Australian Dungeon Synth/Dark folk band Tir takes inspiration from many atmospheric bands in the metal sphere such as Burzum and Empyrium. Since their debut album in 2016, they’ve released 4 albums and 1 EP including their latest release titled Persepolis.
The album title references the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, an Iranian empire that lasted from 522 BC to 486 BC. Instantly I found this an interesting concept to base an album on, I love the cold and dark Scandinavian forests but it’s nice to have variety especially having it based on history.
The song titles continue the references to Ancient Iran, Iranian Mythology and Zoroastrianism with songs such as Anahids Miracle, Summoning Alborz and Menog and Getig.
More important than the theme and titles however is the music itself.
This is an album that does not contain singing or lyrics but is purely instrumental, as mentioned drawing inspiration from other atmospheric bands. However, the sound is quite a bit brighter here than one may expect from the genre. At times going into Lord of the Rings-style melodies containing bright wind instruments and mellow guitars.
The album is constantly changing the tone, doing a good job as an album to be nice and relaxing but interesting enough to demand attention from you. Songs like The Dragon King raised an Army starts very menacing and haunting with deep strings and chanting but changes near the end to quicker, lighter violins and a nice melody on keys. The Song The Song of the Cosmos is Heard from Persepolis makes use of synths pads to create more of a typical dungeon synth sound but does blend it in nicely with strings and chanting.
The Stone thrown from Cinwad Bridge represents a halfway point in the album and the only song to be near 10 minutes long. It’s a song that wouldn’t sound out of place in a high fantasy setting, with an excellent dreamy quality to start before an acoustic guitar becomes the star and goes from the sorrowful back into the slow dreaminess from the start. The last song on the album Forgotten Prophecy is where the synth sound is most prominent combining it with beating drums and wind instruments to make a very powerful start and using many synth pads later on to continue the strong sound of the song.
Not every song is perfect however, Menog and Getig and The Rising shadow of chaos aren’t bad but are relatively uninteresting listens with little to make them stand out among the rest. Even with that said I’d still be happy putting this album on and reading with it playing all the way through. However, I would like to see some more tracks that make use of wind and strings instrument in the main melodies as they do a good job with them hear and think it would add more depth to some songs.
Overall I really enjoyed my time with this one and is great for those into the genre or not. It isn’t heavy or overly dark so think it could be good for those not into that sound or just getting into the genre. A very good album that I’d recommend people listen too and look forward to hearing more from the band.
Tir: Facebook
Release Year: 2021
Label: Brilliant Emperor Records
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Billy Poulopoulos
