SIG:AR:TYR tells the Godsaga

The band explained the following regarding the upcoming "Godsaga" album :

"The inspiration for the new album "Godsaga" is loosely based on the saga of Egil Skallagrimsson, and Odin’s sacrifice on the world tree Yggdrasil. The two key words that seem to come up in these themes are "loss" and "sacrifice". 

In the saga of Egil Skallagrimsson, he loses both his sons, yet, in the poem he composes to deal with his grief, Sonatorrek ("the irreparable loss of sons"), he curses Odin the oath breaker for his great loss and misery, while reluctantly praising him for his gift of poetry and hatred towards his enemies.

Odin, pierced on his own spear and hanging for nine nights, sacrificed himself on the world tree to discover the knowledge of the runes. Odin also sacrificed an eye to the Well of Mimir to gain the wisdom of all things, and lost his son Baldur.

As we drift through life, we seek power and mastery of our selves and the world around us as we fight the great waves of chaos that drives the attempts to consume our spirits into oblivion. Yet great power and knowledge comes not without sacrifice, the act of losing some aspect of ourselves to further our spiritual evolution.

Odin is a dark god, a god of chaos and war. He is a vow breaker, and may just as easily cause you to lose a battle than win one. Too many pagans and Asatruar invoke his name too easily, as if he is a comforting benefactor. wise teacher, and protector. But when you are chosen by Odin, your life is bound by a dark current that invokes great loss and sacrifice, repaid by gifts of wisdom and inspiration, and some knowledge often better left unknown.

In the time of the final battle, the doomed warriors of Odin must again sacrifice one final time to protect the worlds of men and gods, Midgard and Asgard, from the unconscious forces of entropy and decay. Just as in our dying modern world, we are assaulted at all times by the pernicious misery of a materialistic society, a seething mire of soulless masses, empty eyes, and hollow hearts. 

We fight as one, as sons of Odin, against the hordes of unconsciousness. Our souls sacrificed on that one tree, the world tree, whose branches join the worlds of the mortal and the god. It is then that we join the ranks of the stars in the sky, never to be forgotten, now forever part of the cycles of birth, death, and return. Was this the secret whispered by Odin to his son Baldur as he lay on his funeral pyre, who returned again as the Northern King of the new world after Ragnarok?

The spear-god shared
Spoil with me,


My oath was to Odin,
He gave me aid:


Now that maker of mystic
Runes only mocks me,


Voids all my victories,
That breaker of vows

I'll make offerings to Odin, 
Though not in eagerness, 


I'll make my soul's sacrifice, 
Not suffer silently: 


Though this friend has failed me, 
Fellow of gods, 


To his credit he comforts me
With compensation

That wolf-killer, that warrior
God, well seasoned in war


Bestowed a bounty
Not to be bettered:


To my art he added
One other gift,


A heart that held
Not craft only: hatred!

The end is all
Even now 
High on the headland 


Hel stands and waits, 
Life fades, I must fall 


And face my own end 
Not in misery and morning, 


But with a man's heart

Expect a darker, heavier, more intense and focused album, while still delivering the traditional SIG:AR:TYR hallmarks of previous works."

TRACKLIST :

01. Nights All Nine 

02. Midwinter Sacrifice 

03. Blood Of The North 

04. Black Sun's Bane 

05. Eternal Return 

06. Sleep Of The Sword 

07. Sonatorrek 

08. Godsaga 

09. Distant Northern Shore