Battle Ballads

I have been a fan of Faroese progressive folk metal band Týr for more than a decade and a half, have reviewed all of the band's records and have attended two of the band's concerts. The reason why I have taken several weeks to let the band's new record Battle Ballads sink in is because the quartet has disappointed me for the first time in its career. I wanted to give the album the opportunity to grow on me but it hasn't. Let me tell you precisely what the problems are.

Let's start on a positive note however. There are many wonderful things that deserve to be mentioned regarding this record. The cover artwork is colourful, detailed and memorable as it would make for wonderful patch, poster and shirt designs. This record was already sold to faithful fans on the group's most recent tour, thus giving supporters the occasion to listen to this album several weeks before its official release. The record doesn't rehash any ideas from its immediate predecessor, progressive folk metal output Hel with its thirteen songs and total running time of seventy minutes. Battle Ballads instead offers only ten songs with a total running time of forty-one minutes. The album's production is decent as each instrument is vibrantly audible and the vocals are delivered with oomph. As you can read, Battle Ballads certainly isn't an abysmal effort and not even a mediocre one.

However, it's not only below average in the band's massive discography but also the worst regular studio album the quartet has ever officially released. The main issue is the lacklustre songwriting. Battle Ballads offers one-dimensional heavy metal with conservative song structures and tame lengths revolving around the four-minute mark. Gone are the group's atmospheric epics that would allow listeners to dream themselves far away. Gone are the gloomy doom metal sections that defined the band's early years. Gone are the quartet's progressive ideas taking risks and surprising listeners time and again. Instead we get an uninspired, harmless and forgettable opener such as "Hammered" or a boring, exchangeable and unimpressive three-minute heavy-metal-by-the-numbers tune such as "Unwandered Ways". Title track "Battle Ballad" blends in fittingly as the song rushes by without leaving any lasting impression at all. It's neither positive nor negative, it really just is forgettable, that's all. Even closing epic "Causa Latronum Normannorum" that sounded promising on paper fails to deliver the goods in comparison to the band's previous closing epics and simply goes nowhere in six plodding minutes.

A few great songs can however be found on Battle Ballads. "Dragons Never Die" is catchy, energetic and melodic as it qualifies for the record's greatest single candidate and the song also works pleasantly in concert. "Torkils døtur" is a heartfelt folkloristic power ballad that oozes with atmosphere and evokes almost cinematic images upon listeners' minds. Such songs manage to compete with the band's greatest tracks and represent what most fans of old date are craving for.

At the end of the day, Týr's Battle Ballads is a good folk metal output in general but a below average effort for this wonderful band. This record might satisfy fans of traditional heavy metal dealing with folkloristic lyrics but Battle Ballads overall lacks the courage, grandeur and innovation that made this band stand out throughout its career. I would thus recommend Týr's Battle Ballads to faithful collectors and fans of old date only. Occasional or new fans can easily skip this release. If you want to listen to an album to start your discovery of the group, then previous output Hel is going to be your best choice because it unites elements of the past and the present on a high level. The upcoming compilation The Best of the Napalm Years is only a lazy cash grab by a former label that you shouldn't invest in.