[3][4] Metal Hammer author Marc Halupczok wrote that Primordial's song "To Enter Pagan" from the band's demo "Dark Romanticism" contributed to defining the genre.
[12][13] Jarkko Aaltonen notes that Black Sabbath "was quite pagan" as well but of "the current metal scene", he credits Skyclad as starting "the mix of traditional folk-rock music with mythology-concentrated lyrics".
[7] Alan A. Nemtheanga of Primordial remarks that one "can see the formation of pagan metal" in Bathory's 1988 album Blood Fire Death.
[16] Mathias Nygård of Turisas identified Amorphis as the first pagan metal band for playing "a huge role in guiding us in the direction we are now".
[17] In April 2008, performers on the folk and pagan metal festival Paganfest were subject to accusations of being neo-Nazis and fascists from the Berliner Institut für Faschismusforschung.
[19] Moonsorrow has also issued a written statement in response to the controversy[20] while Týr notes on their official website that they "got the idea for the rune logo" from the Black Sabbath album of the same name.