[Photo credit: Jørgen Freim]
Welcome back to the family, EINHERJER! Napalm Records is proud to announce that the Norwegian Viking Metal legends return after 23 years and the release of Dragons Of The North in 1996!
Napalm Records A&R Sebastian Muench comments:
“In 1996 Napalm Records released what today can clearly be described as one of the best Viking / Pagan Metal albums ever written, Dragons of the North. 23 years later it is a pleasure to announce the re-signing of EINHERJER. Welcome back to the Napalm Records family and together we can create yet another masterpiece!“
Frode “Grimar“ Glesnes on the signing:
“We’re thrilled to announce that we have signed a worldwide deal with Napalm Records. We’re currently writing the follow-up to 2018’s Norrøne Spor and I can’t wait to see what a powerful entity such as Napalm Records can make out of our Norse Heavy Metal.”
Get your dose of Norse Heavy Metal and watch Mine Våpen Mine Ord HERE:
Einherjer was formed by Frode Glesnes and Gerhard Storesund in 1993 and became one of the leading Viking/Pagan metal bands by releasing genre classics as Dragons Of The North, Blot and Norrøne Spor.
After 23 years the reunion has finally come and EINHERJER re-signs to Napalm Records with both founding members, Frode “Grimar“ Glesnes and Gerhard “Ulvar“ Storesund. Aksel Herløe and lead guitarist Ole Sønstabø complete the band.
EINHERJER are:
Frode “Grimar“ Glesnes – Vocals, Guitar, Bass
Gerhard “Ulvar“ Storesund – Drums, Keyboard
Aksel Herløe – Guitar
Ole Sønstabø – Lead Guitar
For more info on EINHERJER visit:
]]>TýR did it again, the opening track sets the high standard for the entire album. ‘Gates Of Hel’ has great guitar riddles, the rasping voice of Heri combined with the clean gang singing marks their style. The catchy refrain finishes it. The songs are packed with neoclassical guitar solos and Maiden licks. Two songs sound very etnic and are tracks in their native language. It is traditional folk all the way in ‘Ragnars kvæði’ and ‘Álvur kongur’, these two songs are the softest ones. Other tracks like ‘Garmr’ and ‘Downhill Drunk’ are more uptempo and for the sing a long fans a track like ‘Far From The Worries Of The World’ is grist to the mill. In ‘Empire of the North’ the tempo increases half way to speed metal intensity. The catchy melodies throughout the album see to it that there isn’t a moment you get tired of this style.
Fans of the band know what to expect, a combination of power metal, viking metal and folky elements in a catchy package.
]]>Once the first (instrumental) track is over I start to hear elements of Children Of Bodom, Eternal Tears Of Sorrow and Sabaton, especially in the way heaviness is merged with melody. In fact, apart from the lyrics and some melodies, there’s not much here that I’d solidly place in the ‘Folk Metal’ category.
The sound is a bit overpolished for my taste. I get the nagging suspicion that the album was designed for a live delivery and this, at least in part, would explain the music’s immediacy. There’s some excellent material here and the epic ‘Revenge’ and ‘Allah’s Tagides’ are perfect examples of this.
So “Thirteen” has got me interested in Gwydion but I’m still reluctant to fully embrace the band. The quality of the keyboards didn’t impress me too much and I get the impression that “Thirteen” lacks a strong identity in a genre where musical identity is quite important.
Fans of Tyr, Alestorm, Sabaton….this one’s for you.
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