Year: 2021
Total Time: 49.36
Label: Despotz Records
Starting this review I would like to clarify that THYRFING is my favorite band in the musical (sub) idiom of Viking/Black Metal and their album “De ödeslösa” of 2013, the best in this style! Do not rush to mention names like ENSLAVED because I can’t tolerate the turn they made in Progressive forms…. THYRFING has been around since 1995 and “Vanagandr” is just their eighth album, eight whole years after “De ödeslösa»!
The recipe remains the same. Harsh Black Metal vocals in Swedish (their mother language), by the awesome Jens Ryden (old favorite singer of NAGLFAR), who in places uses clear vocals, grunts, chants. In addition, we have epic melodies in the synths (with many different sounds from samples of traditional instruments), amazing riffs and sharp guitars in the classic Viking style by Patrik Lindgren, the leader and founder of the band. The whole album is of high level and the group, although its average age is close to 45 years, sounds fresh and aggressive. There is not a single song that stands behind, however I’d like to single out “Döp Dem I Eld”, “Rötter”, and the incredible epic one “Håg Och Minne”! It will remind you of BATHORY (at their great epic moments), EREB ALTOR, KING OF ASGARD, but I will insist…it THYRFING is a category by themselves!
They have nothing to prove to anyone. They declare that they are the ones we met in the beginning and will remain loyal to their fans! I’m not sure if “Vanagandr” reaches the inconceivable heights of “De ödeslösa” but it is definitely very close. I highly recommend this album to any fan of the genre who wants to hear authentic Viking/Black Metal and not experimental stuff….
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Dimitris Argyrakis
Related Link: THYRFING – Official Page
