''Tyr'' () (stylized as ᛏᛉᚱ) is the fifteenth studio album by English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, released in August 1990 by I.R.S. Records. The album title, and several song titles, allude to

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, which led many to call ''Tyr'' a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, although bassist Neil Murray dispelled that in 2005, stating that while many of the songs may seem loosely related, very little of the album has to do with mythology and it was not intended to be a concept recording.

Album information

The album's departure from the darker lyrics of '' Headless Cross'' was discussed by

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi () (born 19 February 1948) is a British musician. He co-founded the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader and primary composer and sole continuous member for nearly five decades. I ...

in his 2012 autobiography ''Iron Man'': "For our next album, ''Tyr'', we went back to the Woodcray Studios in February 1990, with me and Cozy producing it again. On ''Headless Cross'', Tony artinhad just come into the band and he assumed, oh, Black Sabbath, it's all about the Devil, so his lyrics were full of the Devil and Satan. It was too much in your face. We told him to be a bit more subtle about it, so for ''Tyr'' he did all these lyrics about Nordic gods and whatnot. It took me a while to get my head around that." This album represents possibly the most dramatic departure from Black Sabbath's traditional sound, with only traces of it found in the occasional riff. The production has been criticised by some (who claim

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, ...

's drums drown out most of the other instruments) and praised by others, who note that this is one of Sabbath's heaviest albums and perhaps the most prominently reliant on keyboards by the perennial fifth member,

Geoff Nicholls Geoffrey James Nicholls (29 February 1944 – 28 January 2017) was a British guitarist and keyboardist, and longtime member of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath until 2004. Nicholls also played in the NWOBHM band Quartz before joining Black Sa ...

. The band have stated that while they do not disown or regret the song "Feels Good to Me", it was put on the album solely to be released as a single and does not fit in musically with the rest of the record.

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is a English musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heaven & Hell ...

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

and

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

made guest appearances on the European leg of the Tyr tour; Butler and May appearing during the encore of the show performed on 8 September 1990 at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

in London. In Norse mythology,

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, ...

is the god of single combat and heroic glory, and the son of

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

. The

runes Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...

on the cover,

ᛏ The ''t''-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz. Tiwaz rune was an ideographic symbol for a spear. Rune poems Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems. In the I ...

, ᛉ, and ᚱ are taken from the

Rök runestone The Rök runestone ( sv, Rökstenen; Ög 136) is one of the most famous runestones, featuring the longest known runic inscription in stone. It can now be seen beside the church in Rök, Ödeshög Municipality, Östergötland, Sweden. It is cons ...

in Sweden. The middle rune,

algiz Algiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "''z''-rune" of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is ''z'', understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal ''*z'' continuing Proto-Indo-Europ ...

, is transcribed as the modern letter ''x'' or ''z'', not ''y''.

Legacy

The only track to feature on post-''Tyr'' tours was "Anno Mundi", e.g. on the ''

Cross Purposes Live ''Cross Purposes Live'' is a boxed set released by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath in March 1995. The set comprised a live album on CD and a VHS tape of a concert recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Wednesday 13 April ...

'' VHS/DVD. Tony Martin re-recorded "Jerusalem" for his 1992 solo album '' Back Where I Belong''. The Black Sabbath line-up that recorded ''Tyr'' would reunite to record their eighteenth studio album, '' Forbidden'', in 1995. Frontman

Heri Joensen Heri Joensen (; born 21 February 1973) is a Faroese musician, notable for being the vocalist for the heavy metal band Týr. Heri was born in the Faroe Islands capital of Tórshavn which has had an influence on his song writing. As well as Týr, ...

Viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...

band

claims to have been influenced by the album cover when designing his own band's logo.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead, rhythm &

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s, production *

– drums, percussion, production * Tony Martin – lead & backing vocals * Neil Murray – bass *

– keyboards

Additional personnel

* Sean Lynch –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Leif Mases – mixing * Tony Cousins – mastering

Release history

1990: ''IRS EIRSA-1038'', UK, vinyl
1990: ''IRS EIRSACV1038'', UK, picture disc
1990: ''IRS 1C-064-24-1070-1'', EU, vinyl
1990: ''IRS 24-1070-2'', UK / EU, CD
1990: ''IRS X2-13049'', US, CD
1999: ''EMI 07243-5-21298-2-9'', EU, CD

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyr (Album) 1990 albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios Black Sabbath albums I.R.S. Records albums Norse mythology in music