Brymir: The Long Road To Recovery
For twenty years now, Finnish melodeath legends BRYMIR have been evolving their sound through many different styles over the course of four albums. Beginning as straight up folk metal, moving more towards the melodic death they are known for and occasionally throwing both of those genres together. Album number five is no different with the band claiming that What We Leave Behind is their most sinister work to date.
We sat down with vocalist Viktor Gullichsen to talk about the origins of the band and what has led to their newest work.
BRYMIR’s first album was a long time coming. Many factors delayed the release of Breathe Fire to the Sun, including compulsory military duties in Finland. It speaks to the band’s resilience and drive to create music that all the setbacks didn’t stop them from getting the band off the ground.
“It was so important to us to finish that album. Each of us when we met were dreaming about being able to play in a band and tour. I knew at a very young age I wanted to pursue a career in music and audio engineering. When we started coming up in the local scene, we got signed by Spinefarm Records which was such a powerful thing to experience when you’re sixteen. But then the conscription letters came and they were sequential as there was a year age gap between members but the dedication stayed all the way through, so as soon as it was possible we went into the studio and even then were were creating a new sound and new image for BRYMIR.”
BRYMIR’s debut is pretty straight folk metal. Inspired by many of the bands that surrounded them it’s no surprise what they gravitated to in their formative years. As their career has evolved however they have moved further away from folk metal and are now considered an iconic band in the modern melodic death metal genre.
What We Leave Behind follows on from the band’s 2022 album, Voices in the Sky, which saw the band place less emphasis on the synth and electronic side of their music instead choosing to focus mostly on the human element of the band. Viktor explains how that album informed their approach for What We Leave Behind. “It opened up more creative paths for us and allowed us to express ourselves in a different fashion. Our first three albums had everything always at the same time; crazy guitars, drums, full orchestration and singing all at once which is a BRYMIR thing. Now we’re slowly learning to sequence things and arrange them that way while still maintaining that BRYMIR intensity. We still have synthesisers on this album but we wanted them to sound like synthesisers rather than a lot of orchestral arrangements.”
While the human element in the band’s music was explored in more depth on the previous album, here, the lyrics and themes delve into something more human as well. Viktor draws from his own dark periods when creating the songs on this album and consequently considers What We Leave Behind to be the most sinister and dark album the band have ever made.
“Going into the writing process I was really burnt out. I do film sound design and the company that I co-founded has been growing so fast over the last ten years so we were really busy with that and touring with BRYMIR. I was so burnt out so I believed something had to give for me to continue being me. That’s where the name What We Leave Behind came from because that was the question I asked myself when I was in a delusional state where I really felt like I needed to sacrifice everything else and just focus on one thing. The lyrics came later a little at a time over three or four years from when I started writing it but I knew that What We Leave Behind was the punchline. It was a tough time, I went down a dark path of partying myself to death while the whole world is burning around me with wars or technological revolution. Everything is scary and dark so all our songs are really personal to us, even if we add some ornamentation with Norse references they are true stories about real life things, so there wasn’t much light at the end of the tunnel on this album and that really reflects in how the songs and the lyrics turned out. I really screwed up because I wanted to pursue something in a way I thought was necessary but in retrospect I made some poor choices that I regret yet I was lucky to find my way back.”
Throughout all the dark times and worried contemplation of the world around all of us, at the end of it BRYMIR have managed to create one of the strongest extreme metal albums of the year so far. Its honest themes and music hit hard but most importantly it provided a way for Viktor to address his personal struggles. “It’s very therapeutic to have this outlet. Where some things can be difficult to say out loud or even think, when writing music you can channel words and thoughts that you might not even know you were processing. When it comes to lyrics I am very honest and direct, though I do use a lot of metaphors or references because a lot of it can be personal. It’s very therapeutic especially touring and doing it live, even if I have written them in a cryptic way it’s like I’m doing a confession where I just get to say all these things out loud and it’s very healing so I’m very much looking forward to this live cycle. Making this album helped me get over so much and getting to play them live will seal the deal on my long road to recovery. To me this album means ‘growth’, personal growth and I hope growth as a band.”
What We Leave Behind is out now via Napalm Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS133 here.
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