For some years now Thyrfing draws the attention of a great deal of metal fans around the planet. Perhaps this has something to do with dark and mysterious character of their, mostly mid tempo played, song material. With the typical guitar melodies and keyboard parts they create a kind of melancholic soundscape that is one of a kind. And after two years of silence, Thyrfing now comes with their 4th full-length called “Vansinnesvisor”. And compared to their previous release “Urkraft”, Thyrfing certainly improved in some ways. The song material sounds less accessible due to more double layers and extra guitar leads. On the whole it seems like Thyrfing took some extra time to record this perfectly arranged album.

The orchestral pieces in “The Voyager”, the typical Thyrfing hymn “Digerdoden” with surprisingly clean parts that vocalist Thomas uses more on “Vansinnesvisor”, or what to think of the violin melody on “Ångestens Högborg”. The production, done by Daniel Bergstrand (Strapping Young Lad, Darkane) sounds alright and you can tell he had some influence on the sound (clean intro The Giant’s Laughter).
Thyrfing fans will be pleased when they hear this album. I can only advise people who’ve never heard of Thyrfing but are into Viking metal at its best, to go and check out this band.