Abstract
This study provides a comprehensive quantitative network analysis of the Dutch lyrics produced by the pagan metal group Heidevolk, aiming to uncover the central themes and narratives that define their musical output. By positioning Heidevolk within the broader context of heavy metal – specifically the Viking and pagan metal subgenres – the study highlights the group’s unique approach of utilising their native Dutch language and local history from the Low Countries to explore Germanic heritage, rather than relying on generic Scandinavian Viking tropes.
The article begins by situating heavy metal as a diverse musical landscape encompassing various subgenres, including extreme metal, folk metal and pagan metal. Viking metal is defined as a subgenre primarily focused on the Viking Age (8th to 11th century), Norse religious traditions, and Scandinavian landscapes. Pagan metal is a broader umbrella term that incorporates diverse pre-Christian traditions – including Celtic, Slavic Saxon, and Germanic – rather than being strictly limited to Scandinavian themes.
A recurring characteristic in these subgenres is the use of native or archaic languages to distance the bands from Anglo-American cultural hegemony and establish authentic local identities. While some bands utilise dead languages to connect with early history, Heidevolk distinguishes itself by using modern Dutch to interpret the history of the Low Countries, explicitly rejecting generic Viking themes in favour of local historical events and personal experiences in nature.
Heidevolk, founded in Arnhem in 2002, is noted for its heroic, choir-like vocal style and its educational, non-profit approach to cultural preservation. The band members often collaborate with historians and museum curators to ensure that their lyrics are historically grounded, while being creatively interpreted for a 21st-century audience.
To analyse these lyrics, the research employed a quantitative approach using a word co-occurrence network constructed from all seven of the band’s full-length albums. The data processing involved several rigorous steps:
- Data collection: Lyrics were sourced from the Encyclopaedia Metallum and Dark Lyrics websites. Instrumental tracks, cover songs, and non-Dutch tracks were excluded to ensure that the analysis focused exclusively on the band’s own Dutch-language content.
- Data preprocessing: Using the Textlens tool, the lyrics were lemmatised (reducing words to their dictionary base forms) and filtered to remove “stop words” – common words with little thematic value – leaving 1 727 unique words for analysis.
The resulting network was visualised and analysed using two key algorithms within the Gephi software:
- PageRank: Used to identify the most influential or central words within the network.
- Louvain algorithm: Applied to identify “communities” or thematic clusters where specific groups of words frequently appear together (co-occur).
The network analysis resulted in 25 distinct communities, which were classified using the Gemini 3 Flash model to provide objective labels. The results revealed a deeply interconnected worldview where history, mythology and nature are inseparable.
The PageRank algorithm highlighted key terms such as land (land), god, volk (people/nation), bloed (blood), woud (forest), strijd (struggle), zwaard (sword), rijk (empire/realm) and aarde (earth). These words immediately characterise the band’s focus on ethnicity, heritage, conflict and the natural world.
Multiple communities focus on nature. In the band’s pagan worldview, the natural environment is not merely a background but a living entity that interacts with human experience and religious traditions.
Significant communities demonstrate a preoccupation with Germanic mythology. References to Wodan (Odin), Tiwaz (Tyr) and Holda indicate a specific focus on Germanic manifestations of deities, distinct from Viking-specific interpretations. The study notes the inclusion of “Wodan” rather than “Odin” as a deliberate linguistic marker of a Dutch/Germanic frame of reference.
Some communities are defined by themes of resistance and defence. The lyrics anchor the band in the local history of Gelderland and the wider Low Countries, frequently referencing the Batavian rebellion against Rome and the Saxon resistance against Frankish/Christian expansion.
A notable tension between life/death and light/darkness (e.g., nacht vs. dag) permeates the network, contributing to the epic and cosmological tone that characterises the genre.
The article concludes that Heidevolk is definitively a pagan metal group with a strong, localised Germanic and nature-oriented worldview. By empirically mapping the co-occurrence of words like land, dood (death), volk (people/nation), strijd (struggle), and woud (forest), the research validates the band’s unique role in the genre. They do not merely borrow from Viking metal; they actively construct an identity rooted in the specific historical and cultural soil of the Low Countries.
Keywords: Dutch; Germanic heritage; Heidevolk; Louvain algorithm; lyrics; pagan metal; PageRank; Viking metal; word co-occurrence network analysis
- This article’s featured image was created by Jonathan Cooper and obtained from Pexels.
Lees die volledige artikel in Afrikaans
’n Woordmedevoorkomsnetwerk-ontleding van die Nederlandse lirieke van Heidevolk as heidenmetaalgroep