lista zespołów Folk Metal Heljareyga Heljareyga

Everybody knows Heri Joensen of Týr, the Faroese progressive-folk band that produced such epic masterpieces as Eric the Red, Ragnarok and Land, alongside grandiose achievements How Far To Asgaard and By The Light Of The Northern Star, all of them dripping with the essence of the cold, harsh Northern lands.

But, while we wait for Týr to produce another masterpiece, Heri has been plotting something of his own. Having been a music teacher for some time exposed Týr's front-man to many good musicians. Together, he began a three-year project which culminated in this: Heljareyga.

Despite having too many guitarists and being almost completely unavailable in my area (you're lucky if you even find Týr CDs in the south-eastern United States - and those are from Napalm, which is more of a major label than Tutl), Heri pulls off a massive achievement with his side-project, named after giant holes made in the earth by the tide, believed by the old Norse to be entrances to the realm of the goddess Hel.

Musically, it's a combination of folk-sounding melodies (however, they're all original compositions, rather than borrowing traditional melodies as with Týr), pounding drumming, rather lengthy progressive guitar work and Heri's epic singing voice belting out Faroese lyrics of struggle and hardship.