You Must Hear 7

folk noir

Last updated: Sat Oct 25 2025 06:25:45 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Description

Folk noir blends traditional folk instrumentation with dark, cinematic atmospheres and introspective storytelling that explores themes of isolation, melancholy, and the American Gothic. The sound typically features sparse arrangements, hushed vocals, and an intimate recording aesthetic that emphasizes emotional rawness over polish. Like a dimly lit back road at midnight, it evokes both the comfort of folk tradition and the unsettling shadows lurking at its edges.

100 chronological releases

Place	Cover	Date	Artist	Album	Tags	Other places
41		1970	Simon Finn	Pass The Distance	psychedelic folk folk	psychedelic folk # 58
48		1993	Tony Wakeford	La Croix	ambient folk noir apocalyptic folk celtic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	celtic folk # 73 ambient folk noir # 97
69		1993	Księżyc	Nów	accordion ambient folk noir apocalyptic folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 33 accordion # 91 ambient folk noir # 100
6		1997	Tor Lundvall	Passing Through Alone	ambient folk noir dark ambient dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk synthpop	ambient folk noir # 89
25		1997	In Gowan Ring	The Twin Trees	dark folk neofolk	dark folk # 2
98		1997-05-20	Smog	Red Apple Falls	singer-songwriter folk lo-fi slowcore	slowcore # 1 alternative country # 54 freak folk # 59 sadcore # 61 chamber folk # 64 alternative folk # 97
58		1999	Turbund Sturmwerk	Weltbrand	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 12 martial neofolk # 21 martial industrial # 98
4		2000	Sol Invictus	The Hill Of Crosses	dark folk neofolk apocalyptic folk	dark folk # 15
54		2000	Moon Far Away	Sator	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neoclassical darkwave neofolk russian	neoclassical darkwave # 37
7		2001-01-01	Tribe of Circle	The Advent of Redemption	apocalyptic folk dark ambient folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 65
95		2001-03-20	The Angels of Light	How I Loved You	folk rock folk folk noir gothic country	gothic country # 86
2		2001-07	Naevus	Soil	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical	martial neofolk # 75
87		2001-10-01	The Handsome Family	Twilight	alt-country americana ccm folk noir progressive rock rac singer-songwriter	ccm # 71 rac # 79
72		2002	Leger Des Heils	Aryana	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 12 apocalyptic folk # 44 martial industrial # 65
11		2002	While Angels Watch	Dark Age	british folk noir neofolk
34		2002-01-01	Woodland Choir	For You	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk
59		2002-06	Naevus	Behaviour	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 13 martial neofolk # 20 martial industrial # 95
36		2002-07	The Handsome Family	Smothered and Covered	alt-country americana ccm folk folk noir rac singer-songwriter	ccm # 9 rac # 24
33		2003	Turbund Sturmwerk	Turbund Sturmwerk	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 43
62		2003	Christina Antipa	Goodbye Different Oceans	acoustic alternative indie rock indie folk female vocalists folk folk rock singer-songwriter alt-country americana blues country freak folk indie pop american alternative rock pop rock sadcore new weird america	chamber folk # 21 freak folk # 25 new weird america # 55 sadcore # 65 alternative folk # 73
32		2003	Sonnentau	Das Laub fällt von den Bäumen	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir german neoclassical neofolk
89		2003-03	The Angels of Light	Everything Is Good Here / Please Come Home	folk noir
91		2003-03	The Angels of Light	Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home	folk noir
50		2003-05-27	Califone	Deceleration Two	alt-country folk folk noir indie rock
100		2003-10-06	The Handsome Family	Singing Bones	alt-country folk noir americana	americana # 56 alt-country # 87
55		2003-12	Leger Des Heils	Freiheit	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 2 martial neofolk # 25
57		2004	Novo Homo	Private Hell	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 9
93		2004-08-17	Little Wings	Magic Wand	acoustic alt-country alternative blues country folk folk rock indie pop indie rock singer-songwriter alternative folk americana chamber folk folk noir freak folk indie folk lo-fi slowcore alternative rock	new weird america # 8 freak folk # 38 chamber folk # 54 alternative country # 61 sadcore # 67 alternative folk # 92
75		2004-09-07	Julie Doiron	Goodnight Nobody	alternative female vocalists alternative rock indie pop indie rock folk pop rock acoustic singer-songwriter alt-country american americana blues country folk rock freak folk indie folk new weird america sadcore	freak folk # 18 alternative country # 60 new weird america # 68 sadcore # 73 alternative folk # 81
1		2005	Sturmpercht	Der Marsch der Wampelerreiter	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk folk noir industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 77
65		2005	Moon Far Away	Belovodie	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk russian	apocalyptic folk # 25
71		2005	Nebelung	Mistelteinn	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 41
83		2005	Sieben	Ogham Inside the Night	celtic folk experimental folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	celtic folk # 94 experimental folk # 100
70		2005	Bain Wolfkind	Music For Lovers & Gangsters	folk noir
17		2005-05-16	Elizabeth Anka Vajagic	Nostalgia/Pain E.P.	folk folk noir
19		2005-05-16	Elizabeth Anka Vajagic	Nostalgia Pain EP	folk folk noir
73		2005-05-16	Elizabeth Anka Vajagic	Nostalgia/Pain	folk folk noir
24		2005-11-05	Rukkanor	Deora	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 50
67		2006	Nebelung	Reigen	ambient apocalyptic folk dark folk neofolk	dark folk # 67 apocalyptic folk # 86
38		2006-01-16	IANVA	Disobbedisco!	neofolk apocalyptic folk	martial # 6 apocalyptic folk # 50
97		2006-08-22	Jason Molina	Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go		alternative country # 47 freak folk # 52 sadcore # 58 chamber folk # 61 alternative folk # 96
96		2006-10-10	Damien Jurado	And Now That I'm In Your Shadow	alternative folk acoustic alt-country alternative folk americana blues chamber folk country folk noir folk rock freak folk indie folk indie pop indie rock lo-fi singer-songwriter slowcore	alternative country # 43 freak folk # 43 sadcore # 55 chamber folk # 58 alternative folk # 95
74		2006-10-24	Norfolk & Western	The Unsung Colony	folk acoustic alt-country alternative americana blues country folk rock freak folk indie folk indie pop indie rock singer-songwriter alternative folk chamber folk folk noir lo-fi slowcore	new weird america # 2 freak folk # 19 alternative country # 30 chamber folk # 33 sadcore # 37 alternative folk # 79
5		2007	Leger Des Heils	Gloria	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 68
23		2007	The Owl Service	Cine (The Director's Cut)	ambient folk noir folk noir neoclassical neofolk psychedelic folk	ambient folk noir # 94
27		2007	The Owl Service	A Garland of Song	ambient folk noir british folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	british folk # 49 ambient folk noir # 95
43		2007	Hoax Funeral	Pour Away the Ocean	acoustic alt-country ethereal folk folk noir indie folk indie pop sadcore slowcore acoustic rock downtempo lo-fi	sadcore # 34 alternative folk # 35
94		2007	Bonnie 'Prince' Billy	I See a Darkness	folk singer-songwriter	americana # 20 alt-country # 22 freak folk # 42 chamber folk # 56 sadcore # 74 alternative country # 79 alternative folk # 94
16		2007	Leger Des Heils	Gloria I	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir german neoclassical neofolk
60		2007-03-13	Autumn Shade	Ezra Moon	folk noir folk rock singer-songwriter
84		2007-08-28	Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat	Turn Hegel on his Head	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 4 dark folk # 46 apocalyptic folk # 71
49		2007-12-25	Changes	Вспомни о чём думал, вспомни о чём мечтал		ambient folk noir # 98
9		2008	June Madrona	The Winged Life (European edition)	folk acoustic chamber pop alternative blues country indie folk indie rock lo-fi singer-songwriter slowcore american americana folk rock freak folk new weird america indie pop male vocalists alternative rock alternative country	alternative country # 15 strings # 19 sadcore # 29 new weird america # 45 alternative folk # 49 washington # 70
18		2008	Pantheon Legio Musica	Per Aspera ad Astra	dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 57
20		2008	L'Effet C'Est Moi	Les Voix De L' Apocalypse	dark folk folk noir industrial instrumental martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 53
46		2008	M. Ward	Transfiguration of Vincent	folk singer-songwriter	chamber folk # 13 sadcore # 36 new weird america # 39 alternative country # 41 banjo # 50 alternative folk # 62
99		2008	J. Tillman	Cancer And Delirium	acoustic folk alt-country alternative alternative folk folk rock indie folk lo-fi singer-songwriter americana blues chamber folk country folk noir freak folk indie pop indie rock slowcore	alt-country # 25 freak folk # 64 alternative country # 66 chamber folk # 70 sadcore # 71 alternative folk # 98
52		2008	Roma Amor	Roma Amor	folk noir neofolk
68		2008-05-18	Werkraum	Early Love Music	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir martial neofolk neoclassical psychedelic folk	martial neofolk # 15 apocalyptic folk # 30
63		2008-06-02	IANVA	Italia ultimo atto	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 21
26		2008-10-06	Medusa's Spell	Last X Hours	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial neoclassical neofolk
13		2008-10-11	Naevus	Relatively Close To The Sea	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 59
3		2009	Splinterskin	Wayward Souls	ambient folk noir dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	ambient folk noir # 88
61		2009	Oniric	Cabaret Syndrome	folk noir neofolk
8		2009-01-03	Jordan Reyne	How The Dead Live	folk noir steampunk	steampunk # 39
64		2009-05	Tor Lundvall	Sleeping and Hiding	dark electro dark folk folk noir industrial neoclassical neofolk
21		2009-06-30	Tony Wakeford	Not All Of Me Will Die	ambient folk noir apocalyptic folk celtic folk dark folk folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	celtic folk # 60 ambient folk noir # 92
15		2009-09-28	Wojnar	Epos O Woju Z Krainy Mrozem Spowitej	apocalyptic folk dark ambient dark folk dungeon synth folk noir neoclassical neofolk polish
40		2009-11-30	Neun Welten	Dämmerung - Die Destrunken Demos	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk
39		2009-12-21	Sturmpercht	Schattenlieder	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk folk noir industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 40
14		2010	Art Abscons	Spektral Magik	dark folk folk noir neofolk
35		2010-03-12	Angus & Julia Stone	Down the Way	folk acoustic australian	acoustic # 48 folk # 53 dream folk # 63 australian # 96
22		2010-05-01	The Owl Service	The View from a Hill	ambient folk noir british dark folk folk noir psychedelic folk	ambient folk noir # 93
53		2010-05	Sieben	Star Wood Brick Firmament	folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk
90		2010-06-07	Nina Nastasia	Outlaster	california folk noir new york city singer-songwriter usa	california # 27 new york city # 89
12		2010-07-26	Sinweldi	Acta Fabula Est	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir french industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 60
86		2010-09-20	Hexperos	The Veil Of Queen Mab	apocalyptic folk dark folk female vocalists folk folk noir neoclassical neoclassical darkwave	dark folk # 49 apocalyptic folk # 75 neoclassical darkwave # 76
78		2011-02-18	Elane	Arcane	dark folk darkwave female vocalists folk noir indie pop j-pop japanese meditation neoclassical neoclassical darkwave neofolk pop world fusion	meditation # 17 dark folk # 27 world fusion # 63 neoclassical darkwave # 70
56		2011-04-15	Sangre de Muerdago	Sangre de muerdago	apocalyptic folk celtic celtic folk folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk pagan folk	apocalyptic folk # 5 pagan folk # 77 celtic folk # 77
30		2011-04	Art Abscons	Der Verborgene Gott	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 49
82		2011-08-26	Blood Axis	Ultimacy	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 5 martial industrial # 29 dark folk # 40 apocalyptic folk # 70
85		2012	Rome	The Dublin Session	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir irish folk neofolk singer-songwriter	dark folk # 47 apocalyptic folk # 74 irish folk # 81
42		2012-03-26	Soan	Sous les yeux de Sophie	dream folk folk folk noir folk rock freak folk indie folk new weird america singer-songwriter	new weird america # 37 dream folk # 68
77		2012-05-24	Dernière Volonté	Mon Meilleur Ennemi	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 7 dark folk # 25 martial industrial # 37 apocalyptic folk # 63
81		2012-05-29	Marissa Nadler	The Sister	dream folk folk singer-songwriter	dark folk # 35 dream folk # 98
28		2012-06-02	IANVA	La Mano di Gloria	folk noir progressive rock y2k prog
45		2012-09-21	Sangre de Muerdago	Deixademe Morrer no Bosque	apocalyptic folk celtic folk folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	celtic folk # 71
10		2012-09-25	Havnatt	Var Je Solblesten	ambient folk noir apocalyptic folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	ambient folk noir # 91
44		2012-12-03	Leger Des Heils	Licht!	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir industrial martial industrial martial neofolk neoclassical neofolk	martial neofolk # 36
66		2012-12-06	Syven	Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	apocalyptic folk # 27
37		2013-03-18	Changes	Вспомни о чем думал, вспомни о чем мечтал		ambient folk noir # 96
88		2013-05-14	The Handsome Family	Wilderness	alt-country americana ccm folk noir rac singer-songwriter	ccm # 72 rac # 80
29		2014-02-25	Sieben	Each Divine Spark	folk noir neoclassical neofolk
31		2014-06-06	Tanzwut	Eselsmesse	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk metal folk noir industrial neoclassical neofolk
76		2014-06-17	Musk Ox	Woodfall	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neofolk	dark folk # 21 apocalyptic folk # 59
51		2018-09	Changes	2905 Дней Перемен	ambient folk noir folk noir hardcore neoclassical neofolk	ambient folk noir # 99
80		2020-03-13	IAMX	Echo Echo	acoustic pop acoustic rock alternative folk alternative pop ambient pop dark cabaret dark pop folk noir folk pop indie folk singer-songwriter	folk pop # 11 acoustic rock # 38 dark cabaret # 45 dark pop # 49 acoustic pop # 78 alternative folk # 83
47		2021-03-12	The Underground Youth	The Falling	alt-country alternative country alternative folk folk noir gothic country indie folk neofolk psychedelic folk singer-songwriter	alternative country # 31 gothic country # 55 alternative folk # 63
79		2022-02-04	Marissa Nadler	The Wrath of the Clouds	alt-country alternative country alternative folk dream folk dream pop folk noir folk pop gothic country indie folk psychedelic folk singer-songwriter	folk pop # 7 alternative country # 67 gothic country # 79 alternative folk # 82 dream folk # 84
92		2022-03-25	Emma Ruth Rundle	Orpheus Looking Back	alternative folk dark folk folk noir indie folk singer-songwriter	dark folk # 72 alternative folk # 91

Related genres

• neofolk
• neoclassical
• dark folk
• apocalyptic folk
• industrial
• martial neofolk
• ambient folk noir
• martial industrial
• folk
• singer-songwriter