Will I play the wild rover, No never no more! (Eric The Red - Týr)

Member Name: annallon

Product:	Eric The Red - Týr
Date:	05/08/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good blend of folk and metal, draws from their traditonal faroese songs

Disadvantages: Some songs just dont measure up;

Tyr- Eric the Red


Heri Joensen - Vocals/Guitars
Terji Skibenæs - Guitars
Gunnar H. Thomsen - Bass
Kári Streymoy - Drums

This not-well-known sleepy island of Faroe; they shaped and nurtured 4 men with many Faroese teachings and taught them to be proud of their country and language; and surrounded them with folk music. The 4 men would grow up to create this short of a masterpiece album, and being in one of the most creative and fun bands in the metal world today, This band was formed by the 4 men who were living in Denmark at the time; they came to success when winning a competition of Prix Føroyar contes, they played Ormurin Langi, Faroe Island's greatest ever hit, it reached high in the charts in Iceland which then paved the way for Tyr's popularity,

What one would expect with the metal associated with the band is that it'd be over-whemingly metal but actually it isn't so. It consists of a fantastic balance of metal and folk influence from their native country of Faroe, making it an easy listen and is fitting for almost any mood.

What I liked a lot about this album is that the guys weren't scared of putting songs in their own language- Faroese- which mean they were totally confident that even if people didn't understand the singing, they were sure that the music would entertain the listener. The several songs in Faroese is especially entertaining and rather jolly. English isn't necessarily needed in order to understand what is going on; due to the well played instruments of the band as well the very emotional singer of Heri Joensen, you can just grasp the tone of the song just from one second of his voice.

The album starts off with an amazing epic song; lasting for 6 minutes long! One might think it is a long song to open up with but I think it is rather fitting; as it is pretty damn catchy, the singer doesn't experience any difficulty in covering two languages at the same time, the way the two languages are covered in the same song seems to flow seamlessly without any issues is pretty impressive. The song is extremely melodic and a vibrant song; the vocals here changes a lot from high soaring pitch to chanting; making for an interesting listen. This continues in the next two tracks; Regin Smiður and Dreams. The former is a traditional faroese song and they've done their own take on the well known folk song; the result is a very entertaining listen, Heri sings his native language effortlessly and he tries to make it sound really beautiful. And it does sound beautiful. The latter consists of one of the best vocal performances on the record and a really epic chorus to boot.

They have done a really good cover on ' A Wild Rover'; again still sticking to their folk side of the music. The origins of this song is rather unknown; going back as far as 1829, as a song of Temperance. Some people consider this as a drinking song which is why it is a main staple for musicians in Irish pubs. The cover is very well done; though I can't comment how it is compared to the other covers. All I can say it is an incredibly jolly song that manages to lift my spirits, Heri manages to act rather jolly in this song. This is not a song to miss out on with its awesome riffs and leads.

The album at times might get a bit long; then it suddenly turns around and becomes much more interesting in its composition, ensuring it has your attention for longer. There is a continuous variaton in the songs throughout the album!

The reason this is short of a masterpiece is that...the songs of Alive and Styrisvolurin are pretty boring; and drags down the entire record down. Some might think that it is incredibly poppy and designed to hook the more 'mainstream' people. For me, it just doesn't work; it gives off the false impression that it's going to be a great song at the beginning then it just deflates like a flat balloon. Perhaps these two songs weren't really needed on this album?

'Rainbow Warrior' doesn't have the best chorus in the world but it is still a pretty good song for what it is.

'Ramund Hin Unge' is another one sung in a foreign language; I assume it is danish; I am blown-away that this isn't even bilingual, it's trilingual album and Heri, the vocalist belts out the words effortlessly; he's obviously very fluent in the three languages. This doesn't offer less frantic energy as the other previous songs and has a different take on the melody,rhthym, and the structure of it. Not one to miss out.

The album closes up with 'Eric the Red', another epic song lasting for 7 minute long; it entails fantastic solos rarely seen on the album which is a shame, Heri should have been let loose on his guitar more often! He can shred, while being a vocalist at the same time. His solos aren't so complex that you get bored; they are at the right complexity for this meld with folk music.

The drumming is sastisfactory; Kari doesn't do anything to hurt the songs at all in general; his most notable efforts has to be in 'The Edge' where he keeps the band sounding more tight and together. He does a good job of 'filling in the beats.' Heri has one of the best clean voices in metal; he has such an emotional voice with a wide range in pitch. His best effort is in Dreams where his voice reaches high peaks and it is beautiful. The bass is okay, making the sound a bit thicker than it should but it does the job just fine.

In all, this isn't an album to be missing out on if you want to check out folk metal in all its glory. There are 2 weaks tracks, I would say that doesn't measure up to the other songs but other than that, it's an excellent album. Forget Korpkilaani, check this one out!

Summary: In all, a good album to check out. :)