Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.12.2013, Qupperneq 18

18
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 1 — 2011 Music
Gourmet Viking Metal
Arriving to Harpa’s Eldborg Hall on Saturday night, I find my seat just before Skálmöld
and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra begin their third and final sold-out show.
Words
Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
Around me, middle-aged dames with
expensive pelts draped over their
shoulder sit next to bearded metal-
heads with their five-year-old kids,
kitted out in Skálmöld t-shirts and ear
protection. I had heard that on a pre-
vious night even the country’s former
president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir had
been spotted throwing devil signs at
the band, which formed four years ago
and has since released two critically
acclaimed albums.
Accompanying the six-piece band
are 160 plus people making up the Ice-
land Symphony Orchestra, the Hym-
nodia choir, Reykjavík Men’s choir and
Káranesskóli children’s choir. The show
starts with these three choirs perform-
ing an extended, goose bump-inducing
version of “Heima.”
What follows is a careful selection
of meticulously rearranged songs from
both ‘Baldur’ and ‘Börn Loka’ albums.
The songs are slowed down, and their
intensity paced so as to ward away
metal-fatigue, which makes the show
accessible to both Harpa season ticket-
holders and diehard metal-heads alike.
Guitar riffs and solos are alterna-
tively supplemented or replaced by
22 violins and a booming brass team.
Drum segments are lent further weight
by massive percussion instruments,
and the instrumental bridges are made
larger-than-life with the full force of the
71-member symphony orchestra.
It takes a few moments to get used
to the disparity between the electric and
acoustic instruments, and the one seg-
ment featuring Addi from the band Sól-
stafir is noticeably lacklustre, but those
are my only niggles about the otherwise
awe-inspiring performance.
When the three choirs join in, it is
as if the heavens have opened up with
Valkyries and the Gods welcoming the
protagonist to the afterlife in “Valhöll,”
and like lost souls are echoing the queen
of the underworld’s message in “Hel.”
Skálmöld closes the show with “Bal-
dur,” a b-side from their first album, and
the crowd rises out of their seats, clap-
ping along to the 13-minute-long song.
The concert proves an amazing experi-
ence for both fans who know the songs
inside out and newbies to Skálmöld’s Vi-
king folk metal. My guest confesses that
she didn’t really like Skálmöld before ar-
riving at Harpa, but she, like a number
of others I speak to after the show, were
blown away by the execution.
Of the hundred or so live perfor-
mances I’ve seen in 2013, this was by
far the most magnificent. If the Grape-
vine were to give stars for live reviews,
I’m certain my editor would argue my
rating broke the scale. For now, I’ll sim-
ply suggest that those who missed the
concert buy the live DVD, which will be
released on December 19.
Bowen Staines
“It was as if the heavens
had opened up with
Valkyries and the Gods
welcoming the protagonist
to the afterlife.”
Nanna Dís
November 24 - 30 Harpa Eldborg
Skálmöld & The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra
Last year, Icelandic chocolate company Nói-Síríus sold 10 million
filled chocolate bon bons, and 280,000—or 28 tons—of the dark
chocolate bars used for hot cocoa and baking.
Borgartún 1 • www.thetincanfactory.eu
talk • read • cook • listen
field-work • food & fun
Gígja Svavarsdóttir, Director of The Tin Can Factory
was presented with the
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
for her inspiring achievements at the
European Union Women Inventors &
Innovators Network Exhibition, Nov. 2013
BOOK NOW / TEL. 551 7700
info@thetincanfactory.eu
Merry
Christmas
and a happy
New Year!
Reykjavík Christmas Walk
Walk downtown Reykjavík with a historian talking
about the city and Christmas traditions, about the 13
trolls called the Icelandic Yule-lads and their family.
Ends with food and fun!
Meet the Natives
Learn about the Icelandic language, the
alphabet and phrases and get to know
more about the 13 trolls called the
Icelandic Yule-lads, and their family.
Both activities end with making the Icelandic
Christmas-bread „Laufabrauð“ to eat with our
excellent Icelandic lamb-soup and Christmas beer.
Learn Icelandic
On-line Classes and Classes in the Classroom.
All levels begin January the 13th.
Issue 18 — 2013 18