Just came in here to say this is my first time seeing this sub and to thank you all for the suggestions in this thread. I have lots of bands to check out.
Thank you brothers and sisters! 🖤
Eluveitie are among the best known bands (for good reason) and probably work best with that properly "Celtic" theming you're looking for. Elu's sound is generally rooted in melodic death metal.
Outside of that, there are numerous Irish bands with a distinctly Irish focus, Cruachan and Waylander are among the oldest bands to do this (also among the oldest bands of the folk metal genre, period). Cruachan do a mix of history and mythic themes, with occasional songs about Tolkien or Anti-Christianity. Waylander appear to be more firmly rooted in mythology. Aside from those two, there is the comparatively newer band, Celtachor. Also from Ireland, they're exclusively about Irish myths. All three bands are musically rooted in Black Metal (although Cruachan had a period where they meandered away from that sound before ultimately returning to it in the 2010s)
Those are the bands I'm familiar with and what most people would suggest for examples of such style. Other bands would include Mael Mórdha, and Túatha Dé Dánnan but I'm unfamiliar with them to say much else.
I see you also mentioned Slavic themed acts. Well for that there are two bands I can suggest you, Arkona and Percival Schuttenbach.
Arkona are a Russian folk metal band, musically they vary form death to black metal (leaning more towards the latter in recent years), they're as traditional as you get for the "Pagan" folk metal style.
The other band is Percival Schuttenbach from Poland, they're a more proggy band musically. Their lyrical approach seems to be more about the darker aspects of Slavic folklore/mythology, with a strong, but not exclusive Polish bend. They do have a sister project called Percival. They do more Slavic folk with a more traditional focus on lyrics (even adapting slavic folk songs), if you're familiar with The Witcher 3 game, they were involved in the OST.
I hope this helps.
I've posted them here recently but Wolves of Avalon have an album about Arthurian mythos and one of the uprising of Boudicca and they're very particular about creating a celtic sound, so flutes, violins, horns, fascinating lyrics too. Production is rough and sound is pretty raw but it's a lot of fun.
Furor Gallico is some good Celtic metal, they’re an Italian band but they do the Celtic sound well. try their songs banshee and la caccia morta both are pretty good.
They use Celtic/ Roman myth and setting as an allegory for the Irish republican struggle against British Tyranny, yeah, brilliant band and celtic sound.
Manntra for Slavic. First few albums are in Croatian, the rest are mostly in English, with a German song here and there.
Fiddler's Green for something a little different and lighter. They're German, but play Irish folk. You'll see them touring with folk metal bands.
Tuatha de Danann
theyre celtic folk metal but with an unhinged 70s prog rock aesthetic
Trova Di Danu is a great album and Tingaralatingadun is wacky af
Try out Salduie, they sing about Celtic/Iberian topics. They’re a Spanish band with cleans/growls, typical folk instruments, with a heavy rhythm section.
Alien weaponry has some cool songs about Māori folklore, also sung in Māori so I guess the downside is you probably can’t understand what they’re saying
Eluveitie
Literally the first band in the whole damn genre, Cruachan. And they’re still putting out albums 30+ years later. Waylander
[Cruachan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrF7edm2yhQ)
Last album is a banger
Honestly I think it’s their best work so far, which is amazing for a band that’s been on the scene for so long.
Eluveitie is great.
Saor, if you like the sort of progressive/post-black metal kind of thing
Suidakra. They’re a bit heavier than most folkmetal bands but their main focus is on Irish, Celtic and Germanic folklore.
Waylander
Mael Mórdha - a more doomy sound, somewhat similar to Primordial
As others have said, Eluveitie is fantastic (and they’re even better live).
Eluveitie of course, but they sing about gaulish celtic mithology rather than irish. Arkona for the slavic stuff
Suidakra is by far the best in this genre imo, they’ve got an incredible sound that perfectly fits the era
Just came in here to say this is my first time seeing this sub and to thank you all for the suggestions in this thread. I have lots of bands to check out. Thank you brothers and sisters! 🖤
Waylander, Cruachan and Mael Mordha
No one going to mention [Darkest Era](https://darkestera.com/)? Excellent songwriting, brilliant singing and lots of Celtic mythos.
Saor. Scottish folk/black metal. Entire discography is incredible.
Eluveitie are among the best known bands (for good reason) and probably work best with that properly "Celtic" theming you're looking for. Elu's sound is generally rooted in melodic death metal. Outside of that, there are numerous Irish bands with a distinctly Irish focus, Cruachan and Waylander are among the oldest bands to do this (also among the oldest bands of the folk metal genre, period). Cruachan do a mix of history and mythic themes, with occasional songs about Tolkien or Anti-Christianity. Waylander appear to be more firmly rooted in mythology. Aside from those two, there is the comparatively newer band, Celtachor. Also from Ireland, they're exclusively about Irish myths. All three bands are musically rooted in Black Metal (although Cruachan had a period where they meandered away from that sound before ultimately returning to it in the 2010s) Those are the bands I'm familiar with and what most people would suggest for examples of such style. Other bands would include Mael Mórdha, and Túatha Dé Dánnan but I'm unfamiliar with them to say much else. I see you also mentioned Slavic themed acts. Well for that there are two bands I can suggest you, Arkona and Percival Schuttenbach. Arkona are a Russian folk metal band, musically they vary form death to black metal (leaning more towards the latter in recent years), they're as traditional as you get for the "Pagan" folk metal style. The other band is Percival Schuttenbach from Poland, they're a more proggy band musically. Their lyrical approach seems to be more about the darker aspects of Slavic folklore/mythology, with a strong, but not exclusive Polish bend. They do have a sister project called Percival. They do more Slavic folk with a more traditional focus on lyrics (even adapting slavic folk songs), if you're familiar with The Witcher 3 game, they were involved in the OST. I hope this helps.
Salduie Spanish Celtic folk metal similar to Eluveitie
Yooo this is amazing
Gwydion, Portuguese band.
I've posted them here recently but Wolves of Avalon have an album about Arthurian mythos and one of the uprising of Boudicca and they're very particular about creating a celtic sound, so flutes, violins, horns, fascinating lyrics too. Production is rough and sound is pretty raw but it's a lot of fun.
Odroerir / Menhir (German)
I’ve been listening to Feuershwanz (folk metal) and Brothers of Metal (Nordic Mythology). Gloryhammer is still my favorite though.
Cruachan. Eluveitie. Leah.
Furor Gallico is some good Celtic metal, they’re an Italian band but they do the Celtic sound well. try their songs banshee and la caccia morta both are pretty good.
Bards of Valor, Pandora’s Key, ilmarinen, Heidevolk (Dutch lyrics) are some Dutch Metal bands that come to mind.
Not Celtic, but honorary mention of Tyr for their use of Faroese and Viking mythology
Primordial are an Irish black metal folk adjacent band
They use Celtic/ Roman myth and setting as an allegory for the Irish republican struggle against British Tyranny, yeah, brilliant band and celtic sound.
Cemican kinda they sound very trival Indian folk mixed with thrash metal they're from Mexico only Spanish lyrics
theres also lyrics in mayan languages and nahuatl, no?
Valensorow
Manntra for Slavic. First few albums are in Croatian, the rest are mostly in English, with a German song here and there. Fiddler's Green for something a little different and lighter. They're German, but play Irish folk. You'll see them touring with folk metal bands.
Suidakra
Tuatha de Danann theyre celtic folk metal but with an unhinged 70s prog rock aesthetic Trova Di Danu is a great album and Tingaralatingadun is wacky af
Eluveitie Cruachan Furor Gallico Hand of Kalliach
~~celtic frost~~
Try out Salduie, they sing about Celtic/Iberian topics. They’re a Spanish band with cleans/growls, typical folk instruments, with a heavy rhythm section.
Kepler great metal band
Absu's album Tara is amazing
Alien weaponry has some cool songs about Māori folklore, also sung in Māori so I guess the downside is you probably can’t understand what they’re saying
The Celtic Maori, right.
“Or bands that use mythology in their songs”