Skálmöld – Baldur

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Ask anyone from Iceland about metal from their country, and Skálmöld is bound to be one of the first bands to come up. Having quickly risen to the forefront of the metal scene on the tiny island, one would expect and hope that the band brought something new to an already overly crowded Nordic folk metal table. Given Iceland’s (admittedly, very small) musical output in the mainstream, which is eccentric to say the least, one would hope the band had its own creativity to match. At the very least, it should compare to that of Sólstafir in terms of quality. Alas this really isn’t the case. Whilst Skálmöld certainly have a distinct sound, merging classic heavy metal with gruff vocals and some traditional Nordic melodies, they don’t particularly shine. Instead, this sounds like more of the same, merely the Icelandic variant on the template set by the likes of Ensiferum and Týr. Of course, as per usual fans of said bands are likely to eat this up with a smile on their faces. But for the rest of us, this lacks any real imagination, and simply re-iterates the musical style set by mainland Scandinavian bands. It is forgivable on the grounds it is the band’s debut; but they’ll definitely need to do something special if they expect to break out in the rest of Europe. In the meantime, Sólstafir seems like the more reliable Icelandic export.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Folk Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Skálmöld