Band:	Turisas
Album:	Turisas2013
Style:	Folk metal
Release date:	August 23, 2013
Guest review by:	omne metallum

01. For Your Own Good
02. Ten More Miles
03. Piece By Piece
04. Into The Free
05. Run Bhang-Eater, Run!
06. Greek Fire
07. The Days Passed
08. No Good Story Ever Starts With Drinking Tea
09. We Ride Together

Wow; come 2013, Turisas were poised to go on to bigger and better things, coming off a run of albums that had seen the Finnish band create a reputation for themselves as a folk metal band to keep an eye on. This poorly named album was supposed to be the crowning achievement that their career had built up to. Instead, it has killed all momentum the band had, to the point that, as of time of writing (April 2020), the band has only toured sporadically and not released any new material since. Why this is, is evident when the album comes to a finish and you can evaluate just what on earth you have endured.

"For Your Own Good" opens with a plea that "This is for your own good", which given the quality of the album makes you question what you have done wrong to deserve such punishment. It sets the tone for the record; that the band don't have their heart in it and are trying to force it rather than it sounding natural like before. This is carried on through tracks like "Into The Free" and "Greek Fire", where you can hear the band trying to play something that sounds like a carbon copy of their former glories. Why listen to a second rate Turisas when I can just stick on The Varangian Way and hear the classics?

Rarely does a single song encapsulate a fall from grace so succinctly as "Run Bhang-Eater Run!" does. From the Benny Hill-esque horns through lyrics such as "public erection gives little affection" and "if you pee on the Sultan", you wonder what the hell had overcome the band. They had always danced on the line of being a jokey band but that line is far in the distance of the rear view mirror on this song. Not a band to do things by halves, the band come close to outdoing themselves on "No Good Story Ever Begins With Drinking Tea". At least on this song they provide a reason for their loss of perspective, singing "Alcohol! All night long! Same Old Song!"; it sums itself up at the very least.

The production lacks the character of previous releases, sounding sterile; it does not endear the music to the listener like it had previously. While everything is audible, it serves only to put a spotlight on the poor quality of the music contained within.

There are only two tracks on this album that sound like they could have fitted into any of their prior albums, with "Piece By Piece" and "We Ride Together" the only songs that sound like the band had their heart in it. At least if this is to be the last album from the band, we can say they went out on a high note with their final track.

Overall, it is an album that seemed to burst the Turisas bubble, with little of merit; it sees the band try to force out another record that didn't have their heart in it. Two tracks among a sea of hallow nods to their past and jokes that still boggle the mind; it's an album forgotten, and with good reason.