Raising the dark folk spirit of the ‘90s, Tir releases fifth full-length record: Awaiting The Dawn

News

Apr 7

Australia based solo project Tir (Oytun Bektaş) is set to release his fifth full-length album this coming April. Following on from 2021’s ‘Persepolis’ and set for release under the dual banners of Brilliant Emperor Records (LP) & Orko Productions (CD/tape), ‘Awaiting the Dawn’ presents a one and half year musical journey and noticeable shift in Tir’s artistic philosophy towards the purity of his dark folk/medieval roots, whilst still acknowledging the projects successful “Dungeon Synth” beginnings. Oytun Bektaş, himself a devoted listener and performer for more than 20 years, states that “The main inspiration of ‘Awaiting the Dawn’ came from combining romanticism and mysticism”.

Through exploring the romantic visions of Lord Bryon, Willam Blake and Shakespeare, and even more broader poetic themes of nature, Oytun seeks to incorporate this with the mysticism of the natural world that defies concept, that knowing that can only be experienced for oneself, beyond words. What is the sound and expression of touching a tree or stone? Where is the deeper poetry of this experience? As Lord Byron said; “There's music in the sighing of a reed; There's music in the gushing of a rill; There's music in all things, if men had ears; The earth is but the music of the spheres.” ‘Awaiting The Dawn’ is itself an expression of word and sound that goes beyond itself into the pure experience of nature. Tir’s second album, ‘Urd Skuld Verdandi’ (2019) had a huge impact on the scene around the world, already featuring elements that would seed Tir’s sound and mature into ‘Awaiting The Dawn’.

Part of that album's success arose out of the collaboration with vocalist Thomas Helm, most noticeably known for his work with Empyrium and more recently, Ortnit. ‘Awaiting The Dawn’ deepens this relationship, procuring the hauntingly beautiful voice of Thomas Helm once again, sounding this time more like an embedded expression of Tir, rather than a guest vocalist. The album was also mixed & mastered by Markus Stock (Empyrium, Sun of the Sleepless). Although an unheard voice on the album, Markus’s engineering work on ‘Awaiting The Dawn’ offers us, through a deep kinship to the various expressions of Tir’s musical creators, the perfect equilibrium through which we can experience this amazing album.