(written by Islander)
For people of a certain age and living in a certain time, melodic death metal opened a magical musical portal. Principally originating in Sweden, it eventually led enormous numbers of listeners around the globe (including this writer) into new worlds. Other portals forged of metal were opening at the same time, and many others have opened since then, but thanks to bands like the Danish group Vanir, this one has remained open.
Vanir have been musically exploring other worlds (often mythic ones) since 2010, with a discography that has come to include seven albums, and their eighth one — Wyrd — will be released in just a couple of days by Mighty Music. As the label describes, “The record revolves around the timeless theme of fate – spun from war, from the choices of humankind, and from the consequences that have shaped our world”, and it “invites the listener into stories of downfall and triumph, of lives lost and victories won.”
What we bring you today is the chance to hear Wyrd in its entirety.
In their new album Vanir haven’t completely pivoted away from their long-standing interest in myth, but they’ve also drawn on documented histories to develop their theme of “humanity’s struggle with power, destiny, and the eternal conflicts over survival and dominion”. Both the album’s cover art and its lead single “Never Surrender” demonstrate that historical interest.
The cover art (created by David Troest) depicts the Winged Hussar in the 1683 Battle of Vienna, in which the Polish cavalry forced the army of the Ottoman Empire to retreat, and “Never Surrender” focuses on that same clash of civilizations, told through the eyes of the warriors who defended Vienna.
The song combines feverish riffing, flashing guitar-leads, and soaring symphonic keys to create the soundtrack to an epic conflict. The music generates experiences of tension and turmoil as the words come through in savage growls and fierce screams. The song also thunders and jolts, but the melodies are also haunting, seeming to channel fears that the outcome is in doubt and success is not assured.
For the song “Boudica”, Vanir drew on another history, one documented by Roman writers. It tells the tale of the legendary warrior queen who led an uprising in Britannia against the forces of the Roman Empire. As their label explains, “‘Boudica‘ is a battle hymn of resistance and empowerment,” and “resonates as an anthem of women’s strength and the fight against oppression across the ages”.
This song begins in a way that contrasts sharply with the battle anthem of “Never Surrender“, opening softly with moody acoustic guitars and melancholy strings. The sound gradually swells and momentously pounds until the song becomes both more fiercely combative and more vast in its sweep — expanding into its own anthem (augmented by a heroic guitar solo), though without completely forsaking the aura of tragedy.
Vanir do continue venturing into realms of myth, and so “Helgrinidir“, another of the pre-release singles, opens the gates to Hel’s underworld. Yet like other songs on the album, Vanir use the setting as a way to comment on humanity’s own very real perils and proclivities. This song (sung in Danish) is described as “a dark homage to humanity’s eternal struggle against disease – a war fought across the ages, whether plague, cholera, or countless other afflictions.”
In line with that theme, this is a musically dark song. Its scale is still sweeping, the vocals still ravaging, and the drums still skull-cracking, but the music channels distress and desperation, in both the jolting pulse of the riffing and the widescreen symphonic flows overhead.
Wyrd includes six more songs beyond these three, starting with the ferocious spectacle of “Against the Storm” and concluding with “Nine“. Those other six songs vary in mood and intensity, depending on where you are, leading listeners on a journey that often scales to stunning heights of pulse-pounding intensity but also descends into valleys of severe turmoil and near-hopeless distress.
Vanir cause the music to slug hard and to blaze like the sun, but they also musically put listeners backs to the walls under trying circumstances (even the apocalyptic spoken-word intro to the tremendously hard-hitting “Da Lammet Brød det 6. Segl” does that) — yet often in those circumstances, the music comes across like urgent appeals to resilience and fortitude.
What Vanir almost never do within Wyrd is give listeners much room to breathe easy or to contemplate the mundane features of daily life. They operate nearly all the time in hard-charging, heart-hammering assaults, elevated by sky-spanning grandeur and driven by vocals of harrowing ferocity; even in moments of sorrow the music makes the shadowed moods stretch to far horizons.
And with that very wordy introduction behind us (hopefully not too wordy), we turn you over to the full stream of Wyrd:
VANIR:
Martin Drageholm – vocals
Kirk Backarach – guitars
Lasse Heiberg – guitars
Mikael Christensen – bass
Jon Elmquist Schmidt – drums
Stefan Dujardin - keyboards
Wyrd was mixed and mastered at Demigod Recordings (Gaerea, Okkultist). It will be released by Mighty Music on April 3rd, on LP, CD, and digital formats. They recommend it for fans of Amon Amarth, Wolfheart, Insomnium, and Unleashed.
PRE-ORDER:
Webshop: https://bit.ly/vanir-target
Digital: https://bfan.link/vnr-wyrd
VANIR:
https://vanir.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Vanirband
https://www.instagram.com/vanirdenmark/