{"id":8437,"date":"2012-10-26T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=8437"},"modified":"2013-07-20T11:55:29","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T11:55:29","slug":"album-review-skalmold-born-loka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-skalmold-born-loka\/","title":{"rendered":"SK\u00c1LM\u00d6LD – B\u00f6rn Loka (2012) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SK\u00c1LM\u00d6LD
B\u00f6rn Loka<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNapalm (2012)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Iceland\u2019s Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld is back with their second full length Viking metal release, B\u00f6rn Loka<\/em>. The band\u2019s name translates to \u201cage of swords\u201d, and the album title means \u201cchildren of Loki\u201d. What you\u2019ve read so far should prepare you for what to expect from this addition to the Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld catalogue.<\/p>\n

If there is such a thing as playful death metal, Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld provides it. Whereas many of their contemporaries in the Viking metal \/ folk metal genre use folk instruments and regular melodic breaks, Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld prefers to use guitars to create folk song structures delivered in a death metal package. Take all the pretty out of Eluveitie and you have something close to what Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld delivers. <\/p>\n

On first listen, B\u00f6rn Loka<\/em> is a different kind of release. There is a sense of melody in the instrument arrangements that is often lacking in death metal, and an odd absence of those folk instruments that have become common among practitioners of folk metal in recent years. Beyond this, the band\u2019s triple guitar attack is thick. Vocalist Bj\u00f6rgvin Sigur\u00f0sson and guitarists Baldur Ragnarsson and \u00der\u00e1inn \u00c1rni Baldvinsson all provide guitar work, resulting in a wall of rhythm guitar that dominates the mix, creating an atmosphere of power on every track. Add to this a capable rhythm section (bassist Sn\u00e6bj\u00f6rn Ragnarsson and drummer J\u00f3n Geir J\u00f3hannsson) and a keyboardist (Gunnar Ben) and one can easily describe the sound created on B\u00f6rn Loka<\/em> as dense. <\/p>\n

The opening track, \u2018\u00d3\u00f0inn\u2019, is a bit deceptive, as it doesn\u2019t prepare the listener for what\u2019s to come. Operatic vocals clash with death metal growls and a cascade of guitar and keyboard harmonies. This track is truly beautiful, ending with a lone oboe that brings the listener to the old school death metal sound of \u2018Sleipnir\u2019. Where the opening track is heavenly, the following piece bears some resemblance to the more furious moments of Mercyful Fate. Gunnar Ben\u2019s keyboard works surprisingly well as a replacement for the expected folk instruments that are conspicuously absent on a release in this genre. \u2018Sleipnir\u2019 is a good example of how the band uses the keyboard to offset the defiant tones of the guitar, resulting in an almost orchestral sound.<\/p>\n

Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld\u2019s use of electric guitar to replace folk instruments is a game changer. \u2018Gleipnir\u2019 and \u2018Narfi\u2019 have a folk structure, and a lead guitar melody that would generally be played on a pipe or flute. The substitute of distorted guitar for folk instruments gives the album a consistent heaviness that many of the band\u2019s genre contemporaries can\u2019t boast of. When the tempo comes down for a break mid-song, \u2018Gleipnir\u2019 remains metal to the core, and returns to form with a blistering guitar solo, eventually returning to the folk motif that sets Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld apart from standard death metal fare. <\/p>\n

Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld is very much a band that lives between two worlds. The classic death metal of \u2018Fenris\u00falfur\u2019, including dueling death metal growls and black metal shrieks, sits beside a section of the native music of the band\u2019s homeland. The band moves between both styles seamlessly, but is at their best when mixing genres. \u2018Mi\u00f0gar\u00f0sormur\u2019 features a dark, slow guitar riff that hearkens back to Black Sabbath<\/a> while using a vocal melody, which is itself an anomaly in this equation, rooted firmly Norse mythology. The result is astounding \u2013 heavy, melodic, and impressive of scope. This is particularly obvious when B\u00f6rn Loka<\/em> comes full circle, ending on \u2018Loki\u2019, a nearly 10-minute piece that begins as full-out metal and transitions into the operatic theme that opened the album. The opening and closing tracks bookend this release with powerful pieces that blend fury and beauty to create a sound that is unique to Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld. <\/p>\n

While there is much good to say about B\u00f6rn Loka<\/em>, the primary shortfall is in the mix. Part of this is due to the thick sound created by three powerful guitars. The guitars overshadow the mix, often making it difficult to follow the bass or even some of the finer drumming going on in these songs. Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld has presented a set of well-crafted tracks that put the metal in Viking metal. The songs are heavy, and have a victorious aura that makes them fun. There is a lightness to Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld\u2019s style that pushes away the dark clouds of death metal. Now if only this was mixed by the right hands it would be damn near perfect. <\/p>\n

Jim McDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SK\u00c1LM\u00d6LDB\u00f6rn Loka Napalm (2012)Rating: 7\/10 Iceland\u2019s Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld is back with their second full length Viking metal release, B\u00f6rn Loka. The band\u2019s name translates to \u201cage of swords\u201d, and the album title means \u201cchildren of Loki\u201d. What you\u2019ve read so far should prepare you for what to expect from this addition to the Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld catalogue. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-skalmold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8437"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13112,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8437\/revisions\/13112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}