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Turisas - The Varangian Way

Richard Terry | Denver, CO United States | 05/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hailing from Finland, folk metal fans have been blessed with the epic music from Turisas. The Varangian Way was a fantastic release of 2007 and the band does not stray from their Viking roots. In many ways this album is a solid continuation of 2003's Battle Metal, and the album tells a fun story of men from the north who travel along the Eastern European river routes. They pillage and plunder on the way through Kiev (Ukraine) and finally Constantinople, which is modern day Istanbul (Turkey).



To Holmgard and Beyond is one of the best tracks on the album. It is a powerful song that prepares the listener for the journey back in time. A Portage to the Unknown has some fun accordian parts and singer Mathias Nygård, also known as `Warlord' shows his wide range of vocal abilities. The final track, Miklagard Overture, is definitely the opus of the album and it is quite epic. The heroes finally make it to Constantinople, the Christian capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. All sorts of musical instruments accompany the 8-plus minutes of the finale.



This is the second album Turisas have released on Century Media Records, with the first being Battle Metal. Both releases are excellent. Turisas' unique brand of folk metal fits well with modern heavy metal and all of the musicians perform very well. I also had the privelage of seeing Turisas live with Ensiferum, Tyr, and Eluveitie on the `PaganFest 2008' tour. Turisas had a fantastic live show and each member of the band showed a lot of emotion and passion with the music. This album is highly recommended and is very worthy of 5 stars. \m/

"

Amazingly epic music.

James Hall | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 05/31/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Varangian Way. Awesome, inspiring, moving and well... epic! This is a great piece of folk-metal if I've ever heard one. The guitar work, the wind instruments, vocals, everything is fantastic on this album. If you love folk-metal you owe it to yourself to pick this album up right now.



There is a bit of a side-note, however. With all the applause I give this band/album I COMPLETELY agree with the reviewer McFate. I truly wish some of the more head-banging songs would let the hook stay in the mouth a bit longer and allow more of the sound to build onto itself culminating in ... well ... more head-banging! It's always been my love/hate of progressive metal. While technical and overwhelming at times some of the time I am left feeling like I wanted to hear more heavier vocals and more hair-swaying melodies. That might be one of the reasons this band is so great, though. They can pull you in easy as pie and keep you there for the duration of the album, making you play it again despite your "wants" and "needs".



A truly EPIC piece of musical harmony and thought-out album planning at it's greatest. Buy this. You won't regret it."