In the years after its 1997 release, Scald’s debut album ‘Will of Gods Is a Great Power’ grew into a small sensation in the epic doom metal community, though to these ears, it has always sounded like ‘Twilight of the Gods’ era Bathory with a much better singer rather than second or third generation Black Sabbath worship. Unfortunately, it was the untimely death of that singer, Maksim ‘Agyl’ Andrianov, at the age of only 24 that ended Scald that same year. ‘Ancient Doom Metal’ features all four surviving members of the band, and feels like a proper follow-up for the 21st century.

Filling Andrianov’s shoes is the biggest specialist when it comes to slow metal with mournful clean lead vocals of the current era: Felipe Plaza Kutzbach of Procession and Capilla Ardiente. He has been fronting Scald ever since the surviving members reformed to play the Hammer of Doom festival in 2019, and really, I think he is the only sensible choice. Especially when you consider that a lot of this material sounds like it could have – and even might have – been worked on around the time the debut album came out. Despite that, ‘Ancient Doom Metal’ never sounds like nostalgia bait.

Musically, the album follows a similar template as the debut. The riffs are generally slower than is common for epic doom metal, and they have a majestic quality. That just shows how appropriate the cover art is, as they often feel like the waves of the ocean are just towering over you, especially when paired with lead guitar parts that also make the best out of a handful of long-held notes. Occasionally, the music sounds slightly closer to what epic doom metal sounds like these days, though admittedly, it could be the crisp, yet heavy production job doing that.

One of those songs that has a slightly more traditional doom sound is my personal favorite ‘Young God Resurrected’. Guitarists Ivan ‘Harald’ Sergeyev and Vladimir ‘Karry’ Ryzhkovsky weave a gorgeous harmonic guitar tapestry, the song builds up tension expertly, and the lengthy guitar solo is just incredible. Other highlights include the clearly folk-influenced, yet strangely not that folky ‘Master of the Lake’, the moving ‘ALU (My Protection)’, and the flawless second half of ‘Far Northern Corner’, which builds from an expertly arranged dual guitar solo to a massive, borderline choral finale. Each of the six long songs – seven on the cd version – are very much worth hearing, though.

As far as a comeback album goes, ‘Ancient Doom Metal’ is nearly perfect. It gives fans of Scald’s first album more of what they liked, updated to contemporary production standards, without losing what made the band special in the first place. If we’re splitting hairs, I don’t think the title track is the best choice for an opener, and some melodic progressions are quite similar, but in the grand scheme of things, those very minor issues don’t really matter. If an immersive downtempo metal experience with a distinct viking feel is what you are looking for, there isn’t much better than this.

Recommended tracks: ‘Young God Resurrected’, ‘Master of the Lake’, ‘Far Northern Corner’