Live at The House of Blues: Hollywood, CA as part of the Pagan Fest on 05/08/2008

review by Travis Baumann

I learned about Týr in preparation for the Pagan Fest. I listened to their online tracks and quickly grew an appreciation for their melodic songs of Viking lore. As opposed to the other bands playing, these guys never really enter the "Death Metal" realm of vocal styling which was a huge positive for me and set them apart in the line-up.

Their greatest strength is their vocals. The lead singer, Heri has a great voice which combines with the other members of the band for maximum effect. In their songs there are often parts where the entire group sings together in harmony. Songs like "Regin Smidur" and "The Wings of Time" show how their harmonious joined voices are used in powerful ways.

The other bands all sported unusual folk instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, accordion, fiddle, pipes or at least keyboards. Týr did not utilize any of these to bring forth the Pagan vibes but did so with Scandinavian lore and Viking motif in the lyrics themselves. This combined with their fantastic vocal style and use of their native tongue lent great power and meaning to their songs.

It has become a daily ritual for me to listen to the four tracks on their myspace page since this concert. I just love their songs and love the music structure as well as the vocals on each. I was very happy they did my favorite songs live. "The Wings of Time" was awesome. I especially like the ending where it talks about "time folding its wings, the end of all things". It is a philosophical song in many ways but is uplifting despite a blunt look at what we know of existence and how little we are in comparison to time viewed as an anthropomorphic entity.

When they sang "Hail to the Hammer" they had a great sing along with the crowd chanting along to the lyrics. This song could easily have been sung during ancient times. "The Hunt" is a great song, again looking upon life in a philosophical manner with lyrics such as "hunting for the truth out on the fields of insanity" and "in the end we all stand alone".

My favorite song is "Regin Smidur" sung entirely in their native dialect and done so with a chorus delivery that makes you feel the power of a small group of warriors raising their voice in a common thought. It is this amazing sound that at moments remind me of the German band Subway to Sally and raise Týr to their level of greatness.

I went to the Pagan Fest for the band Turisas who I have listened to for years and they were awesome but my other favorite of the night was definitely Týr. I listen to them constantly now. I love it when tours of like minded bands introduce you to phenomenal new groups that you would never have run into previously and that was definitely the case here.

I strongly recommend Týr on CD and especially live, they are fantastic.