For the most part, The Lay
of Thrym delivers as the newest addition to Tyr's growing discography. It keeps
an upbeat tone for the most part, and the pacing varies throughout, from slower
songs like Evening Star, to quicker ones like Flames of the Free.
The riffing for the most part is pretty cool. It's not mind-blowing (like on
Land), but it's largely better than the majority of By the Light of the Northern
Star. The vocals tend to stand out the most, and they end up making songs like
Shadow of the Swastika and Nine Worlds of Lore stand out (two of the highlights
of the album). As it has been with past Tyr efforts, their best songs are
usually of the non-English type, and Konning Hans and Ellindur Bondi a Jadri
both are enjoyable, with a stronger groove to them, a Tyr strength that they
regrettably abandon on up-tempo tracks.
Most of the album is enjoyable, though Flames of the Free kind of wears on me a
bit, and I would go as far as saying Take Your Tyrant sucks, and that I've taken
to skipping past it. Getting past those songs though, you've got a fairly decent
effort that is going to keep previous Tyr fans interested, and it might capture
some new ones as well.
