Týr – Battle Ballads
Release Date: 12th April 2024
Label: Metal Blade Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Viking Metal
FFO: Amon Amarth, Brothers of Metal.
Review By: Kira L. Schlechter
Lest you think by its title, “Battle Ballads,” that the ninth album by the Faroe Islands’ finest export, Tyr, indicates they’ve gone soft, you may not know the origin of the word “ballad.”
Frontman and guitarist Heri Joensen says in the bio that the word’s medieval roots are more applicable here – these are songs with folk and classical influences, he says.
Dane Lars Winther was tapped to add orchestral samples to the mix of Heri, guitarist Hans Hammer, bassist Gunnar Helmer Thomsen, and drummer Tadeusz Rieckmann.
And indeed, “Hammered” gets that vibe going from the start. Its majestic, open feel and potent guitar melody are the bases of the theme, using the idea of the handcraft of metalworking as a metaphor for the honing and tempering of warriors – making them “battle-ready/Strong and steady,” Heri sings in the first chorus, his voice a mix of rich baritone and gritty howl. But that craft has two sides, he notes, “whether we’re kind creators/Or annihilators.” And it will eventually be our end: “Dead and slain/Battle-hardened/Paid and pardoned,” he sings in the second. And it will keep happening, as he sings in the third, altogether a very nice piece of commentary on the futility of conflict: “Will rise again/Inhumane/Battle-weary/Dark and dreary.”
Set to a brilliant, soaring guitar flourish and a folky swing, “Unwandered Ways” is a great example of Heri’s gift for wordplay. The title and the chorus refer to the opportunities missed, the self-doubt: “Unwandered ways/Wait outside the gate/Lost and late.” And he keeps with that theme of negative and positive: “Unsilenced strings/Sound a wanting/And inadequate song” and “Unwasted words/Weep for meaning … Unbounded birds/Black, convening on the path” and perhaps most revealing in the song’s context, “Unproven praise/Proves a fountain for my trials.” Our character returns with his work still, well, unfinished: “Bridges unburned/Beckon lost and lawless/Far though they roam/Endings unearned/Ease exhausted outcasts home.” That opening melody leads into a brief solo segment and the return of the chorus – one time through, it’s overdubbed and layered, minus accompaniment, showing how well it’s constructed, before the music returns with it.
The reference material behind “Dragons Never Die” is the German epic poem the Nibelungenlied (“The Song of the Nibelungs”), which later evolved into Wagner’s Ring Cycle composition. The segment in question is the hero Sigifrid’s slaying of a dragon and his acquisition of the beast’s treasure. Suitably, its arrangement draws heavily from folk (the initial tune and tempo) and classical (the solo section, specifically the guitar). Heri describes how the “gilded tale” of the dragon “drew lads and lords/Enticed towards enormous hoards, high on gold.” But the quest becomes their doom: “Whoever said ‘and they lived happily forever after’ lied/For tale and time go on no matter if I fail or find/The unimaginable hoard.” Heri’s ability to distill the story down to the briefest synopsis, but still fill it with detail and commentary, is masterful.
Back off, Amon Amarth, Tyr created its own soundtrack for a row pit with the aptly titled “Row.” But it would be a challenge, as its rhythm is tricky, erratic and buoyant and bouncy. The chorus hints at disaster as Heri’s character and his companions are “Rowing this never-ending ocean” facing “growing despair” as the “waves grow ever stronger” and the “boards moan.” He makes one last desperate try in the bridge – “One whole day and night he rows/Strokes unyielding he bestows/Upon the lads all hope forlorn/His only vow to brave the storm.” Do they make it? The ocean calms, Heri sings, but the tale ends on a cliffhanger: “Knowing that I gave my devotion/To the best/That’s my final quest/Lay me down to rest.”
Sung in their native Faroese to a traditional melody, “Torkils Dotur” begins acoustically, ringing and echoing, with a spare, forlorn quality. The heart-wrenching melody is the real star here; its soft, sweet lilt grows in intensity later in the track with the switch to electric guitar. The subtle addition of Tad’s double-kick drumming gives it urgency, punching up the swing without taking away from its beauty.
In Danish this time, with lyrics by Faroese nationalist leader and poet Johannes Patursson, “Vaelkolmnir Foyoyingar” has a distinct anthem- or hymn-like sound. Joyfully strident and powerful, it allows Heri to use his upper register, which adds to its cheerful tone, as does the underlying string arrangement.
“Hangman” is self-explanatory, the story of a “guiltless lad”’s desperate attempt to escape the gallows. Its musical accompaniment, led by Tad’s pitter-patter drumming, is perfect in conveying his overwhelming fear, as are Heri’s detailed lyrics – “Exhausted by the hunt/Set to fail from the start/Stitch in my side, onward I grunt/Still breathe my burning lungs/Still hammers my heart.” Does he get away? “He’s still trailing,” our hero notes, an “unfailing foe, far down below.”
Just from its title, you’d expect “Axes” to be full of guts and glory, all in the name of the band’s god of war namesake, and yeah, it is. Its terse, spitting guitar melody houses charming bits of savagery like “Lo, a spear in nimble hands impales my side/Joke’s on you, I split your skull, to Hel you ride/Downed I wipe your blood and brains from out my eye.” Urgent and suitably berserker-like, with a churning solo section, it’s a short rollercoaster blast of a track.
So then call the title track the aftermath of “Axes,” perhaps. It’s chiming, insistent riff and driving, percussive rhythm serve to encourage the “wasted warrior,” the “fallen fighter” to get back at it. He seems to be in almost a depression – “Sing me a song I didn’t hear for long … Tell me the tale wherein I may prevail/Tell lest I fall into the void with all I hold dear,” he pleads. The call to fight anew comes at last – “Reach up and rise from your fall … Rise and recover it all” – but our “heathen hero” knows he’s not at his best anymore: “Before us a long journey calls/Over land and over time/While echo in desolate halls/Songs we sang when in our prime.” It’s quite moving.
With lyrics both in their native tongue and in Latin, the title of “Causa Latronum Normannorum” and the lines that surround it are drawn from “De Mensura Orbis Terrae” (“Concerning the Measurement of the World”) by the 9th-century monk and geographer Dicuil – a work that contains “the earliest mention of Irish hermits having visited Iceland” (www.britannica.com) and their viewing of the Northern Lights. Its tempo is a measured tread, its main melody poignant and stirring. There’s some nice bass work from Gunnar, joined by cello, before the second verse, where Heri’s voice turns from the opening drone to a harsher growl.
Clocking in at just over 40 minutes, “Battle Ballads” is an economical exercise by this veteran band – they know their strengths and hew to them. Their keen knowledge of their own history –and that of the Nordic lands in general – make the songs here even more meaningful.
(5 / 5)
