Anfinnsaas
Anfinnsaas is a Norwegian duo of guitarist Knut Finsaas and drummer Geir Anfinn Halland Johansen, formed in 2013, whose self-titled debut (released September 18, 2015 on Autumnsongs Records) fuses traditional Nordic tunes with metal. Track titles like 'Svensk Revelje,' 'Hålandsdal,' and 'Slått Fra Røstad' point to source material drawn directly from regional folk melody, filtered through a stop-start dynamic that lurches from tuned-down, doom-laden passages into sudden black-metal eruptions. MetalSucks likened the record's post-metal skronk to Gorguts and Dysrhythmia while noting it registers as less overtly heavy and more experimental than either. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs Recording Studio in Trondheim.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Black 4 — Music 'explodes with sudden black metal energy' from tuned-down passages.
- Technical 3 — Compared to the angular post-metal skronkiness of Gorguts/Dysrhythmia.
- Folk 7 — Built directly on traditional Nordic tunes, with track titles referencing regional folk pieces.
- Doom 4 — 'Dark moods and tuned down sound' before erupting.
MEMBERS
- Knut Finsaasguitar
- Geir Anfinn Halland Johansendrums
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
- UnaffiliatedEI 14Crestfallen DuskFolkBlack
Crestfallen Dusk is a mostly one-man Tennessee project led by Ryan Clackner (also of Primeval Well, Vile Haint, and StumpTail) that reimagines black metal through the lens of Mississippi Hill Country blues, citing Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside as touchstones. The 2022 self-titled debut (Moonlight Cypress Archetypes) pairs blast beats and blackened shrieks with twangy, reverb-drenched blues guitar recorded on a vintage 1958 Fender Musicmaster. Sean Meyers (drums) and Zac Ormerod (lyrics/mixing) round out the record's credits.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11RakothFolkBlackDoom
Rakoth is a Russian epic black/doom/folk metal band formed in 1996, named after one of the New Gods in Nik Perumov's novels. Fuses Tolkien-inspired folk mysticism, medieval acoustic passages, and black metal into a literary, multi-hued 'Middle Earth' atmosphere.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11Q'uq'umatzFolkBlackTechnical
Q'uq'umatz is an anonymous one-person avant-garde metal project based in the Reno, Nevada area, named for the Mayan feathered-serpent creator deity of the Popol Vuh. Since its 2016 debut Tepeu, the project has fused black metal and progressive rock with krautrock and Native American folk textures, layering acoustic instruments over heavier passages. The artist deliberately withholds their identity.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13Cantata SanguiDoomFolkBlack
A Finnish outfit, founded by bassists Mika A. A. Hyytinen and Topi Aarnio, built around the gimmick-that-works of having no guitarists at all — two bass players (4-to-12-string, baritone-tuned) carry all the riffing, joined by keyboards/samples and dual male/female vocals from Kari Husa and Anna Pienimäki. Their sole full-length, 2009's On Rituals and Correspondence in Constructed Realities (Season of Mist), moves from doom-metal roots into a cavernous, drone-heavy hybrid of gothic, black, and alt-rock with electro-folk and Baroque touches.
- UnaffiliatedEI 16KaátaìraFolkBlack
Kaátaìra (also rendered Kaatayra) is the one-man project of Caio Lemos from Brasília, Brazil, blending atmospheric black metal with acoustic, regional Brazilian folk music. Across albums such as 'Inpariquipê' (2021) and 'Caminhos de Água' (2026, on Avantgarde sublabel Flowing Downward), rasped black-metal fury is threaded through acoustic guitar, folk instrumentation and drawn-out ambient passages. 'Caminhos de Água' is a river-themed suite that even weaves in spoken word from the artist's grandmother.
- Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 12Gallows' ForestFolkBlackTechnical
Gallows' Forest is the solo Hungarian project of JesterOfDestiny, active since 2018 and built around black metal fused with electronic programming and sampled/traditional instrumentation. Across the self-titled debut, Cerulean, and Cosmic Leviathan, Bandcamp credits confirm real didgeridoo, jaw harp, and a sampled koto performance by guest Sachiko Yoshihara layered into the black-metal base, alongside a stated focus on 'the exploration of electronic soundscapes.' The project also released a 2019 split with fellow atlas act Q'uq'umatz, Waxaklahun Ubah Kan.
- UnaffiliatedEI 11Noble DéchetFolkBlackTechnical
Noble Déchet is a Quebec City black metal project active since 2020, built around Le Mangeur de Feuilles Mortes (vocals, guitar, bass, double bass, organ) and Jean-Guilde (drums, vocals). RateYourMusic tags and user reviews mark them as avant-garde/folk black metal, layering 'weird folk and pagan esoterica' over raw, occult-themed black metal, with the project's own promotional voice leaning hard into absurdist, self-mythologizing humor.
- UnaffiliatedEI 16그슨대 (Gsndae)FolkBlackTechnical
그슨대 (Gsndae) is a South Korean avant-garde depressive black metal project from Pocheon-si, active since 2018, released via the black metal circle 'Black Poets.' Its sole full-length, 傳說 (Korean Tales) (2018), fuses DSBM/atmospheric black metal with Korean traditional instrumentation and pansori narrative-singing technique, framed as a journey through Korean dark folklore. The project is written, produced and mostly performed by a single artist under the alias 아체 (Arche), with session musicians on guitar and bass.
- UnaffiliatedEI 13SenmuthFolkTechnical
Senmuth is the solo project of Russian multi-instrumentalist Valery Androsov (b. 1973, Moscow), extraordinarily prolific with well over a hundred releases combining ambient, industrial/industrial metal, EBM, and 'ethno metal' built from guitars, programming, and ethnic instruments (sitar, dutar, domra, tarka, duduk, oud). Albums are conceptually organized around ancient civilizations — especially Egyptian, Mesoamerican, and Asian themes — with the project's style shifting from guitar-driven doom/industrial metal in its early years toward increasingly sample-based, ethnically-fused, ambient composition over time.
- UnaffiliatedEI 21Aaen AnimaFolkDoomTechnical
Aaen Anima is a Prague, Czechia avant-garde/doom-metal project founded April 25, 2002 as, in the band's own words, "originally playing acoustic avant-garde." Its 2003 album "Aniline Harp" pairs guitars and bass with cedar drum, bell, didgeridoo, darbuka and harmonium (all played by founder Aaen), plus flute (Ismia) and keyboards/djembe (Jari Velaochaga) — an eclectic, ritual-tinged folk-instrumentation palette rare even for avant-garde metal. No activity is documented past 2008.