Tyr Týr backpatch

Official backpatch circa "Land" album release, and a hella nice one too. Despite what I now think about this band outside of the recording studio, this backpatch pre-dated their current bullshit, so I still like it as much as I like my "Land" longsleeve.

Well this *was* gonna be my primary go-to backpatch for my future vest -- until Týr released their latest album and a whole lot of drama with it too (see the tshirtslayer forum topic "WHO WOULD YOU PUNCH" for my long rant about this).

The latest interview with Týr in Zero Tolerance mag affirms my attitude. Heri Joensen goes on record admitting that he believes in "secular humanism, democracy, and science" and that his interest in the pagan pre-Christian traditions is merely "historical". In other words, let's milk this pagan stuff because it's what sells. Why turn to pagan themes if you don't actually affirm them? Because Týr wants fame and a safe harbor to preach their sociopolitical views, and folk metal is a safe-for-the-kids cash machine that provides a nice "cultural" cover against the critics. Why not abandon pagan themes and write simply political prog power metal or even thrash? Apparently not enough guts.

So, this patch is not going to be worn by me. I will hold on to it nevertheless just to see if the band decides to redeem itself in the future, and if not, I'm gonna wait until they develop a "cult" following so I could auction it off on ebay to gullible rich kids for five times as much as I paid for it. But I will likely hold on to it for nostalgia. I really hope the band grows some balls and goes back to making the music (AND LYRICS) they make best.