Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.12.2019, Blaðsíða 16

At the start of 2020, after ten wild-
ly successful years in the limelight,
the infamous Icelandic metal band
Skálmöld (meaning ‘Age Of The
Sword’) will rest for an indetermi-
nate time period.
Founded in 2009, Skálmöld
began as a hobby-band, but when
their debut album ‘Baldur’ was
released, they unexpectedly and
rapidly gained international at-
tention, subsequently putting Ice-
landic metal on the map. They’ve
since released four equally strong
albums, each centred on Norse
mythology and Icelandic folk tales.
Now, with their imminent hiatus
announced, fans from all over the
world will fly to Iceland this month
to catch three final performances
at Gamla Bíó, with special guests
Finntroll and Bló!mör. But, as
guitarist "ráinn Árni Baldvinsson
assured us, this isn’t the end.
On tapping into a gap
“When we started in 2009, we nev-
er thought this would happen. We
thought that you couldn‘t do heavy
metal in Iceland. All we wanted
was to make one album that we
could be proud of and then die,”
"ráinn laughs. "ráinn is tall, with
thick blonde hair hanging down to
his hips. A warm smile forms on
his face as he remembers ‘Baldur.’
“It was expensive, so we took out a
loan and used our bassist’s house
as collateral. There was no plan.
We thought that for the next year
each of us would have two hundred
copies under our beds, and would
be trying to give them to relatives.”
Reality quickly defied their ex-
pectations. With ‘Baldur’, Skálmöld
tapped into a musical gap that
many underestimated. Not even
record labels were aware of the op-
portunities
in the metal-
niche. “No-
body in Ice-
land wanted
to release the
album so we
signed with
the Faroese
record label
Tutl. Within
a week, 1,000 copies were sold
out. Before we knew it, we got a
record deal with Napalm Records
and were touring with bands like
Finntroll,” "ráinn recalls.
A decade of fun
Now, ten years later, as "ráinn ex-
plains, the band gets recognised
while grocery shopping. However,
international fame was nowhere
near the most rewarding part of
their career.
“Our tours and the shows with the
Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in
2013 and 2018 were definitely high-
lights for the band,” "ráinn says.
“But when I look back, my very fa-
vourite moments were when the
boys were together and had fun.”
"ráinn chuckles when he realises
that he’s referring to six grown
men playing in a metal band as
“boys.”
“We always have great parties on
the tour bus. One time we listened
to Iron Maiden for 7 hours straight.
And we have these little traditions.
When we play in Kraków, our key-
board player (Gunnar Ben) and I
always go to the
same place to get
beer.”
The band also
enjoys the song-
writing process.
“It’s so special be-
cause ever yone
contributes. Jón
Geir, our drummer,
is for example good
at listening to the bigger picture of
every song. We take this machine
and it just flies,” "ráinn explains.
The lyrics are written by bassist
Snæbjörn, with the strict rule that
they reference or reflect ancient
Icelandic poetry, which consists
of different motifs. “Sléttubönd is
one of the most difficult motifs,
there you write a poem and when
you’re at the last word, you start
going backward and the meaning
of the rhyme changes,” "ráinn ex-
plains.
With their roots in Norse my-
thology and Icelandic folk tales, all
Skálmölds albums can be consid-
ered concept albums. “We basically
write new stories without harm-
ing the integrity of the mythology.
Culture
On the ed!e of a break, Skálmöld !uitarist "ráinn reflects on an eventful decade
16The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 21— 2019
Skálmöld. !ráinn is second from the le".

Ra#narök Isn’t Here Yet
“All we wanted was
to make one al-
bum that we could
be proud of and
then die.”
Words: Lea Müller Photo: Art Bicnick
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