SKÁLMÖLD: Putting the "E" back into Epic

Reflecting on the Skálmöld and The Iceland Symphony Orchestra concert

Heavy metal. Symphony. Both require a lot of training, skill and when done right, both sound immense, complex and epic. So the thinking is, both have so much in common that when combined, minds will melt. Metallica were wise to this conventional wisdom and gave it a go with a composer responsible for the Lethal Weapon score, amongst others. The result were awkward and disconcerting. Many others have tried and failed or succeeded. Metal songs have featured orchestras and a rare album here and there is entirely done with an orchestra. The conventional format is themed concert with a metal band and orchestra playing together the whole time. Iceland's Skálmöld did that, and added two choirs. Yes. Epic!
Joined by the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and Karlakór Reykjavíkur(choir), Kammerkórinn Hymnódía (choir) and students from Kársnessskóla (elementary school), this adventure saw three sold out nights in Iceland's biggest concert hall, on November 28 through the 30th. Right there, when everyone joined in, 270 musicians and vocalists were performing. I asked bassist/vocalist Snæbjörn Ragnarsson how many people manned the two choirs, and he had no idea. That was reason enough for me to talk to the guy about the Homeric nature of this undertaking (watch videos after the jump).

At which point do you realise the the immensity of having such a gigantic line up of musicians and singers behind and in front of you? Can you describe that feeling and how it is another level from performing in your usual band format?
Well. For me it built up gradually. Showing up for the first day and seeing all this people, that was the first shock. Then hearing them warming up before the rehearsal, hearing bits and peaces of your music all around you, that was next. And of course the impact when the first song was played, then I just spun around and could not believe what was happening. About the difference, it is of course huge and a lot of things to consider, but the biggest thing for me at least, and what I felt I had to do, was to forget all this. Forget that I was surrounded by all these artists and different people and just concentrate on getting the music right without being too distracted. Once we managed that and the performance fell into place, that was the point when it really struck me. I was floating on top of this giant beast and nothing could stop me. Best feeling ever.

Snæbjörn with new partners in crime

I can't imagine the feeling of seeing your creation (the songs as they were simply meant for the band) go from being what they were in your practice space with your buddies, to being propelled by players from another school of musical thought, genres and disciplines. Can you elaborate on this?
The attitude we met from the very beginning was so relaxed and professional that this somehow felt just natural. It might sound weird but it’s true. Everyone there was just doing this 100% and taking part in it, the arrangements by Halli (Haraldur V. Sveinbjörnsson) are amazing and it just clicked. I can’t say that I was worried about it, but we might have met a snobby and unfriendly crowd. No matter how good the music is, how determined we were, that would have killed it. But when you have you have a couple hundreds outstanding artist to support you and the all believe in the project I don’t think anything can stop you. But the short answer is that it felt unreal. And bigger. So much fucking bigger!

Setlist

Lastly, with metal bands having done this before on individual songs (Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, The Body, Deathspell Omega) and an album's worth or concert's worth of using symphony and/or choir (Metallica, Therion, Nightwish and Nightfall I think), did you have something different in mind or was it simply to let a composer you trusted arrange it for the event?
I don’t know all these projects I must admit, but we very much knew where we wanted to go with this. What we really did not want to do was creating a dull layer of strings, voices and other instruments underneath the music. Many projects have fallen into that pit, and that feels, well, pointless. In our minds it was obvious that we should use all these new elements to create something new and broaden our songs. Us, the band, we had to play them quite different from what we are used to, some parts were left for the Orchestra to play, some parts were longer and so forth. With that said we still wanted it to sound like Skálmöld, like metal, not like a classical version of it or popish in any way, but bigger and more complex. That, without losing the power and intensity, was a narrow path to feet, and Halli was the heart and soul of that. After we had discussed this thoroughly he just went and did his thing with very little input from us during the process. Genius of a man.
- Birkir Fjalar

Photos lifted off Skálmöld's facebook page. Gif by Bjarki Már Gunnarsson












To see more videos from these concerts use the words sinfó, sinfóníuhljómsveit and harpa in your search criteria on youtube and facebook.



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