Skalds of Metal

Skalds of Metal, released on 25 August 2023, runs eighteen songs across 58 minutes and pushes the Norse direction of Rise of Vikingr further out. It opens on "Master of War," and names drawn from myth and history follow — "Ironside," "Jormungandr," "Fenrir." The German medieval metal band Saltatio Mortis guests on "God of War." The track count needs reading carefully, though. Three of the eighteen are alternate takes of songs already present: "Thor" and "Thor - Metal Version," "Forge" and "Forge - Metal Version," "God of War" and "God of War - Metal Version" all appear together. What is really here is fifteen songs plus three reworkings of them. The number eighteen does not mean eighteen pieces of music.