Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumentation with various other sounds.^[1]

Neofolk has its origins in 1960s musical groups who began taking influence from traditional folk music.^[1] Folk musicians such as Vulcan's Hammer, Changes, Leonard Cohen, and Comus could be considered harbingers of the sound that later influenced the neofolk artists. Also the later explorations of Velvet Underground's band members, specifically those of Nico, have been called a major influence on what later became neofolk.^[2]

Neofolk originated in the 1980s, with bands from the post-punk and industrial music scenes, including Death In June, Current 93 and Sol Invictus, who began taking influence from this sound.^[1][2] The sound was embraced by Swans on their early 1990s albums such as Love of Life (1992),^[3] by the time of their 1997 disbandment, they had become what Exclaim! writer Dimitri Nasrallah called the "leading lights in the early 2000's neo-folk movement". The embrace of the genre continued into the releases of, lead vocalist, Michael Gira's subsequent band Angels of Light.^[4] During the late 1990s, the sound of the genre began to be embraced by bands who had previously played black metal, such as Empyrium and Haggard.^[1]

A majority of artists within the neofolk genre use archaic, cultural and literary references. Local traditions and indigenous beliefs tend to be portrayed heavily as well as esoteric and historical topics.^[1] Various forms of neopaganism and occultism play a part in the themes touched upon by many modern and original neofolk artists. Runic alphabets, heathen European sites and other means of expressing an interest in the ancient and ancestral occur often in neofolk music. The sociologist Peter Webb describes this as a legacy from romantic poetry and a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Webb writes that for bands like Sol Invictus, this leads to "a type of esoteric spirituality where paganism comes to the fore because of its respect for nature, its openness about sexuality, and its rituals and ceremonies guided by the seasons".^[5] Aesthetically, references to this subject occur within band names, album artwork, clothing and various other means of artistic expression. This has led to some forefathers of the genre and current artists within the genre attributing it to being an aspect of a broader neopagan revival.^[6] David Tibet of Current 93, one of the most influential neofolk bands, regards himself as a Christian, but believes that truth always is hidden and is more interested in apocalyptic and apocryphal literature than any Christian canon.^[7] During a period of heavy amphetamine and LSD use in the 1980s, he began to revere the children's character Noddy as a Gnostic deity.^[8]

Many bands use metaphors, sometimes borrowing terms such as Ernst Jünger's Waldgänger and using fascist symbols and slogans, which has led to an association of the genre with the far-right, though this is contested by fans.^[9] References to occult, pagan and politically far-right figures and movement are often intentionally ambiguous. Stefanie von Schnurbein has described the genre's approach to these types of material as an "elitist Nietzschean masquerade" which expresses a "(neo-)romantic art-religious attitude".^[10] Some bands have stated opposition to the perceived fascist apologia and themes in the genre and the related genre of martial industrial.^[11]

As a descriptor, apocalyptic folk predates neofolk and was used by David Tibet to describe the music of his band Current 93 during a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[12] Initially, Tibet did not intend to imply connection with the folk music genre; rather, that Current 93 was made by "apocalyptic folk[s]": in other words, apocalyptic people.^[13] Tibet and Current 93 produced some covers of traditional English folk songs, and Tibet himself was a great advocate for reclusive English folk singer Shirley Collins.^[14]

Other vague terms sometimes used to describe artists of this genre include "dark folk" and "pagan folk". These terms are umbrella terms that also describe various other forms of unrelated music.^[1]

Martial industrial or military pop is a genre that shares a lot in common with neofolk and developed very close to it.^[15]

• Diesel, Andreas; Gerten, Dieter (2007). Looking for Europe: Neofolk und Hintergründe (in German). Zeltingen-Rachtig: Index Verlag. ISBN 978-3-936878-02-8.

• Fava, Sérgio (2012). "When Rome Falls, Falls the World: Current 93 and Apocalyptic Folk". In Partridge, Christopher (ed.). Anthems of Apocalypse: Popular Music and Apocalyptic Thought. Sheffield Phoenix Press. pp. 72–89. ISBN 978-1-907534-34-8.

• François, Stéphane (2007). "The Euro-Pagan Scene: Between Paganism and Radical Right". Journal for the Studies of Radicalism. 1 (2). Translated by Godwin, Ariel: 35–54. doi:10.1353/jsr.2008.0006. ISSN 1930-1189. JSTOR 41887576. S2CID 144508250.
• Saunders, Robert A. (2020). "Völkisch vibes: Neofolk, place, politics, and pan-European nationalism". In Nieguth, Tim (ed.). Nationalism and Popular Culture. London: Routledge. pp. 36–58. doi:10.4324/9780429321764-4. ISBN 978-0-429-32176-4. S2CID 242993887.
• Shekhovtsov, Anton. 'Apoliteic music: Neo-Folk, Martial Industrial and "metapolitical fascism"', Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 43, No. 5 (December 2009), pp. 431–457.