Týr

Live at The House of Blues

Hollywood, California

March 1st, 2014

Review and Photos by Travis Baumann

Týr come by way of the Faroe Islands between Iceland and Norway. They play a breed of Melodic Metal that is heavily influenced by mythology and folklore of their native region.

On this occasion they are touring in support of their latest release, "Valkyra". They are the opening act of the Children of Bodom tour, also featuring Death Angel.

Being relegated to opener, they would have a limited set as expected but unfortunately on this outing, they also got jammed to the absolute edge of stage due the amount of stuff that the headlining act had set up.

The band was literally right at stage edge with the guitar, bass, singer, and drums all in a line which seemed a bit off balance stage-wise having the entire drum kit setup at the far right while the three guys on strings were all lumped together to the left.

Týr, being the consummate professionals that they are, didn't let it effect their attitude or performance however, and came out to give a great showing of force.

They opened the set with one of their long-time anthems, and a personal favorite of mine, "Hold the Heathen Hammer High" .

Despite the other bands on the banner being quite a bit heavier, and a different direction for the most part lyrically, the audience was filled with Týr fans and the first song went over like the proverbial hammer over the head.

Up next, they opted for one of their newer songs, but none the less of an anthem, soon to be renowned. "Blood of Heros" tells the tale of the warriors on the field of battle and whether they will be amongst the fallen or counting themselves lucky to not be in that number.

"Mare of My Night" is one of their catchy tunes off of the latest album and spins a yarn of the Scandinavian version of a Succubus coming to torment the teller during his nights.

They continued with a song about the title character of the latest album, "Lady of the Slain" which speaks of the "Valkyra" collecting the souls of the fallen heros and taking them to the Hall of the Slain where they are greeted by their previously departed brethren and sit with the All Father.

And here is the saddest part of the night, with the next song, their set is up! They did "Shadow of the Swastika" for their final number. It is a great song detailing the legacy of the Nazi Reich upon Europe and how that still holds over to this day. It asks the not so simple question of "How long will it last? This legacy of the past.."

Týr rank up there with my favorite bands of all time and I wear their apparel full of pride and love seeing their shows.

Once again they put on a moving experience and it was worth coming out to the show even though they had such a short set. I wanted to see them more than the other bands on the bill but at least this gave them an opportunity to play new material to a potentially new audience.

Click the banner above