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This is a lost and overlooked classic of Doom Metal. Scald were a never-heard-of-them band from Russia who recorded a few demos, then this, their one and only full-length album, which was released on the microscopic Metal Agen records in 1996. It's been re-released a few times by different small labels, but it remains an obscure and cult album, known only to a few. Anyone who has heard it, though, will know it for the masterwork it is.

Epic Pagan Doom is what's at hand here. Slow, colossal riffs so melodic and mournful they almost border on Funeral Doom fill the air, mixing a traditional style with folk melodies to create a unique sound. The guitar tone is atypical for Doom, being a very dry, treble-heavy tone without the analog fuzz one expects from Doom Metal; it's almost a Black Metal kind of tone. There are some marvelous leads and solos on here, especially the monster lead break on "Eternal Stone". The kicker here is that every song - every one - is no less than amazing, from the opening of "Night Sky" through the keening instrumental "Bifrost" that closes out the album there is not a moment that is not masterful, epic, and moving.

The star of the show is undoubtedly vocalist Agyl and his powerful, mournful tenor. The recording job is a bit tinny, making him sound like he's singing far away, but his sheer ability shines through. He wails like Robert Lowe would if he could actually sing, and unlike a lot of guys who can sing high, his midrange is gritty and charismatic. There is seemingly nothing he cannot do, and his powerful, haunting vocal melodies pervade the album with a sense of lost glory and undying pride. He was killed in an accident shortly after this album was recorded, and the band broke up soon after, leaving this as his epitaph, and no man could ask for better. A stunning album, get it any way you can, and pity those who have not experienced it.