... And They Came From Faroe

Well Paganfest 2008 is come and gone. Unfortunately, Eluveitie drop out of the tour much to my dismay. Local band O'Faolain stepped in to fill out the line up with a decent set of epic black metal. I'll have to keep my eyes on them. I also found out later that Suidakra will be joining the tour starting May 5th. I would have loved to have seen them. Ah well, maybe next year.

Tyr for their part put on a fine performance both energetic and fun. Unfortunately it was only about 20 minutes long. A damned shame if you ask me. Turisas put on a helluva show with full outfits and face paint and a load of energy. And finally Ensiferum blew me away with their technical prowess and aggressive speed without losing the folk elements. A great performance and a powerful end to the night.

They did not have the CD's I was hoping to pick up there, so today I'll be looking Tyr's "How Far To Asgaard"

Tyr is a viking metal band from the Faroe Islands that do a rather unique style of Viking metal. The lyrics are steeped in Norse/ Faroese mythology, however the music is a little different then your standard Viking metal.

Their sound is more rock based with an almost Black Sabbath style riffing. It's like doom metal without the doom feel. "How Far To Asgaard" kicks off with the one of the bands most popular songs "Hail To The Hammer". This is an anthemic, proud song and rousing.

"Sands In The Wind" has a strong rock feel with a nice solo and a faster tempo which is nice because the album doesn't vary much with speed. "Excavation" is a somber tune and a little droney.

"Ten Wild Dogs" incorporates some swirly guitar/bass work and choppy riff work. "Gods Of War" has the most doomy sound with crunching riffs, some nice solo work and a narrative feel. The album closer and title track "How Far To Asgaard" is doom-ish as well with some crushing riffs.

"Ormurin Langi" is a very traditional song that plays like a folk anthem. My favourite track here though is "The Rune". The song is sweetly melodic and almost haunting in atmosphere. A moving tune.

Overall this is a unique and fine start to this bands career. Next week I'll take a look at Tyr's "Eric The Red".