Band:	Wardruna
Album:	Skald
Style:	Ambient, Neofolk
Release date:	November 23, 2018
A review by:	RaduP

01. Vardlokk
02. Skald
03. Ein Sat Hun Uti
04. Voluspá [skaldic version]
05. Fehu [skaldic version]
06. Vindavla
07. Ormagardskvedi
08. Gravbakkjen
09. Sonatorrek
10. Helvegen [skaldic version]

skald /skɔːld/ n. (in ancient Scandinavia) a composer and reciter of poems honouring heroes and their deeds.

So now that we know what the title of the record means, we can understand why the record sounds like it does. Wardruna have always been, out of the "world but mostly Northern European" folk bands, the one most beloved by metalheads, mostly due to the members' association with Gorgoroth, Einar's work with Enslaved's Ivar Bjørnson Peersen, and also for their soundtrack of History TV's Vikings. So after Runaljod, a trilogy of other-worldly, dramatic, and expansive dark folk music, it feels weird not to get more of the same.

Skald is still Scandinavian folk, still dark and ominous, but epic in a different way. Reading back the definition, the word that should be the most striking is "a". This is an album performed by a single person. And not in the one-man-band way. No. Performed live by one person singing and playing an instrument. Einar is entirely alone, like a voice seeping through and reciting an old legend. The instrumental parts, which used to be primordial and hypnotic, take a step back and are reduced to mere strings once in a while, giving center stage to Einar's raw and emotive vocals, so much so that songs like "Sonatorrek" completely strip them away.

Stripping the album so much to the core of Einar's vocals makes the album a somewhat difficult and monotonous listen to for someone not as used to this more archaic form of music. But even if sprinkling the album with more musically interesting moments would make it more engaging, that would come at the expense of what the album stands for. So even if it may feel like it doesn't stand entirely on its own as well as previous albums, this feels like more than just an album, but rather a more potent mirror into the past rather than a dramatized and romanticized view that the albums and the Vikings show had. And Einar's voice absolutely makes it work; he builds the mood and you can almost feel the story, unless you understand Old Norse, in which case you're a complete nerd. But even if you don't, the booklet contains the lyrics translated, as well as an introduction to the Skald and Old Norse written by philologist Bergsveinn Birgisson.

Skald features some older Wardruna songs in a skaldic form, so upon first listen those will be the most engaging, but something about the completely a cappella 15-minute epic "Sonatorrek" just immerses me in the archaic mood. It reminds me a lot of sad songs that old people used to sing in remote villages in my country. Granted, I listen to most of those collected either by Din Brad or professional ethnographers rather than live, but Einar's performance is so convincing that you can't help but feel transported back in time.

Perhaps to best vibe with the music, you should either imagine yourself amongst folks also listening to the stories of this skald with the cracking sound of fire and the clinging of mead-filled horns, or by playing Crusader Kings II in the meantime. I chose the latter.