Neofolk

Neofolk is a form of folk music that emerged from European ideals and post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acous

Neofolk is a form of folk music that emerged from European ideals and post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial music and experimental music. The genre encompasses a wide assortment of themes including traditional music, heathenry, romanticism and occultism. Neofolk musicians often have ties to other post-industrial genres such as neoclassical and martial music, or have links with Heathen circles or other countercultural elements.

The term "neofolk" originates from esoteric music circles who started using the term in the late 20th Century to describe music influenced by musicians such as Douglas Pearce (Death In June), Tony Wakeford (Sol Invictus) and David Tibet (Current 93) who had collaborated heavily for a period of time. These musicians were part of a post-industrial music circle who later on incorporated folk music based upon traditional and European elements into their sound. Folk musicians such as Vulcan's Hammer, Changes and Comus had created music with similar sounds and themes to neofolk as far back as the 1960s. These musicians could be considered harbingers of the sound that later influenced the neofolk artists. However, the distinction must be made that it was the aforementioned artists who were involved in the dark music scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s that contributed specifically to the emergence of neofolk. Neofolk is seen by many as an extension of post-industrial music into the folk music genre which did not occur until the late 20th Century.