...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI


..::OPIS::..

'Will of Gods Is a Great Power' to album kompletny i monumentalny wkład rusi kijowskiej w oranie światowego poletka epickiego doom metalu. Nie będzie szczególnie kontrowersyjnym stwierdzenie, że Scald to połączenie epickiego Bathory z Candlemass. Nad wszystko wybija się jednak melancholijny jak skurwysyn głos niejakiego Agila, wyśpiewującego nad taflą jeziora swe wieszczące klęskę i opiewające majestat natury hymny, przy czym wczuwa się, jakby jutra nie było. I los nie był dla niego łaskawy, już w rok po premierze albumu, zginął w wypadku kolejowym, tym samym kończąc historię Scald. Pozostali członkowie założyli folk metalowy Tumulus, nawiązując do jednego z kawałków na płycie.

Yog


Perfection – the state of being perfect; being entirely without fault or defect; satisfying all requirements; corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept. I think we all understand the concept of perfection, but how do we apply it to music? Music is so incredibly subjective and so emotionally charged. The emotion music elicits isn’t quantifiable or tangible. Here on site, I’ve already given three albums a perfect score and I’m about to do that again. To me, an album doesn’t need to be consistent all the way through to be perfect, nor does it need every note to be flawlessly arranged. Some albums have something very special – a type of aura. If the album accomplishes everything it set out to do, and nothing else has been able to replicate it or get close, then it’s perfect. By this criteria, Scald’s Will of the Gods is Great Power is a perfect album.

I still distinctly remember the very first time I listened to Scald. I was young and just starting to dive into the epic doom metal scene with bands like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, and Solstice. I asked a close friend, someone I considered a mentor, for more bands in that vein and he told me to listen to Scald as soon as possible. I was in for a treat – I put on Will of the Gods is Great Power shortly after speaking with him and I was hit immediately with a wave of emotion. This album had something very special indeed. I felt utterly overwhelmed, but amazed at the same time that I found music like this. The pure sense of wonder and astonishment persists for me today, over a decade later.

My experience with Scald is not a unique one. I’ve witnessed firsthand others feeling the same admiration and amazement at their first listen of Will of the Gods is Great Power – some who otherwise would have never touched epic metal in any way. It’s difficult to distill the magic at work here, but on a high level Scald play slow paced, folk-infused, epic doom metal. When you think of this genre, Candlemass immediately come to mind, but that’s not really a big influence here. Scald draw their inspiration from Hammerheart-era Bathory and mix it with Manowar‘s Ross the Boss-era epics like “Secret of Steel” to create a powerful and triumphant sound.

Will of the Gods is Great Power clocks in at over fifty minutes and features just six tracks. When songs are simple, slow, and average over nine minutes there’s a serious risk of being dull and drawn out, but that’s not the case here in the slightest. Every note, every folk passage, every riff, every synth touch, every beautiful vocal melody – it all matters and has massive impact. Instead of being long and boring, the songs feel painfully short. I’m always left yearning for more when the album ends and I often find myself starting it back up immediately.

The production plays a huge part in making Will of the Gods is Great Power so mesmerizing and addicting. On the whole, it’s rougher than most albums in the epic doom style. Instead of being warm and bass heavy, Scald’s production is cold and virtually devoid of bass. The treble heavy production works in conjunction with a thin, razor-sharp guitar tone to create a wintery sound with a ton of bite. The drums and bass guitars are buried in the mix, accentuating the lead guitars and giving plenty of room for the band’s all star vocalist, Agyl, to drive the music and shine.

Agyl’s vocals are one of a kind and in a league entirely of their own. It’s impossible for me to discuss him without sounding hyperbolic, but he is genuinely one of my favorite metal vocalists. His tone is phenomenal and when combined with his bombastic and dramatic delivery it creates a deadly combination. Agyl compliments the instrumentation nicely and is often at the forefront of the music, allowing him to be the band’s centerpiece. Scald gives him all the room possible to drive the music and few do this as effectively as Agyl. He typically sits at a lower register, but there are plenty of moments where he shows off his tremendous range and graces us with his haunting highs. There’s a powerful moment half way through the track “A Tumulus” where he sings entirely in his highs, giving me shivers everytime without fail. The only complaint I’ve ever seen concerning Agyl is around his pronunciation. Given that Scald are a Russian band, Agyl’s first language isn’t English and this is painfully clear. He has difficulty pronouncing words clearly and sometimes it feels like he’s singing with a mouth full of cottonballs as a result. It’s largely incomprehensible and he could be insulting my mother for all I know, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t need to make out the words he’s singing to understand that Agyl’s voice is simply beautiful.

Unfortunately, Agyl passed away in a tragic accident very shortly after the release of Will of the Gods is Great Power. Scald split in 1997 with just this lone album as their legacy, but what a legacy it is. With just one album, Scald left a lasting impact far exceeding what many bands accomplish with expansive catalogs. I have listened to this album countless times over the years and the sense of wonder that overcame me the very first time is still there the hundredth time.

Marcohateshipsters



‘Epic’ has become a bit overused in the world of metal with hundreds of bands often completely wrongly being tagged with the term. It’s a pity really, because often bands that truly do deserve the tag get completely buried, and ‘Will of the Gods is Great Power’ from Russia’s Scald is one album that really does in every way qualify as one of the most ‘epic’ sounding albums ever.

The album features a fantastic mixture of the majestic grand riffs and vivid imagery of Bathory’s Viking metal style albums such as ’Hammerheart’ which it is clearly hugely influenced by and the crushing slow tempos and down tuned guitars of traditional doom bands like Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus. Every riff is equally powerful, and combined with the Viking-themed lyrics can conjure up images of ancient lands and Viking warriors that most so-called ‘Viking metal’ bands can only dream of doing.

While the music isn’t particularly complex, the instrumentation is superb throughout and the music is structured and composed perfectly with a perfect mix of heavy riffs and melody, staying completely gripping through the long song lengths. The guitar work in particular is amazing. As well as the great riffs there are with plenty of sweeping guitar solos, all of which are well composed and sometimes breathtakingly beautiful and emotional. All of the music is played on just guitar, bass and drums apart from waves and wind sound effects used to enhance the atmosphere and chimes playing a hypnotic melody on ‘Ragnaradi Eve’.

Released first only on tape, it survived only because of the quality of the music to be remastered on CD. The remastering didn’t do much though, because the production is still awful. While the bass is clear, the guitars are thin and the drums are ridiculously weak. The thing is, while some may be put off, the production in many ways actually helps the music. While taking away some of the power that most doom contains, the production makes the atmosphere sound completely natural and believable, in a way similar to good quality black metal that gets the production ‘right’ like Ulver’s ‘Bergtatt’. The production can take a while to get used to however, and may not be immediately appealing. The more you get used to it though, the less noticeable it becomes.

The vocals are most affected by the production, which is one of the album’s biggest problems. Maxim "Agyl" Adrianov, who sadly passed away in 1997 leading to the band’s break-up, was clearly an incredible singer, with a range that seemingly effortlessly managed to go from a low growl to an ethereal high pitched wail. Agyl could definitely rival the very best of epic doom metal singers such as Messiah Marcolin, though his singing is unfortunately very restricted by the production. The vocals sound distant and unclear, buried under the instruments. This does help the atmosphere somewhat, but it makes his singing seem a lot less impressive, especially when he sings the higher notes. It also makes it very hard to understand the lyrics which are well-written for a non-Native speaker and fit the atmosphere perfectly.

‘Will of the Gods is Great Power’ is overall an incredible album with the only real flaw being certain parts in the production. Scald borrow from Bathory and Candlemass, and manage to reach the same quality, arguably even surpassing them. A must for any fan of epic doom metal.

username345



..::TRACK-LIST::..

CD 1:
1. Night Sky
2. Eternal Stone
3. Ragnaradi Eve
4. Sepulchral Bonfire
5. A Tumulus
6. In The Open Sea

CD 2:
1. My Sin (Live 1993)
2. Ragnaradi Eve (Live 1993)
3. Hail To England
4. Ravens (1997)
5. Blues Improvisation (1997)
6. Ross - Poy Guslyar! (1991)
7. Ross - Kuznets Voiny (1991)
8. Ross - Cherny Zamok (1991)
9. Ross - Sokol (1991)
10. Ross - Kanun Ragnaradi (1993)



..::OBSADA::..

Agil (R.I.P. 1997) - Vocals, Lyrics
Harald - Guitars
Karry - Guitars, Keyboards
Velingor - Bass, Lyrics
Ottar - Drums, Percussion, Vocals (backing) (track 4)




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t2249v5Pbs



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