SCALD – Ancient Doom Metal

vote
7.5

• Band:
  SCALD (RU)
• Duration: 00:50:39
• Available from: 26/07/2024
• Label:

• High Roller Records

Streaming not yet available

Using the word 'Doom' as the title of a doom metal album is something that only a few veterans of the scene can afford to do, let alone if it then becomes an ode to one of the most sacred genres of heavy metal. Scald, however, are among those who can largely afford it: the Russian-born band is known to the target audience for having published their masterpiece “Will Of The Gods Is A Great Power” in 1993… And then for having split up in 1997 due to the tragic death of singer Agyl.
We arrive in 2019, when the organizers of Hammer Of Doom called Velingor, Harald, Karry and Ottar to re-propose that iconic album, son of the most tragic and sacred doom metal, with Felipe Plaza Kutzbach on vocals (yes, the same one who has also been the voice of Deströyer 666 since 2016): after a concert, why not an album?
And here we have to thank High Roller Records who immediately seized the opportunity: we now have this “Ancient Doom Metal” in our hands.
Since this is a German label, which has always been attentive to this type of sound, one might expect a dark production reminiscent of the ancient glories of doom from the past, but instead, as soon as we press 'play', a high-sounding and pathos-filled atmosphere bursts out of our stereo thanks to the track that gives its title to the work.
It's not hard to realize that we are in front of a really well-written and well-played album, which doesn't forget the lesson of that '93 release, but reinforces and reinvigorates its power, also thanks to a Felipe in a state of grace, as demonstrated by the screams on “Young God Resurrected”.
It's all as an epic doom metal album should be: the intertwining of Harald and Karry's guitars is compelling and manages to maintain that tragic tension between the hardness of the riffs and the typical spleen of those who live where the Midnight Sun rises. Even the choirs are always placed in the right place, to make everything more epic and unique, creating a platter that draws from Candlemass, but also from folklore, as in “The Master Of The Lake”: Scald's ability is still that of being able to monstrously dilate the listener's sound horizons, making him literally savor the solitude of the great Nordic landscapes.
Fifty minutes that flow like a waterfall, passing from the paganism of “ALU (My Protection)”, up to the conclusive “The Liberating Spell Of Fire” and the bonus track “The Enemy Among Us”.
“Ancient Doom Metal” may be a too high-sounding title, but this work deserves to be shown with honor: we are faced with the worthy sequel to “Will Of The Gods Is A Great Power”, a testimony of a passion that has never died down, like the runic stone depicted in the beautiful cover by Andrey Andreev.
If you love epic and doom metal, but, why not, also that spleen typical of certain Nordic bands, Scald are back to make your ears happy.