Slayer of Gods

When all of the right elements are in their place, it's kind of tough to split hairs about things like originality, especially when it is concerning a former tribute band that is writing their own material in the style of their stylistic fore-bearers. Brymir is perhaps among the easier targets when it comes to pulling the originality card and questioning whether there is a tipping point where there are too many similar sounding bands. While there may be something to this, for die-hard metal trustees like the author of this review who don't really bother with much outside of the metal spectrum, this notion of maximum capacity is less of a factor, especially when the execution factor is well realized. Something doesn't have to break down stylistic barriers in order to be fun, and although bands like Ensiferum, Turisas and Equilibrium have been fairly prolific and have only occasionally slipped up, there is always room for more, and that is what this band's sophomore effort Slayer Of Gods is, more of the same.

Most are prone to dwell upon the similarities to Ensiferum and Wintersun, though it should be noted that Brymir's sound incorporates a much larger symphonic gloss than the former (comparable to Equilibrium's approach) and doesn't go down the massively epic and technical road of the latter. Their sound tends to be a bit more well-rounded and song-oriented, in fact, this album sees the band moving a bit more in the direction of concise songwriting rather than the longer, more developed works found on Breath Fire To The Sun and comes closer to the impact-based and heroic tendencies of Ensiferum's Iron. There are even points where the vocals move away from the harsh shouts and groans and incorporates those occasional power metal oriented high notes that Jari employed at a number of key points on said album. The general feel of things is that of an fast paced thrasher with semi-regular blast sections, and it generally plays off the active riff work and battery rhythm section more so with symphonic bombast rather than smaller period folk instrument interludes.

The overall feel of things is a state of constant battle and militarism, and the symphonic gloss feeds into the visual of an hour long film that is almost all war torn scenes with maybe a few brief respites from the carnage. The rule is generally fast and moderately technical fury rides such as "Risen" and "Pantheon Of Forsaken Gods", which have a small number of sectional twists but are generally short and to-the-point. The only places where things veer away from this formula are the few symphonic instrumentals and the longer epic title song "Slayer Of Gods", which functions more as an extended version of what is found in smaller packages on the rest of the album and treated to occasional breaks in the madness in favor of some subdued atmospheric sections. Actually, one of the more interesting offerings on here is the bonus song on the Japanese version "Battle For Pagan Might", which is a bit more of a folksy and heroic speeder after the model of Equilibrium and sounds a bit less dark and grim.

Chalk it up to this reviewer being a bit easy to please, but there isn't really a whole lot to complain about with an album like this if the goal is consistency and fun. Compared to its predecessor, this offering is actually a bit more derivative of its influences and a bit for formulaic and safe. The might be something to be said for the saturation of symphonic-leaning bands using a lot of similar sounding orchestral plug-ins and coming out with something that tends to sound like it was lifted off the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but it definitely gets the job and it's not like every band in Europe can afford to hire the Prague symphony orchestra for their up and coming projects. Brymir is one of those bands that may not be unnecessary to those who only occasionally dabble in the symphonic melodeath/folk thing, but this is a decent album by a band that has all the tools of the trade down.

Later submitted to (The Metal Observer) on March 22, 2017.

What is the point of this band? Do we really need another Ensiferum/Wintersun clone from Finland? I'll admit that Breathe Fire to the Sun had some moments worthy of the epic trappings installed within, but on Slayer of Gods we find Brymir treading water as they stumble from pontification to bombast and back again, coming full circle with all of the tropes typically associated with the style. This album serves as a good example of how to get everything wrong with symphonic melodeath. Riffs that follow the most rote, predicable patterns, and overblown and processed orchestrations that sound more worn out that the oldest sock in your drawer. I truly enjoyed Janne Björkroth's keyboard work with Battle Beast, but here he seems relegated to penning stock symphonic backings that contribute very little to the final product. It's like the recent Hobbit film Battle of Five Armies; everything is coming to a seemingly epic conclusion with lots at stake, but nobody really gives a shit, we've heard this all before.

The band manages to hold proceedings together for one song before dropping the ball, that being "For Those Who Died," which serves the listener a few sticky leads that dig deep enough to explore further. Sadly, Slayer of Gods proceeds to turn into faceless tosh afterward, barely managing to regain traction on "Thus I Became Kronos," and that is track eight by the way. I simply can't get over how useless the riffing is on this record, further neutered by the plastic and overdone production job. Simply the typical staccato-laden gothenthrash that can't get footing with the symphonics hogging the spotlight in such a garish manner. It simply clashes in an unappealing way, exposing Brymir as the assembly-line product they clearly are.

Frosttide this ain't, and I'm having a hard time recommending Slayer of Gods to any fan of the style. To the band's credit, the album is technically competent and consistent in what it delivers. I would recommend checking the two singles out: "For Those Who Died" and "The Rain," wisely chosen to represent the inferior remainder. I wasn't expecting much from this, but I'm still sorely disappointed, which seems par for the course in 2016 so far excluding Whispered, another Finnish melodeath to check out instead of these guys. Sorry Brymir, I can't get behind this one, as there are simply too many other, superior representatives of the style out there.