In terms of darkness, there is one aspect of Skadi that almost makes up for the aforementioned production flaw. For its length, the amount of ideas is close to ideal – not one riff is repeated too little to catch your attention, or too much to bore you.

Perhaps the best showcase of what The Flight Of Sleipnir can do with this approach is “Earthen Shroud”, which weaves four minutes of dreamy acoustics, clean vocals and 70s keyboards before it speeds up into an epic elegy. Its core is based around clever use of acoustics and some pristine twin-guitar melodies, usually crowning the song’s build-up. However, the moderate lightness of the riffs enables the accessible side of Skadi to truly shine. While the sound is well-balanced and clear, it does sacrifice the doom metal staple of overwhelming guitars. If only the production allowed for the heaviness to truly crush one’s soul, rather than bitchslapping it. But these tend to be calculated – similar to something Neurosis could use as a crescendo, though the contrasts between light and dark are not quite as abrupt here. Of course, you can pinpoint some riffs that will make your neck sway, such as the one that dominates second half of “Tenebrous Haze”, likely the doomiest song on here. Skadi, their sixth record, doesn’t really put as much emphasis on the riffs as many others do, but rather aims to create a flowing atmosphere. Even if this take on doom weren’t a commendable vision, then the natural-sounding combination of these influences surely is. This brainchild of two multi-instrumentalists, David Csicsely and Clayton Cushman mixes doom metal with a tinge of stoner fuzz, soothing acoustics and even some black metal to taste. Finding one in Colorado must be the bigger challenge, unless you stumble upon The Flight Of Sleipnir. You could probably find dozens of bands of various sub-genres singing and screaming about Norse mythology.

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