Finally, “How Far to Asgaard” gets released on vinyl, Týr’s mighty debut album! Týr have become a well-known band in the metal community all over the world with their later albums and lots of touring across Europe. “Eric The Red” and “Ragnarok” are often hailed as masterpieces, rightfully we would say, but the band’s debut album “How Far To Asgard” is largely neglected and overlooked. This is a shame in our opinion because, while not yet playing their completely own brand of progressive Viking Metal, Týr already knew how to craft some well-written and well-played songs back in 2002. There are not as many progressive elements on “How Far to Asgaard” as the band will incorporate in the future, the song structures are generally a bit simpler. What we get on “How Far to Asgaard” is closer to traditional eighties epic/doom metal; most of the music is mid-tempo. But Týr did not just pay homage to their favorite bands on “How Far to Asgaard”; beginning with the lyrics they tried to incorporate lots of Faroese tradition and folklore, the lyrics mostly deal with Norse mythology. Of course, “How Far to Asgaard” also has influences from Faroese folk music, foremost in regard of melodies, but these are not as common as they would be on Týr’s following albums. A noteworthy song is the album’s opener “Hail to the Hammer”, which is simple, catchy and has a great sing-along chorus and is really awesome when played live, maybe Týr’s first hitsong so to say. All in all, “How Far to Asgaard” is an album every fan of Týr should listen to, although it should not be compared with the band’s later outputs too much, “How Far to Asgaard” is well worth hearing. Tracklist: 1. Hail to the Hammer2. Excavation3. The Rune4. Ten Wild Dogs5. God of War6. Sand in the Wind7. Ormurin Langi8. How Far to Asgaard9. Ólavur Riddararós10. Stýrisvølurin
