Skyforger

Latvian folk metallic collective Skyforger (named following Perkons, the Latvian pagan god from the sky) shaped in 1995 in the ashes of doom metallic outfit Grindmaster Deceased. Skyforger’s punishing mixture of traditional local folk music and traditional thrash and power steel is cut in the same earthy material as works like Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Windir, Turisas, and Eluveitie, as is certainly their penchant for mixing Marshall stacks with period folk equipment. The music group released its debut record, Kauja Pie Saules, in 1998. Following records consist of Latviesu Strelnieki (2000), Perkonkalve (2003), Zobena Dziesma (2003), Semigall’s Warchant (a 2005 reissue of their 1997 demonstration), and Kurbads (2010).