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Thyrfing: Hels vite

17/10/08 || theProphet

I first discovered Thyrfing through one of those CD’s that the label sends you containing a bunch of songs by different artists of the concerned label. Anyways, in this case the label was Regain Records and the song I heard by Thyrfing was “Höst” from their 2005 release “Farsotstider”. Thinking that the song was pretty awesome I actually bought the entire fucking album, and to everybody’s surprise, not every other song on it were as good.

Still, it had a few great tracks and as I invested more time into it I gradually came to appreciate it as a really solid album, I even counted it as one of my favourites for a while. One of the reasons I enjoyed “Farsotstider” so much was the vocals of Thomas Väänänen. He had an incredible harsh, desperate scream which suited the music perfectly. I was dismayed then, to learn that Thomas left the band sometime in 2006. However, as the replacement was announced as none other than Jens Rydén of ex-Naglfar fame, my hopes started to rise again, like a penis in a cunt market. I had my concerns though, I couldn’t really see Rydén doing Swedish vocals and therefore I thought that the band would regress to writing more lyrics in English, one of the things that made Thyrfing’s earlier albums less enjoyable than “Farsotstider”.

And would you believe it, cause there’s two songs in English on “Hels Vite”. And Rydén’s vocals work not as well with Thyrfing’s sound as his predecessor’s. Hell, know that I don’t use the moniker “Prophet” for nothing! Even as a whole “Hels Vite” strikes me as less interesting than the so much mentioned earlier album that I like, that album managed to convey a certain feeling of darkness and despair, a feeling that is not found on “Hels Vite”. Instead we get some formulaic black/folk riffs and some acoustic guitars to retain that authentic feeling of medieval times among all the electric guitars, amps and synthezisers.

Don’t get me wrong though, because as big a disappointment as this is, it is still a very decent album, and I’m not ever really pained or bored while listening to it. I might grow to like this more after repeated listens, like with “Farsotstider”, but somehow I doubt that I’ll like it as much. On “Farsors tider” there were a couple of instant hits that rattled my spunk-junk at first listen and I don’t find any of those here. “Griftefrid” comes pretty close with its nice choir arrangements and groovy riffs, as well as the Primordial-sounding opener, “En sista litania”.

Those of you who drink mead rather than beer and carries a broad axe rather than a Glock should check this out though. After all, Thyrfing is one of the few folk or “viking” metal bands that doesn’t come off sounding like nerdy LARP enthusiasts, the already mentioned Primordial also comes to mind, and I imagine Enslaved (the black/folk/“viking” element, not the progressive) gets a passing grade here as well, though I can’t say for sure as I really never checked them out properly. Anyways, “Hels Vite” is a much less than stellar album and therefore I give it:

6,5 mead barrels out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Regain Records
Website: www.thyrfing.com
Band
Jens Rydén: vocals
Patrik Lindgren: guitars
Peter Löf: keyboards
Kimmy Sjölund: bass
Joakim Kristensson: drums

Tracklist
01. En sista litania
02. Från stormens öga
03. Isolation
04. Hels vite
05. Griftefrid
06. Becoming the Eye
07. Tre vintrar – två solar

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