belt buckle is a buckle, a clasp for fastening two ends, such as of straps or a belt, in which a device attached to one of the ends is fitted or coupled to the other. The word enters Middle English via Old French and the Latin ''buccula' ...
adorned with a
swastika and striking an
anvil, as well as the swastika incorporated in Skyforger's logo. Some websites had therefore listed Skyforger as a Neo-Nazi band. The band addressed the controversy on their website, writing:
Members
;Current members
* – lead vocals, guitar,
kokles
Kokle (; ltg, kūkle) or historically kokles (''kūkles'') is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish ...
,
stabule
Stabule, also known as stebule or stabuļa. is a Latvian woodwind instrument. The name can apply to variety of wind instruments, but in general sense it is a pipe with 4-8 finger holes. These instruments are 1.5–2.5 cm in diameter and can ...
(1995–present)
* ("Zirgs") – bass guitar, backing vocals,
ģīga
The ģīga or divstīdzis is a two-stringed bowed zither found in Latvia.
The instrument is descended from the psalmodicon ( lv, vienstīdzis or ''manihorka''), a bowed monochord developed in Sweden in 1829 for liturgical singing. From there it f ...
(1995–present)
*Alvis Bernāns – guitar (2014–present)
*Jānis Osis – drums, percussion (2022–present)
;Former members
* – drums, backing vocals (1995–1998)
* – guitar, backing vocals (1996–2000, 2001–2004, 2006–2008)
* ("Mazais") – drums, percussion (1998–2015)
* –
dūdas,
kokles
Kokle (; ltg, kūkle) or historically kokles (''kūkles'') is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish ...
, backing vocals (2004–2012)
* – guitar, backing vocals (2000–2001, 2008–2010)
* Ģirts Kļaviņš ("Motors") – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2006)
* Egons Kronbergs – guitar (2010–2013)
* Artūrs Jurjāns – drums, percussion (2016–2022)
Timeline
Gallery
Skyforger Dark Troll 2018 01.jpg, Singer and guitarist Pēteris
Skyforger Dark Troll 2018 03.jpg, Guitarist Alvis
Skyforger Dark Troll 2018 05.jpg, Bass player Edgars
Skyforger Dark Troll 2018 10.jpg, Drummer Artūrs
Discography
* ' (1997; demo)
* ' (1998)
* ' (2000)
* ''
Pērkoņkalve'' (''Thunderforge'') (2003)
* ' (2003;
acoustic album)
* ''Semigalls' Warchant'' (2005; expanded re-release)
* ''Zobena Dziesma'' (2006; expanded re-release)
* ''
Kurbads'' (2010)
* ' (2015)
* ''Senprūsija Live'' (2015;
live album)
References
External links
*
Zobena dziesma
{{Authority control
Latvian heavy metal musical groups
Latvian black metal musical groups
Latvian folk metal musical groups
Latvian folk music groups
Metal Blade Records artists
Musical groups established in 1995