Scald - Will of Gods Is a Great Power (1996)^{Release ID: 8381}

Scald were a russian five-piece band that played epic doom metal (termed "ancient doom metal" by the band themselves) in a style derived from early Candlemass, but were actually more similar in style to UK outfit Solstice. This, their first and only full-length album has achieved legendary status amongst doom metal devotees, not only because of the tragic circumstances surrounding the band, splitting in '97 following the death of lead singer Agyl in a traffic accident, but also because it is one of the finest albums of that particular style of doom metal. I have also seen comparisons to Bathory bandied about and, in a weird way, it kind of holds water, certainly as an influence anyway.
Personally, I would put it only a notch below the aforementioned Solstice's New Dark Age and Candlemass' debut as one of my favourite slabs of epic doom. The production is not as clear and crisp as may be expected from this style of doom, but instead reminds me heavily of the production on Thergothon's Stream From the Heavens, with the keyboards playing a similarly important  part of the sound, in this case lending the album a triumphal, martial atmosphere and a muddy bottom end and drum sound. The riffs and particularly Agyl's earnest vocals are what really puts the epic into this doomed beast, though. I can well imagine Agyl not being at all out of place as the vocalist for any number of power metal bands but, thankfully, he diverted his efforts into doom instead and, it must be said, was a unique voice in the field.
The songwriting is also superb, with every track being memorable enough to stick in the mind long after the disc has finished spinning, none of the songs becoming samey or boring, despite their length. I find I'm discovering something more every time I play this amazing record and it is one that I find myself loving even more as time passes. This is one of the seminal releases in the realm of doom metal and any devotee really should get hold of a copy (personally, I paid €27.00 for a copy of the Wroth Emitter CD and think it was worth every penny!)