Popular subjects in folk metal include paganism, nature, fantasy, mythology and history.
Folk metal has been associated with paganism ever since its inception, when Martin Walkyier left his former band Sabbat to form Skyclad, in part because the band "wasn't going to go far enough down the pagan, British way that we wanted to do it."[152] Consequently, the lyrics of Skyclad have been known to deal with pagan matters.[5] The band Cruachan was also founded by a self-described pagan, Keith Fay.[20] For Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow, the label "pagan metal" is preferred "because that describes the ideological points in the music, but doesn’t say anything about the music itself."[153] Other bands that also prefer to use the term "pagan metal" as a self-description include Cruachan,[154] Eluveitie,[155] Obtest[156] and Skyforger. In contrast to bands with pagan themes, some folk metal bands such as Orphaned Land have themes of Abrahamic religion.