Brymir - Slayer Of Gods
Finnish extreme metallers provide second album full of symphonic grandeur
Five years after their promising debut full-length, Breathe Fire To The Sun, Brymir have returned with the slightly more ambitious and less predictable Slayer Of Gods. Though they will most likely be likened to fellow Finns Ensiferum among other folk metal artists, Brymir’s grandeur comes from a more symphonic atmosphere that is, in truth, closer to the likes of a movie soundtrack. This symphonic backdrop gives Slayer Of Gods an epic scale worthy of its intense artwork, and helps propel its razor-sharp riffs into a territory much more monolithic in nature than the average metal group.
Tracks like the album’s first proper track ‘For Those Who Die’ and its follower ‘Risen’ show Brymir at their fastest and most riff-obsessed, while ‘The Black Hammer’ sees the group take on a style more heavily steeped in the symphonic side of their brand of metal. Later tracks such as ‘The Rain’ and ‘Stormsoul’ see these two styles blended effectively, as they simultaneously deliver both monumental grandeur and hard-hitting metal. This makes these tracks more immersive, but they still have a way to go to match the epic splendour of the title track.
This title track sees the impactful voices of choirs accompany guitars more interested in a focused restraint than breakneck riffage, which helps to drive the track forward with a strong sense of momentum. This momentum doesn’t culminate in any particular moment of the track, however, with it instead serving to launch the following tracks forward with renewed vigour.
Strip Brymir’s music down to its bare metallic essentials and you will hear a more-than-capable, if not somewhat typical, death metal band. However, the flawless use of symphonic elements gives Slayer Of Gods a colossal-sounding style that holds an unbridled power. Expansive and impressive, it is an album that takes Brymir beyond being the promising newcomers they were once seen to be, and showcases them as a brute powerhouse capable of well-crafted and huge sounding full-lengths.
8.5/10
