After a lengthy eight year break Canada’s SIG:AR:TYR have returned with their latest opus entitled “Citadel Of Stars”. The band has been around since the early 2000s, cranking out some catchy and driving Black Metal with hints of Folk music. Their leader and multi-instrumentalist Daemonskald has even added the band’s 2003 demo “The Stranger” as bonus tracks on the CD version of this release. Let’s dive into this and see if the band has any rust from their eight year break. The album consists of nine songs, running just over an hour (almost 90 minutes when you add the demo bonus tracks). Right off the bat the first few songs tell you that the band has not lost their touch. The guitars are sharp, catchy, mesmerizing and yet captivating. The vocals are nice and harsh, but you can clearly understand the lyrics, feeling the emotion with each passing phrase. The guitar solos and keyboards worked nicely on this album, to not only extenuate the atmosphere, but to also take you on a journey through a wild mind. The title track was a very nice instrumental that bridged over first and second half of the album. ‘I Sail On, Eternal’ takes you on a Viking’s quest to challenge their fate and conquer fears. It’s not all glory with tracks like ‘Who Will Guide Me Now’ and ‘Where The Sun Never Sets’. What really sold me on this album and in general with the band has always been the guitars. Each album has very well written out guitar parts, solos and progressive cords. Now jumping quickly over to the demo bonus tracks, a demo that I have not heard before, but read about in the past. It is composed of six tracks, all instrumental songs, with a good sound quality. You don’t get that garage cheapy sound, this demo sounds like it was well produced. The songs are all in an acoustic Folk style, with a hint of flamenco style notes here and there. Good demo and a nice hint of things to come on their debut album. Amazing! That’s the best way I can describe this album. It has all the elements that you would look for in an album that checks off the boxes. Good production? Check. Good songwriting / composition? Check. Catchy riffs and engaging lyrics? Check. The bonus tracks of “The Stranger” demo were a really nice addition to the mix and really kicked it up a notch. Seriously, check out this album (and the bonus tracks) as soon as you get a chance. This album does not disappoint. For more info: www.facebook.com/sigartyr, www.facebook.com/hammerheartrecords