Viking metal in recent years, has been popularized by Amon Amarth, and unsurprisingly, there are bound to be critics, mostly with the “They don’t sound Viking metal enough” criticism.  For those who think Amon Amarth aren’t worthy of the Viking metal tag, Iceland’s Skálmöld just might be your answer.  On their debut album Baldur, they certainly hold the Viking metal flag up high, but is the album worth your time?

Baldur opens with “Heima,” which serves as an invocation with its chanting throughout the song.    Though much of Skálmöld’s identity is based around Viking metal, the band experiments a little with other styles, which results in a fairly mixed bag, from the theatrics of “Upprisa” to the more straightforward chugging guitars found on “För.”  The one constant is the strong vocals, which carry a distinct air of Viking raids and tales from that era.  “Kvaðning” is a classical music influenced song that is also one of their best songs in that it shows the most range.  With all of the styles that Skálmöld uses, there is bound to be the feeling of sensory overload, which translates to Baldur sounding a little bloated.  Clearly, Skálmöld was shooting for an epic feel, but there’s more to it than just putting everything out there and hoping it works for the best.

Skálmöld shoots for the moon on their debut Baldur.  However, it only gets halfway there before it fizzles out.  There is definite potential for the band, and certainly Baldur will give the band a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.  Not a perfect start by any means, but Skálmöld does have a foundation to work from; it’s now a matter of putting it all together in the right spots before Skálmöld can truly take its place at the Viking metal table.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Heima
2.  Árás
3.  Sorg
4.  Upprisa
5.  För
6.  Draumur
7.  Kvaðning
8.  Hefnd
9.  Daudi
10.  Valhöll
11.  Baldur
12.  Kvaðning (edited)

Total playing time:  66:34

Release Date: July 29, 2011
Label: Napalm Records

Skálmöld - Baldur

Reviewer: Peter

August 3, 2011