Valkyrja - Tyr

Valkyrja is the latest album from Tyr.  For those unfamiliar with Tyr, the band is named after the Norse god of war.  The members are all Norse Heathens from the Faroe Islands, and they are very proud of their heritage and religion.  Their beliefs come through very clearly in some cases ("Hold the Heathen Hammer High" and "By The Sword In My Hand" from By The Light of the Northern Star) and less subtly in many other cases, but it is always an underlying theme.  As a Heathen myself, I find this band particularly fascinating.  I can relate to the lyrics in a very meaningful way, but by and large I think they appeal most to Heathens because the content is solidly based in the few records we have left from the original Heathens.  Norse Heathenry (also called Asatru - literally translated "faith in the Aesir") is relatively uncommon where I live, but when I went to see Tyr live (one of the best shows I've ever seen), there were at least 150 other Heathens there.  Super cool!  Tyr is a metal band, but with the religious undertones, one could sort of compare it to Christian heavy metal.  Tyr is way cooler (and better) than any Christian metal band I've ever heard, but I guess that's beside the point.

Back story aside, this whole album is fantastic.  The music is melodic while being appropriately heavy at the right times.  The vocals are clear and I really like Heri's voice.  It has the perfect tone and range for the type of music that they play.  There is no filler on Valkyrja.  Every song carries the theme of the album while being varied enough that the listener never gets bored and is left wanting more.  This album is actually a story being told.  The album is about a warrior who is called to battle and torn from the ones he loves (check out the video for "The Lay of Our Love").  He dies in battle and is carried away by a Valkyrie to be selected by either Freya or Odin to serve in their halls until Ragnarok (the end of the world to Heathens).  I can't think of a better word than amazing to describe Valkyrja.  As a bonus, the deluxe version includes a couple covers.  One of them is a cover of "Cemetery Gates" by Pantera, and it is remarkable.  It is highly recommended that you listen to this album beginning to end. The story is engrossing and compelling, and the music is beatiful and heavy.  An amazing mix!  Highly recommended for fans of metal, Norse Heathenry, and fantastic music!

TC Electronic Gravy Chorus/Tremolo Pedal

Another sideways picture, but you'll be fine.  Probably.  To the item at hand, we have the TC Electronic Gravy Chorus/Tremolo pedal.  I've been extremely impressed with TC Electronic products.  They are a beautiful hybrid of analog tone with digital control.  The Gravy has 4 potentiometers and 2 switches.  One switch is on/off, while the other changes the pedal from chorus to Tone Print to tremolo.  Addressing the most intriguing of the three, Tone Print is the name of a piece of software from TC Electronic that can be downloaded for free.  It allows you to assign up to 4 parameters to each potentiometer, set their maximum and minimum levels, create totally new forms of modulation, and download pre-sets from famous musicians.  The level of versatility that this program gives to this pedal is astounding.  Literally any modulation sound can be created (tremolo, flange, chorus, etc.) and edited down to the smallest detail using the Tone Print software.  Things like the shape, depth, and length of the wave for just one form of modulation are all adjustable and assignable to any of the 4 potentiometers.  And with an analog tremolo and triple chorus circuit, the possibilities are endless.  Any sound from light chorus/reverb to crazy outer space ducks on fire are easy to create.  Another fantastic feature of the Gravy is that once you have a tone, you can get it to the pedal using either the supplied USB to microUSB cable, or put the tone on your smart phone.  Using the Tone Print software on your smart phone allows you to transfer any stored tone to the pedal by holding the phone up to the pickups and pressing a button on the screen of your phone.  I have no idea how it works, but it is incredibly cool and very handy if you have a few tones you tend to use regularly.  Moving on to the analog effects, the triple chorus is also very versatile.  The tone pot actually affects how the EQ of your guitar comes through (which is something I've been disappointed with in other pedals).  I tend to use a very deep, slow sweep with medium tone and lots of chorus in the mix.  With three chorus circuits, the creates a somewhat shimmering yet calm and controlled smoothness.  This setting tends to work very well for almost all of the clean playing I do.  The tremolo does exactly what its name implies.  It takes whatever note/chord you are playing and modulates the frequency up and down.  The amount of modulation is controlled with the depth pot and speed by the speed pot.  The FX Level pot determines how much of the modulated audio gets sent into the main mix.  Pretty straightforward.  Honestly, I don't use tremolo by itself very often, but this one is definitely among the best I have ever played with.  Overall, the Gravy is mighty impressive both in quality and verstility.  I don't need to own any other modulation type pedals because this one can do anything I want.  Highly recommended for people looking to downsize, people looking for versatile tone, and people looking for amazing value.

TC Electronic PolyTune 2

Sorry about the sideways picture.  I'm doing this post from my iPad and I don't feel like figuring out how to rotate it.  Anyway, the TC Electronic PolyTune 2 is a truly remarkable tuner pedal.  For the same cost as a standard tuner pedal, you get a huge array of features.  It has the ability to tune individual strings, or up to six strings at a time.  It is a chromatic tuner, so any note within at least 8 octaves of A-440hz can be tuned to.  It works great for checking intonation due to its wide tonal range.  The tuning is adjustable +/- 5hz for those oddballs out there who don't like the A 440hz refence tone.  It features true bypass when it is not activated, and when activated, it kills the guitar signal.  This is a nice feature between songs.  Additionally, it can be set to numerous popular tuning for multi-string tuning mode.  A few common open tunings (open G and open D) as well as standard tuning +/- 3 whole steps.  This allows for great tuning versatility and convenience.  It has the ability to power another pedal via a separate cable as well as a microUSB port for firmware updates.  Another cool feature is that holding the on/off switch for a few seconds automatically changes the tuner from standard to drop-D.  Simply hold the switch again to change back.  The PolyTune 2 also has an ambient light sensor so it can automatically adjust the brightness of the LED display to any environment.  The display has a few different settings as well, but I only use the standard mode which can tune individual strings or multiple strings.  The other modes have some neat visual things, but they don't really appeal to me any more than a standard tuner.  My pedal got a little beat up during an airplane ride, but a little quick surgery fixed it right up.  I could send it in for warranty repairs, but why bother?  It works great!  Highly recommended for players of any stringed instruments.

Epiphone Les Paul Special II Custom Shop Limited Edition

This guitar was quite the bargain. Only $149.99 for the Custom Shop Limited Edition! The mahogany body and neck create very deep sounds, and the Epiphone 690T (neck) and 700T (bridge) carry the tone surprisingly well. The fretboard is rosewood, and the 700T is overwound to produce a little extra output. The neck is bolt-on, but sustain is incredibly good.  It did have a couple teething problems.  It came out of the box with a loose wire, so the neck pickup didn't work until we did a little soldering.  Could have sent it in for warranty repair, but it was really very simple to fix.  Additionally, the strings that come on low cost guitars are always garbage, so they were immediately replaced with Ernie Ball .10s. The controls are simple.  Just a three-way switch, a volume pot, and a tone pot.  With my current rig, this guitar sounds really good.  Playability is quite good.  The neck is smooth and relatively quick.  The frets are the right size for the curvature of the neck, and the action is just right out of the box.  If you can find one of these, it is a highly recommended budget guitar.  Even the standard Les Paul Special II is a good budget guitar, but this one is a lot prettier and a bit unique.