Dyrathor - Sacred Walcraft of Hel (2010)

When a band is pretentious enough to claim they have their own genre they usually fail at life miserably and their music plain sucks. Well, this is not the case with Dyrathor, the band claims to play “Northern Storm Metal” a thing we find to be ridiculous, but they do play a very Pagan Metal.

Hailing from Germany, Dyrathor has a very good style and they do not sound (a lot) like the seas of bands playing a combination of these genres. The band’s aggressive edge allows them to not sound super ‘pretty’ (i.e soft) and makes their use of Folk elements/Keyboards more effective.

What we like the most about this band, is the ability of going from a full-on battle-epic raging section, to a well crafted atmospheric passage that breaks down the flow of the song perfectly into a different rhythm, and then it brings the listener back up for another round of aural assaults (listen to “Ariovist”, and you will understand what we mean).

The traditional it sounds like Wintersun, Ensiferum, etc., etc. are in hand, but the truth is that we greatly prefer Dyrathor because their sound is more primal and raw. The band does not use a ridiculous amount of Folk elements that make your head dizzy, instead they focus on solid riffing and great rhythmical section (i.e “Und Ewig rinnt das Blut”)

The combination of clean vocals, growls and BM-like shrieks is very well layered and perfectly balanced. We truly enjoy when the band jumps from a Folk-ish section straight to a growl or a scream and back into full-on double-kick drumming and powerful riffing. The violin used through the release provides the ‘extra element’ needed to make a band’s sound standout and while this is not ‘revolutionary’ it still sounds good.

Most songs are fast-paced and very epic, however the band starts slowing things down on the last two tracks and we loved it. This songs show the band’s true versatility in creating solid music that is both melodic and aggressive. The last track “Wudana Wittekina Waigand” has a very epic sound to it and is a very solid closer for an intense album.

Overall, we must say that we now have a new favorite Pagan Metal band. Dyrathor is surely going to turn many heads with this release and it’s something well deserved since “Sacred Walcraft of Hel” is a very solid and powerful album. In you like Ensiferum, Wintersun, Thyrfing, etc. you will love this band.

Release: June 11th, 2010

Country: Germany