Band:	Turisas
Album:	Battle Metal
Style:	Folk metal
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus
02. As Torches Rise
03. Battle Metal
04. The Land Of Hope And Glory
05. The Messenger
06. One More
07. Midnight Sunrise
08. Among Ancestors
09. Sahti-Waari
10. Prologue For R.R.R.
11. Rex Regi Rebellis
12. Katuman Kaiku
13. Battle Metal 2008 [re-issue bonus]
14. Till The Last Man Falls [Japanese bonus]
15. Terra Tavestorum [Japanese bonus]
16. Midnight Sunrise [Live bootleg] [Japanese bonus]

Yes, is another "___" Metal band, nowadays everyone wants to put an special label on their music, like "Dragon Metal", "Negative Metal" and now, "Battle Metal" , in defend of the band subject to the review here, I must say that for the first time I really feel like the title here suits the style perfectly, because when I hear Turisas I want to storm into some epic battle carrying one axe in one hand, a shield on the other and in my back a bow and a quiver of arrows.

For those who doesn't know a thing about Turisas, they're hailing from Finland and their band name is taken from and ancient Finnish god of war. Even if they're a great band I must say that this debut album (which was released in July of this year) has been given little promotion and I bet that many of you haven't heard of the Finnish combo.

Musically their playing Viking/Pagan Metal with a lot of Folk influences, or if you will, "Battle Metal", when listening to this can't help thinking of Finntroll, Ensiferum, Bal Sagoth among other acts. But even if they're walking on similar paths with the after mentioned acts, they manage to create the correct atmosphere to become unique.

Choirs, violins, accordions and some female vocals are some of the elements you'll find within this album, interesting compositions and creative songwriting are one of the most interesting assets of this album, the variation on vocals are also something, from growls to clean ones they meld into the music depending the moment and the mood of the music.
Among my favorite songs are definitively "Midnight Sunrise" "Rex Regi Rebellis", and the instrumentals "Sahti-waari" and "Katuman-Kaiku".

One bad point for the album could be the keyboards, they don't fit the music well, when you have the real deal, like accordions and violins, a keyboard must be used only as backing, to give texture and atmosphere to the music, but instead, these guys use the keyboard as a main instrument like in "As The Torches Rise", which is a good song, but the keys doesn't convince me?

Beside that minor setback, this is a great album, recommended for all of you that are into Folk and Pagan Metal, Turisas makes a great debut album filled with creativeness, and a killer artwork done by maestro Niklas Sundin. A must for Viking fans.