Valkyrja, the seventh full-length album from the Faroe Islands natives, TÝR, will be released on September 17th in North America, and September
13th/16th in Europe/UK. After having unveiled the opening track on the album, the band has launched the second track, “Mare of My Night,” on MetalInsider.net. Stream the song new
HERE.
Vocalist/guitarist Heri Joenson comments: “Mare Of My Night was by far the most difficult song on the album to write, music wise. What I usually do is work on a basic idea, a melody with
a chord progression. I make variations over the basic idea and then I pick out the best variations for the respective parts of the song, verse, chorus etc. For this one I had more variations than
ever before and I made more versions of this song that I’ve ever done before, so it was very difficult to choose. I’m still not sure I made the best possible song, which is not a satisfying
feeling at all. But there you have it.
As for the text, once I went to work on it, it was written in a day or two, in the evenings during studio time. I had the title and the story line long in advance. It’s based on the mare from
folklore, the human-like creature that lies on top of you, riding you, causing bad dreams. As in nightmare, riding like a mare etc. Our anonymous viking, the protagonist of the story, finds in
this song that his earthly woman has gone from being a goddess to being nightmare. It is also the most sexually explicit piece of lyric I have written so far.”
For Valkyrja, TýR collaborated with Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark. Along with Hansen, the band recruited acclaimed
drummer George Kollias to act as studio drummer and Leaves’ Eyes vocalist Liv Kristine joined vocalist/guitarist Heri Joensen for a vocal duet on “The Lay of Our Love.”
The opening track to the album, “Blood of Heroes,” is streaming now at metalblade.com/tyr, where Valkyrja is
also available for pre-order. Limited edition pre-order bundles are available that include TýR rune pendants, t-shirt, vinyl LP, and the CD.
About Valkyjra:
Valkyrja is a concept album with a story line based loosely around an anonymous Viking age warrior who leaves his woman and goes off to impress the Valkyrie on the
battlefield so that she may bring him to Valhalla, or to Fólkvangr, the home of Freyja—the goddess associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, sorcery, war, and death. One can say
the album is also indirectly about women and how they affect men and what men will do to impress and obtain women. Front man and founder Heri Joensen goes on to explain; “the woman that the
warrior leaves may represent the earthly women. Freyja, The Lady Of The Slain, may represent the perfection of Women, and the Valkyrie is the link between the two, taking men from earthly to
godly women.”
TÝR will be on tour September – October with Finntroll in Europe. Dates are available below as well as at facebook.com/tyrband.
TÝR
08/10 Klaksvik, FO Summarfestivalurin
Tour w/ Finntroll
09/06 Haugesund, NO Byscenen
09/08 Aarhus, DK Voxhall
09/09 Hamburg, DE Markthalle
09/10 Nürnberg. DE Hirsch
09/11 Wroclaw, PL Alibi
09/12 Krakow, PL Kwadrat
09/13 Budapest, HU Club 202
09/14 Brasov, RO Rockstadt
09/15 Bukarest, RO Silver Church
09/17 Zagreb, HRV Mochvara
09/18 Wien, AT Szene
09/19 Prag, CZ Nova Chmelnice
09/21 Bochum, DE Matrix
09/22 Augsburg, DE Kantine
09/23 Wörgl, AT Komma
09/24 Milano, IT R’n’R Arena
09/25 Pratteln, CH Z7
09/26 Aschaffenburg, DE Colos-Saal
09/27 Speyer, DE Halle 101
09/28 Jena, DE F-Haus
09/29 Brugge, BE Factor
09/30 Norwich, UK Waterfront
10/01 Glasgow, UK Classic Grand
10/02 Manchester, UK NQ Live
10/03 Dublin, IE The Pint
10/04 Bilston, UK Robin 2
10/05 London, UK The Garage
10/06 Lille, FR Le Splendid
10/08 Strasbourg, FR La Laiterie
10/09 Lyon, FR La Salle Du Kao
10/10 Geneve, CH L’Usine
10/11 Istres, FR L’Usine
10/12 Skien, NO 1001 Watt Festival * Headlining
10/13 Madrid, ES Rockkitchen/ Caracol
10/14 Toulouse, FR Le Bikini
Keep up to date with TÝR at the following locations:
http://www.tyr.fo/
https://www.facebook.com/tyrband