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A solid, energetic album, with hidden potential among some typical music.-
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| Skálmöld: Baldur |
Folk Metal, Viking Metal
Napalm Records
August 9th, 2011
- Heima - 2:39
- Árás - 6:06
- Sorg - 5:25
- Upprisa - 6:34
- För - 3:57
- Draumur - 1:34
- Kvađning - 7:54
- Hefnd - 5:06
- Dauđi - 6:31
- Valhöll - 5:08
- Baldur - 10:50
- Kvađning (Edit) - 4:50
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| Review Information |
Release length: 1:06:39
Review posted on August 8th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 7.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Baldur (2011)
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| Review |
Surprisingly enough, there is not a lot of bands that have come out of Iceland, and Skálmöld is one of those rare acts who find that to be their homeland. Napalm Records has picked up this rather unkown band that formed not too long ago, dating back to 2009. Supposedly a demo recording was made available, though I cannot find evidence outside a random entry here and there, but shortly after that recording, the band issued their debut album Baldur. Initially released on a smaller label, Tuti Records, the album was eventually picked up by Napalm Records and issued worldwide for a 2011 release. Given their Iceland home and the lore the band has to work with, does this Folk/Viking Metal act have what it takes to create a rich release on par with many other top notch bands in the same field?
Skálmöld quickly becomes a band of many surprises honestly. The production quality of this album is fantastic and of a high-grade professional quality. Considering it was originally put out on a smaller label, Baldur is quite an impressive effort as far as the audio quality goes. The guitars are strong and heavy with a great bass presence giving a strong, deep sound to the music. The bass kicks could have been a bit better, being a more typical thud that sometimes get drowned out in the music when the guitars pick up, especially when the guitars take place of the common folk instruments you would expect to hear from a band of that style. Aside the kicks, the snares sound natural and the cymbols don't overpower the release, but are still loud enough to make an impact. The vocals, however, suffer slightly from this clear yet heavy quality. While they do sound great for having a rougher guttural approach, but they end up being much louder in the mix then they probably should be, and many tracks feel like they are being heavily dominated by this clearer growling approach, which can put you off a bit, though they sound good when the music grows into a more epic experience. The album doesn't really have much of an atmosphere to it throughout the release, but some tracks, and some of the more epic moments, do have a stronger viking vibe, especially when the guitars take over the role of those folk instruments.
Baldur starts things off with a man singing Icelanding folk music to a group of children, who end up singing along, as well as features some choir singing once those two finish. There's effects of a campfire going on throughout the introductory track, and while it does set up a bit of a Folk atmosphere, it changes greatly from being a more down-to-earth effort with the children and man singing to a more epic sound with the choir that kicks in out of nowhere and builds up at the end. The crackling fire effect also goes wasted as you can hear what sounds like echoing in the recording, as if this section was recorded in an enclosed space, like a small classroom, which kills the effect of a fire in the woods completely, and leaves you wondering what kind of atmosphere the band was even going for. "Árás" does kick in after that rather long introduction, and with the intro the song has, "Heima" could have been completely eleminated from the album and it wouldn't have made a difference. Either way, this is when things start to show through in both positive and negative manners in the audio quality. The sound on this track is good, but you can tell the music is at a lower volume level compared to the vocals. And, as you progress through the album, you will also notice a bit of a change in the quality from being lower in volume and not that impressive to a much louder and cleaner quality. This track also introduces you to a more typical Viking Metal sound that isn't the most awe-inspiring, but is executed well and by the end of the track does leave a positive impression on the listener of a well executed performance. There's also the instrumental track "Draumur" that is bled into from "För", and it's a very grim and dark sounding track with storm effects, a scared dog howling, and keyboards playing up a sinister atmosphere. However when you hit the half way point, the enjoyment of this interlude is quickly gone thanks to the screaming baby effect that feels like a broken record that slows down and sounds more like a crow, but in the end literally sounds like a broken record slowing down. The screaming and crying is annoying as hell and while it bridges nicely into the more nature-driven atmosphere of "Kvađning", it's not worth sitting through.
And that's about what you get with this release. Baldur is comprised largely of songs that are not the most impressive, yet there are tracks, as well as moments in the songs such as after the half way mark of "Árás" where the song builds to a more epic-sounding environment with choir vocals enhancing the built up music that do make the track a little more stunning, and the guitar solos are often quite enjoyable and suit the music well. The only guitar solo on here that really becomes a bit of a problem is during "Upprisa", a slower paced track which is performed in a more epic manner and built up with an uplifting atmosphere. However, the chords played sound horribly off-key against the music. When those same riffs are played shortly after and incorporated more as a slower bridge in the song, it sounds great because of the different, less higher pitched notes being played, but the first time it hits has the potential of having the listener run to the skip forward button.
"För" is one of the shorter tracks of the release, and it's just great to hear a shorter song here. While the band doesn't necessarily draw out songs on here, those same songs don't always have the most jaw-dropping sounds to them or become all that impressive. Here we find a much more energetic track from the band, and while it features a breakdown that feels greatly out of place, the track is even more rich in comparison to other songs, and the vocals have a much tighter performance against the faster music. The atmospheric keyboards that hit towards the end of the breakdown are also enjoyable to listen to, and help really set the tone of the song. "Kvađning" makes for another stunning track from the band, which again finds the group going at a bit of a slower pace, but has more of a Folk sound to it then a somewhat typical Viking Metal sound. The guitars here really shine through with it's slight galloping pace thanks to them taking over for traditional Folk instruments like a flute or violin, which really builds the atmosphere and enriches the song more, all working together with the rougher gutturals, being much louder in the mix instead of feeling like background noise against the slightly high pitched growling of the release. "Hefnd" also seems to have a breakdown, but it works for the song and doesn't feel awkward like it does on "För", and even adds to the more epic song structuring the band goes with for the song at that point, once again going for a more epic sounding approach that sounds great for the song and even makes the guitar solo sound a lot better then it would without it.
But, of all the tracks on here, it's perhaps the title track of the recording that is the most intriguing. While Baldur closes with an edit of the song "Kvađning", which is just not really worth your time since the edits clearly screw with good transitions and feel too sudden, as well as much of what makes the track great in the first place is cut out, this song really marks the end of the release with a strong, epic sounding environment. The folk instruments the guitar seems to have replaced do show up here and there, which lends to a strong Folk Metal vibe to the song. "Baldur" starts off a bit slow, but as it progresses the song does pick up, becoming much stronger and even a little louder from the more dominant musical performance in the guitars and background effects such as a child singing here and there that can be picked up on, or perhaps it's a guitar and sounds that way due to how loud the music is in the first place. Either way, this track truly shows off the band's skill, and it's sad that they did not take this ability and trying to utilize it more often on the release instead of using a traditional Viking Metal template on many songs on the release and simply throw an epic moment or two into some of them. This track also does kind of come full circle with "Heima" and uses that choir vocal performance at the end of that song towards the end of this track, but it still doesn't make you consider "Heima" to be a worthy introductory track.
Baldur is a very long album, and for a band's debut album, it's something that many who approach the release would instinctively worry about as perhaps a pretentious album, or one that is full of filler and only a handful of good songs. However, Skálmöld present a good number of solid tracks that aren't really too jaw-droppingly impressive and seem to follow a more traditional sound with some good ideas and epic moments strewn about, and a decent number of impressive tracks that are do leave a positive impression on the listener. For a length of over one hour, not including the final track that makes for an edit of one of the better songs off the album, the main track list does sound good no matter how you look at it, and shows plenty of promise for future releases, especially after one sitting with the closing title track "Baldur". Fans of Viking or Folk Metal will get a kick out of it, and definitely come back to it after the initial spin, though some tracks will definitely be skipped, even after that initial time through. Baldur is worth checking out if you happen to have a chance to do so, and can easily be enjoyed for the energy they bring into many of the songs, and the tighter performances they give off throughout.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Napalm Records.
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