Battle Ballads North American Tour Underway

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Photo by Gaui H Faroe Islands-based Viking metallers TYR unveil their latest single, "Dragons Never Die". The track comes by way of the band's stunning ninth full-length studio album, Battle Ballads, set for release on April 12th via Metal Blade Records!

Once crowned, "powerful, heroic and memorable," by New Noise and lauded by Exclaim for, "expertly balancing power and death metal" and perfecting, "the Viking metal formula," with Battle Ballads, TYR has crafted an album that resounds with their trademark Viking metal sound -- a crushing, soaring, batch of classical embellished songs that conjure images of galloping steeds, clashing swords, and hard-fought victories. At the same time, the band has experimented with new writing styles and musical techniques and created songs that are structurally simpler, yet musically more variegated. For founding frontman Heri Joensen, it's a clear illustration of how he plans to continue exploring different approaches in the future while staying true to the spirit of thunderous Viking metal.

"We consciously decided to make this a more direct album with songs that are easier for listeners to get right away than some of the stuff on our last album, or maybe even on our 2006 album Ragnarok, which was very progressive," says Joensen. "With Battle Ballads, there are progressive elements here and there, but we tried to keep the songs based on one or two musical ideas each, and work on everything from there. So, in a way, it's more concise than our last album, but it's more epic because of the symphonic elements."

There's no escaping the masterfully meticulous blend of melody and savagery on Battle Ballads. Notes Joensen of the band's "Dragons Never Die" single, "The song starts with a long harmonic crescendo on drums and guitar reminiscent of classical DEEP PURPLE, then shifts an eastern inspired melodic journey back in time with wordless singalong parts, going into a rhythmically simple and stomping verse about a gold-grabbing dragon and a protagonist set on defeating it. It's a fast and riveting chorus. The metal story progresses and culminates into a face melting solo. With the last chorus, the protagonist finds that becoming rich beyond measure just makes him the next dragon."

Watch TYR's "Dragons Never Die" video on KNAC.COM HERE.

As much as TYR would have liked to write, rehearse, and record with a symphony, scheduling conflicts made it impossible. So they did the next best thing. Joensen sent the band's ten thunderous compositions to a Danish colleague, Lars Winther, 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, TYR sent the album to veteran producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, The Black Dahlia Murder, Amaranthe) in Denmark to put together the final mix.

Battle Ballads features artwork by Gyula Havancsak and will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:

• 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)