Medieval rock is a musical genre derived from folk
rock.
While medieval rock usually mixes traditional rock instruments (e.g.
electrical guitars) with instruments commonly found in celtic
folk music (e.g. bagpipes),
it often also uses more classical instruments, such as harps
or violins.
Some bands use medieval instruments exclusively, other bands even use synthesizers.
Medieval rock typically utilizes medieval lyrics or poems and
occasionally even medieval melodies. However most such music can be
understood as a "reinterpretation" of the original rather than an
authentic reconstruction.
Often, bands of this genre originally played Irish
folk music or medieval
market music, sometimes developing more towards heavy
metal as they gained popularity.
Since the similarity to rock
music, medieval music, folk and folk metal strongly varies across bands
and songs, the classification of such music is often difficult. Most German
bands internationally recognised as folk
metal bands are actually part of this genre.
Common examples for medieval rock bands include: Corvus
Corax, Cultus
Ferox, Faun, In
Extremo, Saltatio
Mortis, Schandmaul, Schelmish, Subway
to Sally and Tanzwut
