Event:	Týr - Yorvik Viking Festival
Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	25.02.2012
Galleries:	Týr - York, England, 18th February 2012 by Baz Anderson (14)

The city of York is one of the nicest kept historical places in the north of England. Once a year the Jorvik Viking Festival is held for a week in the city to celebrate its rich Viking heritage. On this Saturday there were plenty of people out in full Viking gear walking the streets, with various stalls and events set out in the city centre. Along with a ship burning, the festival would be closed with a metal show featuring none other than Faroe Islanders Týr headlining.




With a bill of three bands, a young group called Maelstrom opened the show to an already busy and active audience. Barely seeming to be able to play in time together, these guys dressed in shirts and ties for whatever reason provided the audience with a blindingly amateur and rough set of bland folk metal. Still, every band has to start somewhere. Ravenage from Yorkshire took the stage next and thankfully raised the quality from the previous band. Although still by no means a tight and polished performance, these guys at least had the spirit and energy for the occasion, bringing their Ensiferum-style folk metal to the audience. Although with clear room for improvement, Ravenage were still nevertheless somewhat entertaining.


It wasn't a large venue, and it wasn't particularly very light, but the York audience who never get the chance to see a metal show in their own city already seemed satisfied with the opening two bands. It was with much excitement then, that headliners Týr were greeted with upon taking the stage. The York audience were seemingly overjoyed just to experience a show like this without the usually hassle of travelling.


The band played a range of songs from their discography, but focussed especially on the latest two albums. Týr used to incorporate a lot more progressive elements in their music compared to the latest album The Lay Of Thrym especially, and this was particularly obvious in the live environment where old and new songs sit side by side. Frankly, in comparison these latest songs sounded pretty hollow, simple, and actually a little bland. On the flip-side though, songs from the ...Light Of The Northern Star album such as "Hold The Heathen Hammer High" and traditional song "Tróndur í Gøtu" still do shine pretty brightly live.

Still, Týr might be dumbing down their music, but that didn't stop this audience from thoroughly enjoying themselves. Even though the set had its high and low points, there won't have been many leaving the show feeling disappointed. Respect to the Jorvik Viking Festival for being associated with a heavy metal show and providing the city with a real taste of Viking-themed music.