In Norse legend, the giant Ymir gave his life to create the world, and after the world’s end in the fires of Ragnarök, the souls of the honourable shall feast eternally in the sacred hall of Brimir. Or so I’ve read in the biography of a Finnish band from Helsinki called Brymir, who took their name as a conflation of Ymir and Brimir — representing the beginning and the end, before and after.

Brymir released their debut album, Breathe Fire To the Sun, on Spinefarm Records in April. I missed that news, but what I didn’t miss was the band’s official music video that became available today for a song called “Retribution”. Visually, the video employs an often-used theme in extreme metal videos — the scourging punishment of a man by unknown forces for unknown reasons, alternating with shots of the band playing against a black backdrop and in the great outdoors. Although the visual theme isn’t breaking any new ground, it’s well-executed.

The music may not be breaking any new ground either, but man did it hit my sweet spot. The song is a powerful, symphonic blast of melodic death metal with a pagan flavor. It conveys an epic, even cinematic, sweep, with a cavalcade of hard-charging riffs and anthemic keyboards. The vocals, which mix the unclean and the clean, are also quite good. This got my day off to a really nice start. If you’re a fan of bands such as Wintersun and Ensiferum, this video is worth checking out — and you can do that after the jump. Continue reading »