TYR - Battle Ballads
Metal Blade Records
OK bias alert, I'm a huge fan of TYR. I first got into em in 2006 with their Ragnarok full length. From that point onward I was buying older releases while keeping up with their new ones. I saw em twice over a decade ago when the whole Pagan Metal thing was a trend as far as tours go. I stood around at one show and talked with Heri Joensen for close to an hour. We had an amazing conversation which I promised was not an interview.
Fast forward a few years and it was in the second decade of the 2000s where TYR shed the cliche Viking Metal tag and went full blown amazing. Some people wanna call it Power Metal while others say Progressive Folk. All I know is when I listened to 2019's Hel full length the cliche stuff was far over. Heri Joensen was always pushing the band to this standard and it works.
So here we have Battle Ballads the band's 9th full length. To me as a fan this is the epitome of standing in Valhala. Yes it's Power Metal out the wazoo with a battle ready hammer wielding warrior ready to fight for the cause. The guitar work on here is exceptional as well as the vocals. The song structures on a couple of tunes are folksy as hell and headbanging.
I have to say TYR's live album, A Night at the Nordic House, from 2022 has been one of my fave releases from them as in I only listen to that one for a while. But this new one is a magnum opus. But Battle Ballads goes beyond what they've done before as being a magnificent piece of work incorporating the folk, the Viking influenced ballads and the aggressive nature. They've reached their mountain top.
https://www.metalblade.com/us/
LISTEN HERE:
https://tyrband.bandcamp.com/album/battle-ballads
No comments:
Post a Comment