SIG:AR:TYR – Citadel of Stars
Release Date: 31st May 2024
Label: Hammerheart Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Folk/Black Metal.
FFO: Bathory, Primordial, Falkenbach, Emperor, Agalloch.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Canadian one-man pagan-infused black metal force, SIG:AR:TYR has returned a mere 8 years since the release of the last album, Northern. To cut a long story short, Citadel of Stars is an immense slab of metal that should be high up in your ‘must listen to’ list in June….you do have a ‘must listen to’ list, don’t you?
Yes, it isn’t a short album, you will need to set aside an hour to wallow in the immersive atmosphere that surrounds the 9 track album. It is not an album you will pick and choose from, Citadel of Stars beckons you from afar, drawing you in like a Siren, enticing you to seek out more from the captivating nature of the songs.
Perhaps the most intriguing fact about this album is that it is delivered by one person, Daemonskald plays all the instruments. This means that the searing riffs, the blackened groove of the bass and every other aspect of the album is just 1 persons vision. This approach gives a singularity to what Citadel of Stars sets out to achieve. There is no inter-band tension on how the album should sound, no single band member demanding they are higher in the mix. The upshot is that the 5th album by SIG:AR:TYR is tight and cohesive and delivers its message in an uncluttered manner.
As soon as my first listen to Citadel of Stars was complete, I declared this as my favourite first listen of the year. The worry was then that the album would not live up to my initial standard. This worry was unwarranted.
With tracks as strong as the epic opener, Awaiting the Last Dawn or Where the Sun Never Sets, through to the album closer, From the Land of the North, the listener is treated to an album that is full of invention and genre blending. Pagan metal flirts with black metal throughout, but there are traditional heavy influences that sit beneath the main base of the tracks.
Quite simply, Citadel of Stars is the album black metal fans have been waiting for. It is outstanding.
(5 / 5)
