SKÁLD

French Norse-ophiles’ fourth album of ancient-meets-modern incantations. They may look and sound quintessentially Nordic, but Skáld are in fact the brainchild of French multi-instrumentalist Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet, who has taken his passion for early music and Norse mythology and run with it, armed with a collection of the requisite medieval instrumentation. However, on Huldufólk there’s little doubt that more contemporary sounds have crept into Skáld’s campfire cauldron – black metal for one, in the guttural, Satan-expectorating vocal style adopted for several of these tracks, and industrial hardcore in the quasi-militaristic donner-und-blitzen beats that permeate many of these compositions. While there’s little in the lyrics that will be discernible to non-linguist Brits, the chanting vocal hooks employed on Ljósálfur and Elverhøy are as hypnotic as any pop banger, and Då Månen Sken…