Skálmöld () is a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band from

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland, formed in August 2009. The band's name is literally translated as ''Age of Swords'' and also means "lawlessness", referring to the

Age of the Sturlungs The Age of the Sturlungs or the Sturlung Era ( ) was a 42-/44-year period of violent internal strife in mid-13th-century Iceland. It is documented in the '' Sturlunga saga''. This period is marked by the conflicts of local chieftains, '' goðar'' ...

Icelandic history The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and the people they enslaved from Western Europe, particularly in modern-day Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited ...

, when a

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

broke out between the country's family

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

History

Snæbjörn Ragnarsson and Björgvin Sigurðsson, who have been friends since childhood and have played together in various collectives, including

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

bands, decided to start a new metal band, Skálmöld, formed in August 2009 in Reykjavík. The other band members had also been active in the Icelandic music scene. Initially, the band was intended to be merely a hobby, but the members soon decided to record an album before they were "too old and tired". After contacting most of the Icelandic

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affixed to ...

—to no avail—the band was signed by the Faroese label

Tutl TUTL Records is a record label of the Faroe Islands that was founded in 1977 by Kristian Blak. The label is credited with giving many Faroese musicians their first break and "has played a major role in giving musicians a chance to record and pub ...

in November 2010, which released the band's debut album ''Baldur'' in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. In April 2011, the band signed a record deal with

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach a ...

; ''Baldur'' was re-released worldwide the following August. The deal with Napalm gave Skálmöld a significant popularity boost. The band was invited to participate in the

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...

festival and the Heidenfest 2011 tour. On April 13, 2012, Skálmöld began recording its second album, '' Börn Loka'', which was released in October the same year. In November, 2013, Skálmöld played a series of concerts with the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

at the

Harpa ''Harpa'', common name the "harp snails", is a genus of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Harpidae.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa Röding, 1798. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of ...

concert hall in

. A live album and accompanying video, '' Skálmöld & Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands'', was released on 18 December 2013. The next studio album was ''

Með vættum ''Með vættum'' (''"Among Vættir"'' in Icelandic) is the third full-length album by the Icelandic viking/folk metal band Skálmöld, released on 11 November 2014 via Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focuse ...

'', released in 2014, which tells the story of a woman who encounters enemies in the north, east, south and west of Iceland, and is assisted by mythological beings. In 2016 Skálmöld released ''

Vögguvísur Yggdrasils ''Vögguvísur Yggdrasils'' (''"Yggdrasil's lullabies"'' in Icelandic) is the fourth full-length studio album by the Icelandic viking/folk metal band Skálmöld, released on September 30, 2016 via Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian in ...

'', an album themed around the different worlds of

Norse cosmology Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology and Old Norse religion such as notations of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthr ...

. It was followed by '' Sorgir'' in 2018, which tells four tragic stories, each from two different perspectives. After celebrating its ten-year anniversary with three shows in Reykjavík that became the basis for a live album in 2020, Skálmöld decided to take a pause. The band's official book, ''The Saga of Skálmöld'', was published in 2021. It was written by British author

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bla ...

and featured a foreword by

President of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

Guðni Th. Jóhannesson. Returning from the pause after three years, Skálmöld's sixth studio album '' Ýdalir'' is set to be released on 18 August 2023 through Napalm Records.

Musical style

From the beginning, Skálmöld's intention has been to combine the sounds of traditional Icelandic music and metal. Initially, the band planned to make considerable use of folk instruments, but soon decided to scale back and operate with three guitar players instead. The band's influences include such metal bands as

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden, Tumba, formed in 1992. The band take its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking myt ...

and

Ensiferum Ensiferum (Latin: , n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal". History Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002) ''Ensiferum'' was foun ...

, but also the classical Icelandic composer

Jón Leifs Jón Leifs (born Jón Þorleifsson on 1 May 1899 – 30 July 1968) was an Icelandic composer, pianist, and conductor. Life Jón Leifs was born ''Jón Þorleifsson,'' at the farm Sólheimar, then in the Húnavatnssýsla, northwestern Iceland ...

. Skálmöld's lyrics, written by Snæbjörn entirely in Icelandic, are inspired by

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

and the

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early elev ...

. The lyrics are furthermore written using Old Norse poetic forms, including

fornyrðislag Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

and sléttubönd. All the band members belong to the heathen religious organisation

Ásatrúarfélagið (, ''Ásatrú Fellowship''), also known simply as , is an Icelandic religious organisation of Heathenry (new religious movement), heathenry (in Iceland also called , " faith"). It was founded on the first day of summer (Iceland), first day of s ...

. Jón Geir Jóhannsson explained their belief in the Norse gods as follows: "But you shouldn't personify them. They are not people, they are stories that represent human nature. So yes, the morals are there, but we don't believe in them as 'people'."

Discography

Studio albums

*2010: '' Baldur'' *2012: '' Börn Loka'' *2014: ''

'' *2016: ''

'' *2018: '' Sorgir'' *2023: '' Ýdalir''

Live albums

*2013: '' Skálmöld & Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands'' *2020: '' 10 Year Anniversary: Live in Reykjavík''

Singles

*2013: "Innrás"

Members

* Björgvin Sigurðsson – vocals, guitar * Baldur Ragnarsson – guitar, vocals * Snæbjörn Ragnarsson – bass, vocals * Þráinn Árni Baldvinsson – guitar, vocals * Gunnar Ben – oboe, keyboard, vocals * Jón Geir Jóhannsson – drums, vocals

Gallery

File:Skálmöld, Þráinn Árni Baldvinsson.jpg, Þráinn Árni Baldvinsson File:Skálmöld, Snæbjörn Ragnarsson.jpg, Snæbjörn Ragnarsson File:Skálmöld, Jón Geir Jóhannsson.jpg, Jón Geir Jóhannsson File:Skálmöld, Gunnar Ben.jpg, Gunnar Ben File:Skálmöld, Baldur Ragnarsson.jpg, Baldur Ragnarsson File:Skálmöld live in Bilston, Wolverhampton (04.10.2013).jpg, Skálmöld live at the Robin 2,

Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

in October 2013.

References

External links

Official web-siteOfficial MySpaceOfficial Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skalmold Icelandic heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Viking metal musical groups Napalm Records artists 2009 establishments in Iceland Folk metal musical groups Modern pagan musical groups Modern paganism in Iceland Musical groups from Reykjavík