Album review: LYRRE – Nothing Is Promised

Today’s finally the day: LYRRE released their second album „Nothing Is Promised“. LYRRE is perhaps not the most well-known metal band out there (unfortunately – they deserve more love!). The band was formed by former Eluveitie hurdy-gurdy player Michalina Malisz and her husband Piotr Martus in 2022. In 2023, they released their debut album „Not All Who Dream Are Asleep“. The sound of the band is described online as „neomedieval metal“. Listening to the new album, I can’t necessarily say I head much of the „medieval“, except for Michalina’s signature instrument, the hurdy-gurdy. Nevertheless, it’s an amazing album and I have some opinions to share.

I’ve been following parts of the process on Michalina’s patreon and the more I saw, the more excited I got. Since I’m a huge hurdy-gurdy enthusiast (big enough to start playing the instrument myself), LYRRE is a very special project to me since bands with the hurdy-gurdy being basically the most prominent part of the music are still rather rare. And with the new album, I feel like the hurdy-gurdy became even more outstanding than on their debut album. Don’t get me wrong: „Not All Who Dream Are Asleep“ has very striking, brilliant hurdy-gurdy parts. But while listening to „Nothing Is Promised“ I felt like the gurdy stood out even more. It seems to play an even bigger role in basically carrying the music.

The gurdy-sound on the album is absolutely beautiful by the way. The instument(s?) used for the recording were made in Michalina Malisz’s and Piotr Martus’s own hurdy-gurdy workshop in Poland and I gotta say this album is a great advertisement for MM instruments. The sound is warm and full and very striking. I absolutely love the intro of „Eos“ for example. The overall song is a great example of the acoustic variety you can achieve with the hurdy-gurdy. Another great example is „The Well“, which also proves that you can shred a gurdy just as much as any other stringed instrument.
(However, I don’t know if I missed it or if the entire album is free of the trumpette? EDIT: At the third listening I found a trumpette in „Oracle“ while listening to the song with headphones on only on the left ear 😂)

Also I feel like Michalina Malisz’s vocals have evolved in comparison to the last album. Her voice sounds stronger and clearer than on the last album. Generally, her voice can be very dreamy at times, powerful in others and I honestly feel like she’s made such a big progress as a singer as well since the last album.

I’m also digging the few backing vocals (which are perhaps done by Piotr Martus). Some of the screams compliment Michalina’s voice even more and create an amazing harmony, for example towards the end of „The Well“. I also love some of the guitar parts of this album an awful lot, so Piotr Martus did an awesome job here. „Oracle“ for example – damn! Love it!

All in all, „Nothing Is Promised“ sounds ‚rounder‘ somehow than „Not All Who Dream Are Asleep“. So far I haven’t necessarily identified any massive earworms that might get stuck in my mind for the next few weeks, but the overall experience of the album is great and I enjoy listening to it a lot. It also really makes me want to pick up my hurdy-gurdy again. It creates a dark, dreamlike, somewhat fantastic atmosphere where heavy guitars meet the warm sound of the gurdy. I’m a fan. To be fair, despite waiting for the album, I somehow forgot to pre-order because sometimes I’m just not the brightest candle on the cake. So I guess I’ll now head to ancestore and get myself a copy of the album and try to keep myself to order an MM gurdy with it (I have a gurdy, it’s wonderful, I love it, but YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM TO FIND OUT HOW BEAUTIFUL THE GURDIES BUILT BY MM INSTRUMENTS ARE).