TÝR To Kick Off US Tour Later This Week

Faroe Islands-based folk metal collective TÝR will return to North American stages on the second leg of the Battle Ballads tour! The journey will commence on February 13th in Brooklyn, New York and close on March 5th in Joliet, Illinois. Additional support will be provided again by Æther Realm.

Comments TÝR vocalist/guitarist Heri Joensen, “If it were only up to us, the band, we’d play for you all, everywhere, in a heartbeat, if only we could. On our last North American run, we got a lot of requests about playing in this and that city that was not on our route. We’re very happy that this time we get to do a second round visiting a lot of those cities that our dear fans requested. Get your tickets early. It would be a shame if we miss you. And since the VIP upgrade experience went down well last time, we decided to do it again, so we can hang out together and play an acoustic show for you.”

Tickets are on sale now at https://tyr.fo/shows. See all confirmed dates below.

TÝR w/ Æther Realm:
2/13/2025 Brooklyn Monarch – Brooklyn, NY
2/14/2025 Broken Goblet – Bensalem, PA
2/15/2025 Hooligans – Jacksonville, NC
2/16/2025 The Orpheum – Tampa, FL
2/18/2025 Southport Hall – New Orleans, LA
2/19/2025 House Of Rock – Corpus Christi, TX
2/20/2025 89th Street Collective – Oklahoma City, OK
2/21/2025 Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
2/22/2025 The Marquis – Denver, CO
2/26/2025 Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA
2/27/2025 Whisky-A-Go-Go – West Hollywood, CA
2/28/2025 Goldfield Trading Post – Roseville, CA
3/01/2025 Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT
3/02/2025 The Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO
3/03/2025 The Granada – Lawrence, KS
3/04/2025 Amsterdam Bar & Hall – St. Paul, MN
3/05/2025 The Forge – Joliet, IL

Battle Ballads, TÝR‘s outstanding ninth full-length studio album, was released last April on Metal Blade Records.

When TÝR teamed up with the Symphony Orchestra of the Faroe Islands on February 8th, 2020, to record the double-disc/DVD release A Night At The Nordic House, founding frontman Heri Joensen was thrilled to bring together two of the music forms he loves most – folk and classical – into his band’s unorthodox form of music. But at the time, he couldn’t have imagined what a profound impact the collaboration would have on his musical vision, and how much it would influence and inform the album he would write a few years later.

“There’s a reason classical music is called classical,” Joensen says. “It’s the classical way of doing it. And it creates these epic sounds that fit in perfectly with the kind of metal we do in TÝR. So, there’s full orchestration on all of the new songs.”

The follow-up to the band’s 2019’s powerful progressive folk metal album Hel, the new Battle Ballads is aptly named – a crushing, soaring, batch of classical embellished songs that conjure images of galloping steeds, clashing swords, and hard-fought victories. And, as if it needs to be stated, the title Battle Ballads has nothing in common with the lighter-raising songs so prevalent in the 1980s.

“There are definitely two versions of a ballad,” clarifies Joensen. “A lot of people think of hair metal, when they think of ballads. We are looking at ballads here in the Medieval sense. Apart from a couple of softer parts on the album, this is very much straight heavy metal with some folk and classical influences. I’m not sure what exactly one would call it – power metal, Viking metal, folk metal. It still fits in very much with what we do, only it feels bigger and more like these big soundscapes.”

As much as TÝR would have liked to write, rehearse, and record with a symphony, schedule conflicts made it impossible to have the band and classical musicians to be in the same place at the same time. So the band did the next best thing. With Joensen at the helm, they wrote ten thunderous songs for Battle Ballads, then the bandleader sent the compositions to a Danish colleague Lars Winther living in England, who added the orchestral samples, paying close attention to the tone and tempo of the songs so the violins, violas, cellos, woodwinds, and horns complimented the traditional rock instruments. When the samples were all in place, the album sounded impressive, but the tones weren’t perfectly blended. So, TÝR sent the album to veteran producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, The Black Dahlia Murder, Amaranthe) in Denmark to put together the final mix.

There’s no escaping the masterful blend of melody and savagery on Battle Ballads. The opening track “Hammered” funnels infectious riffs and searing licks through a variety of rhythm and tempo changes, “Unwandered Ways” is a triumphant, upbeat blend of vocal harmonies, joyous folk hooks, and dense, driving guitars, and features a solo break that demonstrate guitarist Hans Hammer’s acrobatic ability to shred. And “Battle Ballad” is a trample to the abyss, fueled by hammering beats, fleet-fingered guitars, orchestral swell and chugging guitar breaks.

Battle Ballads features the stunning artwork of Gyula Havancsak and is available on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:

Battle Ballads Track Listing:
01. Hammered
02. Unwandered Ways
03. Dragons Never Die
04. Row
05. Torkils Døtur
06. Vælkomnir Føroyingar
07. Hangman
08. Axes
09. Battle Ballad
10. Causa Latronum Normannorum

Sea Blue Smoke (US)
Maroon Marbled (EU – Ltd. 800)
180g Black (EU – Ltd. 500)
Thunderous Sky Blue Marbled (EU – Ltd. 300)
Teal Green Melt With Red Splatter (EU – Ltd. 200)
Flame Splattered (EU – Ltd. 200)