Tyr - Eric The Red
I’m quite embarrassed that I’ve not reviewed this piece yet. I’ve always liked folk metal and when I came across Tyr, I remembered I still had to do a review for this. Tyr is a folk/viking metal band from the Faroër Islands. They’ve so far released one album called Eric The Red, which they’ve done so in 2003. This is the album that I’m going to review for you today and again I’m quite ashamed that it had to wait this long.
The first song ‘The Edge’ is one of those folk songs with a melody that keeps visiting your head at the most unusual times. The next song however, has quite a different style and on the website you can download a video clip for this song, which I highly recommend, if you like medieval battles and such. It’s called Regin Smiđur and I really have no clue how to pronounce that, but the song really grasped me because of the lyrics. They are sung in the traditional Faroër language and leave a very mystical atmosphere to this album. The next really notable song is the cover version of a traditional Irish song called ‘The Wild Rover” ( yeah, the one with the refrain that goes “ I’ll never play the wild rover no more, no nay never no more” ) I really favoured this song and it’s actual the best cover song I’ve heard so far. It’s greatly done by Tyr and if you can find the song, get it, because it’s a real party song! After this party, we get another great mystical song which goes by the title ‘StŶrisvǿlurin’ The rest of the album continues in the same style as the previous described songs and is in general a relaxing album. Some songs have English lyrics, and somehow don’t have that mystical feeling. The guitar work is very high because of the technical riffs and very nice solo parts during most of the songs. I’m not sure if I can compare this with other bands I’ve heard. The album is in that matter very original; because it’s the first band I’ve heard from that region. The band states they have got some influences from Dream Theater and Black Sabbath, which is quite correct for that matter.
People who favour original music with a mystical touch should not wait any longer and try to find this album. I highly recommend it to anyone who dares to experiment with musical styles and won’t be turned off because the music doesn’t follow a specific pattern.
Track List:
1: The Edge
The first song ‘The Edge’ is one of those folk songs with a melody that keeps visiting your head at the most unusual times. The next song however, has quite a different style and on the website you can download a video clip for this song, which I highly recommend, if you like medieval battles and such. It’s called Regin Smiđur and I really have no clue how to pronounce that, but the song really grasped me because of the lyrics. They are sung in the traditional Faroër language and leave a very mystical atmosphere to this album. The next really notable song is the cover version of a traditional Irish song called ‘The Wild Rover” ( yeah, the one with the refrain that goes “ I’ll never play the wild rover no more, no nay never no more” ) I really favoured this song and it’s actual the best cover song I’ve heard so far. It’s greatly done by Tyr and if you can find the song, get it, because it’s a real party song! After this party, we get another great mystical song which goes by the title ‘StŶrisvǿlurin’ The rest of the album continues in the same style as the previous described songs and is in general a relaxing album. Some songs have English lyrics, and somehow don’t have that mystical feeling. The guitar work is very high because of the technical riffs and very nice solo parts during most of the songs. I’m not sure if I can compare this with other bands I’ve heard. The album is in that matter very original; because it’s the first band I’ve heard from that region. The band states they have got some influences from Dream Theater and Black Sabbath, which is quite correct for that matter.
People who favour original music with a mystical touch should not wait any longer and try to find this album. I highly recommend it to anyone who dares to experiment with musical styles and won’t be turned off because the music doesn’t follow a specific pattern.
Track List:
1: The Edge
2: Regin Smiđur
3: Dreams
4: The Wild Rover
5: Stŷrisvǿlurin
6: Ólavur Riddararós
7: Rainbow Warrior
8: Ramund Hin Unge
9: Alive
Guitar – Terji Skibenæs
Bass – Gunnar H Thomsen
Drums – Kari Streymoy
Tracklisting
Line up