SIG:AR:TYR - Citadel of Stars

Angry Metal Guy 70

Though I’m far from a black metal enthusiast, I grew up with the mighty sounds of Bathory ringing throughout my teen years. We didn’t call them black metal back then as Venom had co-opted that term for their rowdy, faux-Satan cock rock metal, but I loved what Bathory was doing regardless of genre label. Albums like The Return, Under the Sign of the Black Mark, and Blood Fire Death were so savage and massive, they set us up for what black metal would become in the 90s. It was always the epic edge of Bathory’s sound that truly seized my metal heart. The sounds of Blood Fire Death and especially Hammerheart spoke to the indomitable warrior within us all. When SIG:AR:TYR came along many years later, they clicked for me immediately in a way few black metal acts ever did because they were flying the same foundational battle standards as Bathory before them. Albums like Beyond the North Winds, Godsaga and Northen are dearly loved, and the latter was my Record o’ the Year for 2016. It’s been seven long years since Northen and for a time it seemed there would never be another SIG:AR:TYR release, but 2024 finally delivers Citadel of Stars. Will this be another grand voyage into high adventure for the faithful? Gird thy loins and let’s set sail.

I’ll say this: I don’t believe SIG:AR:TYR is capable of a bad album. Solo musician and brain trust Daemonskald is simply too talented and too capable to deliver something unworthy. On Citadel of Stars, he cobbles all the key SIG:AR:TYR elements together once again and hammers out an epic, powerful saga that feels majestic and glorious. The Bathory and Immortal influences are ever-present but the music is no mere homage. 10-plus minute opener “Awaiting the Last Dawn” is a sweeping mission statement rife with the classic sound functioning exactly as it should. It’s atmo-black Pagan/Viking metal pulsating with an epic vibe that feels vast and incalculably massive. The riffs are thoughtful and deliberate, forceful and mighty. The plodding pace feels like a military march through mud and snow as a mighty host heaves its way toward a final conflagration, and you’ll want to carry a banner alongside your brothers. Daemonskald’s blackened rasp is as effective as ever and the minutes roll by almost unnoticed as you stride with the bold. Few bands can capture this level of hypnotic atmosphere, dragging you into another realm so completely. It’s a long song that feels fleeting. “Beyond the Stars Unknown” continues the steep climb to the heavens with a hard-charging battle gallop and relentlessly churning riffs. This is the stuff to make you hunger for glory on the battlefield in a way Amon Amarth only hints at. Daemonskald’s guitar work is amazing, spinning from burly riffage to Yngwie-like neo-classical shredding and back in a way that feels just right. This is a masterwork of a true artist and Song o’ the Year material. The show stopper for me comes with “I Sail on, Eternal,” which is just a monstrously badass piece that condensces everything good in black metal into one massive missive that will add 2 inches to your biceps and several lengths to your back pelt. The spirit of Hammerheart era Bathory lives large in the music and Quorthon gazes down upon it approvingly. It’s plodding, inexorable, and inevitable, and I want it to be 40 minutes long. I’ve had this on repeat for gym sessions and it instills a quivering Norse rage in my loin biceps.

“From the Land of the North” is another ginormous epic with pulsating energy and an Immortal-esque gravitas I can’t get enough of. Album closer “Where the Sun Never Sets” is another 10-plus minute monolith and it too conjures the spirits of great heroes and warriors through the ages. There’s so much magic in these pieces that it’s a tragic shame there are a few lesser moments that drag the album back down to Midgard. “The Blood That Came Before You” is good but less dynamic and stirring, and “Ascending the Stellar Throne” is better but also ends up feeling a bit spare compared to the masterful moments around it. The album includes 2 long-form instrumentals and though this is a SIG:AR:TYR staple, here they don’t feel as integrated and essential, fracturing the album’s momentum and lingering too long. At an hour long, the album has 12 or so minutes that feel less essential, although nothing ranks as filler.

I’ve praised Daemonskald in several reviews now, and I continue to be in awe of his abilities as a musician. His guitar playing can be stunningly beautiful then turn on a dime to become deadly. He’s a master at crafting folk-filled moments in otherwise grindingly heavy battle anthems and his delicate playing is a thing of wonder. His sense of composition is stellar and he can create truly grandiose, sweeping pieces of music blending raw force with melancholic musings. There are 5 such pieces here that I will cherish forevermore. The album has a few inconsistencies that result in lesser moments, but even these are vastly better than what most black metal acts could ever dream of conjuring.

Citadel of Stars is another winning SIG:AR:TYR album. It’s not as consistent as past triumphs and suffers some flat spots, but damn the highs are stratospheric! No one can do what SIG:AR:TYR does nearly as well, and there are songs here that will be among the best metal moments you’ll experience this year. Even if you don’t love black metal, you should give this and the whole SIG:AR:TYR catalog a deep listen. You will not be disappointed. Glory to the brave, glory to Daemonskald. Hails into eternity.



Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart
Websites: sigartyr.com | sigartyr.bandcamp.com/music | facebook.com/sigartyr
Releases Worldwide: May 31st, 2024

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