We love a bit of TÝR here at FOM Towers, and they have a deliriously cool new album on their hands in ‘Battle Ballads’, their ninth overall. This one goes head to head with more recent releases like ‘The Lay Of Thrym’ and ‘Valkyria’ with its more accessible and anthemic sound, whereas in places they bring back a bit of the tumbling progression of ‘Eric The Red’, their undisputed masterwork from 2003. We’ve got their new single ‘Dragons Never Die’ here for you, and if that doesn’t slake your thirst for the Viking metal maelstrom that is ‘Battle Ballads’, set for release on April 12th via Metal Blade Records, no amount of village-burning or pillaging will convince you otherwise.
With ‘Battle Ballads’, TÝR has crafted an album that resounds with their trademark Viking metal sound — a crushing, soaring, batch of classical embellished songs that conjure images of galloping steeds, clashing swords, and hard-fought victories. At the same time, the band has experimented with new writing styles and musical techniques and created songs that are structurally simpler, yet musically more variegated. For founding frontman Heri Joensen, it‘s a clear illustration of how he plans to continue exploring different approaches in the future while staying true to the spirit of thunderous Viking metal.
“We consciously decided to make this a more direct album with songs that are easier for listeners to get right away than some of the stuff on our last album, or maybe even on our 2006 album Ragnarok, which was very progressive,” says Joensen. “With Battle Ballads, there are progressive elements here and there, but we tried to keep the songs based on one or two musical ideas each, and work on everything from there. So, in a way, it‘s more concise than our last album, but it‘s more epic because of the symphonic elements.”
There‘s no escaping the masterfully meticulous blend of melody and savagery on Battle Ballads. Notes Joensen of the band‘s ‘Dragons Never Die’ single, “The song starts with a long harmonic crescendo on drums and guitar reminiscent of classical Deep Purple, then shifts an eastern inspired melodic journey back in time with wordless singalong parts, going into a rhythmically simple and stomping verse about a gold-grabbing dragon and a protagonist set on defeating it. It‘s a fast and riveting chorus. The metal story progresses and culminates into a face melting solo. With the last chorus, the protagonist finds that becoming rich beyond measure just makes him the next dragon.”
‘Battle Ballads’ features the stunning artwork of by Gyula Havancsak and will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
Sea Blue Smoke (US)
Maroon Marbled (EU – Ltd. 800)
180g Black (EU – Ltd. 500)
Thunderous Sky Blue Marbled (EU – Ltd. 300)
Teal Green Melt With Red Splatter (EU – Ltd. 200)
Flame Splattered (EU – Ltd. 200)
Find preorders at www.metalblade.com/tyr
Photo by Gaui H.
Watch the video for ‘Dragons Never Die’ right here!