Týr () is a Faroese

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band. They have been characterised as one of "the islands' two most successful metal bands". Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

lore,

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, and history, taking their name from

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

, the god of war in Norse religion.

History

Before Týr, Heri Joensen and Gunnar H. Thomsen formed their first band, Cruiser, at the age of 17. Streymoy also played with them for a short while. They later changed their name to Wolfgang. Although neither band released any albums, Wolfgang, who are still active, recorded an undisclosed number of songs that, according to Joensen, are "pretty much ready to release". Týr formed in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark in 1998. Heri Joensen met his old bandmate, Kári Streymoy, at a party in January in Copenhagen. Joensen suggested to Streymoy that they should meet up and jam. Streymoy initially declined, but later took him up on his offer. They were soon joined by another former bandmate, bassist Gunnar H. Thomsen, expanding the duo into a trio. In 2001, guitarist Terji Skibenæs joined the band. They signed a worldwide deal with Austria's

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach a ...

in early 2006, while signed to the Faroese record label Tutl. In September 2012, they signed a three-album deal with Metal Blade Records. They began making music which was heavily inspired by

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 as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

kvæði Kvæði are the old ballads of the Faroe Islands, accompanied by the Faroese chain dance. They typically recite stories and can have hundreds of stanzas plus a refrain, chorus sung between every verse. History It is generally thought that Fa ...

(Faroese traditional music), and

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

in general. According to the band's frontman Heri Joensen: Accordingly, scholarship has found that the band's lyrics and imagery promote pan-Nordic ideologies, and draw on well established, transnational genre conventions from metal music; but has also suggested that the band's insistence on their Faroese identity, which has been fetishised by international audiences, could be "regarded as a form of self-exoticisation". The band's handling of traditional songs is characterised by fidelity to traditional melodies, but more complex and innovative handling of associated

chord progressions In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chord (music), chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tr ...

and harmonies. The band has been accused of promoting

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

ideologies through their use of runes and other imagery appropriated by Nazis. The band responded to these accusations with the song "Shadow of the

Swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

" on the album ''Lay of Thrym'' (2011), which in the assessment of Karl Spracklen, "attacks the far-right for appropriating...heathen symbols and images associated with pre-Christian northern Europe". Even so, scholars have, in the words of Catherine Hoad and Samuel Whiting, suggested that "through imagining the Viking as an ancestral, genetic category, the 'common past' of the Nordic people is constructed as a self-identity apart from other people" in the work of Týr. Likewise, Spracklen finds that "the themes in Týr's songs celebrate

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

identity, Viking identity and the

hegemonic masculinity In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of Raewyn Connell, R. W. Connell's Gender theory, gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is d ...

of the Viking warrior combined with the modern-day heavy metal anthem of being an individual". The band released the song "Rainbow Warrior", a song about the

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...

in response to their campaign against whaling in the Faroe Islands. Joensen defended the whaling in a debate with Paul Watson.

Tours

Týr performed at the Ragnarök Festival in 2007 and 2009. They were part of the Paganfest tour in Europe and the U.S. in 2008, with

Ensiferum Ensiferum (Latin: , n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal". History Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002) ''Ensiferum'' was foun ...

headlining. Other bands on the tour included

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scient ...

, Turisas in the United States, and Moonsorrow and

Korpiklaani Korpiklaani (Finnish language, Finnish for ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani st ...

joined them on the European part of the tour. In 2009, the band also took part in the "Black Sails over Europe" tour, supporting Alestorm, who were promoting their album '' Black Sails at Midnight''. Later, in 2010, the band would support Amon Amarth and

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (, , , ) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miraculous healing powers, sometimes providing eternal youth or sustenanc ...

on Amon Amarth's North American tour for select dates. In January 2011 and 2013, Týr played on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise ship event with 40 other bands. In 2012, the band supported

on their "Manala" tour in the U.S. and Canada along with Metsatöll and Moonsorrow. During April 2013, Týr joined

, Heidevolk and others for the North American leg of the Paganfest tour. The band took part in a European tour between 6 September and 14 October 2013 with Finnish folk metal band Finntroll and Icelandic band Skálmöld. The tour was called "Blodsvept over Europe".

Recent years

Singer Pól Arni Holm and guitarist Jón Joensen (Heri Joensen's brother) were part of the band while they recorded ''How Far to Asgaard'' but left soon after its release. Terji Skibenæs joined after Jón Joensen had left the band. Allan Streymoy (Kári Streymoy's brother) took over singing duties for a brief time during which they released the single "Ólavur Riddararós". After Allan left, Heri Joensen took over the vocals. It was this line up which recorded ''Eric the Red''. Skibenæs left the band for a while after the release of ''Eric the Red''. The band played as a trio for some time. In the summer of 2004 they were joined by Icelandic guitarist Ottó P. Arnarson for a very brief time. When Arnarson left, Skibenæs came back. Kári Streymoy had a back injury in January 2008, which made him unable to tour until October the same year. Amon Djurhuus, a Faeroese drummer and student of Kári Streymoy, played the drums on the European part of the Paganfest, Merlin Sutter from Eluveitie filled for him on the US part and Daniel Ryan from Gigan on the Canadian part. After that for the festival tour in Europe Amon Djurhuus filled for Kári again. In October 2008 Kári Streymoy was ready to go again for the Ragnarök's Aaskereia Festival Tour. Týr announced on 12 May 2013 via their official website as well as their

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and

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

pages that they had parted ways with longtime drummer Kári Streymoy, owing to the back injury he had received in 2008 which had affected his drumming. On 15 May 2013, they announced that George Kollias will record drums for their seventh album ''Valkyrja''. Amon Djurhuus enters temporarily in the band, once again, for the tour with Finntroll between September and October 2013. In August 2018, after 17 years with the band, Terji Skibenæs announced his departure, stating "There's no drama or anything going on between me and the others. It's just me not having any joy to play the music in the style of TÝR anymore. I want to thank Heri Joensen and Gunnar Thomsen for the all the time we had and I wish TÝR all the best in the future." The opening left by Skibenæs' exit was filled by former

Nevermore Nevermore is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band was formed after three of its members — vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Jeff Loomis — ended their prev ...

and

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius in the late 1st century AD, though the manuscript tradition identifi ...

guitarist Attila Vörös. In June 2021, it was announced that Hans Hammer would be Attila Vörös' replacement.

Side projects

Current Týr lead singer, Heri Joensen, is working on a side project with the band Heljareyga. They released their self-titled debut album in 2010. All lyrics on the album are in Faroese. It was released first as a download on 12 February 2010 at digital retailers, but CD copies came later available at Tutl Records. Heri also had the side project 'Surma' with Czech singer Viktorie Surmová. Their first and only album, ''The Light Within'', was released on 1 November 2020. Hans Hammer in addition to releasing solo tracks has his own band named Asyllex.

Band members

Current members

* Heri Joensen – guitars, lead vocals (1998–present) * Gunnar H. Thomsen – bass, backing vocals (1998–present) * Tadeusz Rieckmann – drums (2016–present) * Hans Hammer – guitars (2021–present)

Former members

* Jón Joensen – guitars, lead vocals (1998–2000) * Pól Arni Holm – lead vocals (1998–2002) * Allan Streymoy – lead vocals (2002) * Ottó P. Arnarson – guitars (2004) * Kári Streymoy – drums (1998–2013) * Amon Djurhuus – drums (2014–2016) * Terji Skibenæs – guitars, backing vocals (2001–2018) * Attila Vörös – guitars (2018–2020)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

* '' How Far to Asgaard'' (2002) * '' Eric the Red'' (2003) * '' Ragnarok'' (2006) * ''

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

'' (2008) * '' By the Light of the Northern Star'' (2009) * '' The Lay of Thrym'' (2011) * '' Valkyrja'' (2013) * '' Hel'' (2019) * '' Battle Ballads'' (2024)

EPs/demos/singles

* ''Demo'' (2000) * '' Ólavur Riddararós'' (2002)

Compilation albums

* ''Tutl 25 ár – Live 2002'' (contributed "Sand in the Wind") (2002, live) * ''The Realm of Napalm Records'' (CD/DVD) (on DVD, track No. 17 "Regin Smiður" and No. 18 "Hail to the Hammer"; on CD, track No. 13 "Regin Smiður") (2006) * ''Black Sails Over Europe'' (2009, split album with Alestorm and Heidevolk) * ''The Best of the Napalm Years'' (2024)

Live albums

* ''A Night at the Nordic House'' (2022)

Videos

* "Hail to the Hammer" (2002) * "Ormurin Langi" (2002) * "Regin Smiður" (2003) * "Sinklars Vísa" (2008) * "Hold the Heathen Hammer High" (2009) * "Flames of the Free" (2011) * "Blood of Heroes" (2013) * "The Lay of Our Love" (2014) * "Sunset Shore" (2019) * "Ragnars Kvæði" (2019) * "Axes" (2024) * "Hammered" (2024) * "Dragons Never Die" (2024)

References

External links

Official website
*
Týr
at

Týr
at Last.fm
Terji Skibenæs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyr 1998 establishments in the Faroe Islands Faroese heavy metal musical groups Folk metal musical groups Metal Blade Records artists Napalm Records artists Musical groups established in 1998 Musical quartets Progressive metal musical groups Viking metal musical groups