Týr – By The Light Of The Northern Star
Napalm Records - 27 May 2009
By Simon Brand
The first word which came into my head when I heard this album was “unnecessary”. Týr spam the usage of words like “heathen” and ”pagan”, they profusely overuse guitar harmonisation, there is little tempo variation or musical contrast... The only thing which saves this album from plunging the listener into utter boredom is that it's fun. If the band took the music even semi-seriously, it would be terrible, but every track reeks of almost self-satire that you can't help but smile at parts.
Stylistically, Týr deliver exactly as you would expect, slightly off kilter melodies, folkish singing style, technical solos... not anything really new or interesting, but they carry off the idea better than most. For those with attention deficit, I would tag them Progressive Viking Metal (despite the fact that I find the concept of Viking Metal nonsensical).
The lyrics are completely ridiculous, but effective in conjuring an image of some Vikings sitting around a large wooden table, munching on chicken drumsticks and chanting battle cries. The opening song is a good example, featuring the lyrics Hold the heathen hammer high, never turn away. Down the wayward way so far faring strangers stray. Not sure whether to cringe, laugh or grab my longboat and rape and pillage the coast with my trusty battle axe.
Guitars generally play harmonised melodies over repeated low-register notes or power chords. The guitarists can definitely play, generally holding back for the majority of the songs and unleashing the awesome power of pagan guitar playing in the solos.
Bass is...inaudible for pretty much the whole album. Oh well.
The drumwork featured is pretty standard fare, can't really detect any rhythms which haven't been used a hundred times before. Not to say the playing is bad at all, it works as well as you could wish in the context.
The last word which came into my head after finishing my first playthrough of the album was “inoffensive”, which I think means I can now sum up the album in three words: unnecessary, fun and inoffensive. If this is something you enjoy in an album, then by all means pick up this release as Týr carry it off rather well. For the others, Týr probably isn't for you.
Official Týr Website/Myspace
Official Napalm Records Website
Napalm Records - 27 May 2009
By Simon Brand
The first word which came into my head when I heard this album was “unnecessary”. Týr spam the usage of words like “heathen” and ”pagan”, they profusely overuse guitar harmonisation, there is little tempo variation or musical contrast... The only thing which saves this album from plunging the listener into utter boredom is that it's fun. If the band took the music even semi-seriously, it would be terrible, but every track reeks of almost self-satire that you can't help but smile at parts.
Stylistically, Týr deliver exactly as you would expect, slightly off kilter melodies, folkish singing style, technical solos... not anything really new or interesting, but they carry off the idea better than most. For those with attention deficit, I would tag them Progressive Viking Metal (despite the fact that I find the concept of Viking Metal nonsensical).
The lyrics are completely ridiculous, but effective in conjuring an image of some Vikings sitting around a large wooden table, munching on chicken drumsticks and chanting battle cries. The opening song is a good example, featuring the lyrics Hold the heathen hammer high, never turn away. Down the wayward way so far faring strangers stray. Not sure whether to cringe, laugh or grab my longboat and rape and pillage the coast with my trusty battle axe.
Guitars generally play harmonised melodies over repeated low-register notes or power chords. The guitarists can definitely play, generally holding back for the majority of the songs and unleashing the awesome power of pagan guitar playing in the solos.
Bass is...inaudible for pretty much the whole album. Oh well.
The drumwork featured is pretty standard fare, can't really detect any rhythms which haven't been used a hundred times before. Not to say the playing is bad at all, it works as well as you could wish in the context.
The last word which came into my head after finishing my first playthrough of the album was “inoffensive”, which I think means I can now sum up the album in three words: unnecessary, fun and inoffensive. If this is something you enjoy in an album, then by all means pick up this release as Týr carry it off rather well. For the others, Týr probably isn't for you.
Official Týr Website/Myspace
Official Napalm Records Website
