Brutiful_ViXn
Reign In Metal
Zodiac :  Metal Reputation : 88
Join date : 2012-01-05
Location : Vacationing in Hell
 | |  Turisas - 2013 (2013) Album Review | |
Turisas - 2013 (2013)
Century Media Records -- Running Time 39:47
I first saw Turisas live a few years back supporting Dragonforce (around the time of their second album 'The Varangian Way'). They bettered DF that night, are an incredible live band, and both my wife and I walked away from the gig converted to the ways of Turisas Red & Black! I went out and bought both albums released up to that point. However, it was when they released third album 'Stand Up And Fight' in 2011 that I was totally stopped in my tracks. That album was easily one of the best releases of 2011 with a much more mature and melodic sound and it is still a firm favourite in my house. Turisas have now returned with album number four '2013' and it has a lot to live up to!
With three new band members keyboardist 'Robert Engstrand' (YES, keyboards!), drummer 'Jaakko Jakku' and bassist 'Jesper Anastasiadis' plus a totally different production style you are not going to hear 'Stand Up And Fight Part Two' which was a hugely rich and bombastic album. What you will hear is a much more organic and live sounding CD and of course the keyboards add a completely new dimension to things. Once you accustom yourself to the difference in production sound what you will also hear are nine songs that are unmistakeably Turisas and just about as good as anything that appeared on 'Stand Up And Fight'
Opener 'For Your Own Good' starts quietly and builds slowly into a great track with huge melody and a wonderful foot tapping chorus. When the keyboard solo hits I was hit by a resemblance to Sonata Arctica but the vocals of 'Mathias Nygård' (which are once again fantastic throughout '2013') keep this totally Turisas! Followed by 'Ten More Miles', Piece By Piece' and 'Into The Free' all of which contain melodies big enough to fall into '2013' the album doesn't hang about. Of course, the awesome guitars of 'Jussi Wickström', violins of 'Olli Vänskä' and excellent huge folk metal gang vocals are all present and correct, but, as with the last album, Turisas have moved way beyond their Battle/Folk Metal roots into something almost akin to Musical Theatre and I love it! There is no story arc this time either, and even though many of the songs are dark and the lyrics deep, the band can afford to chill out and have a bit of a laugh as well, which they do to great effect on 'Run, Bhang-Eater, Run!' (look at that song title carefully) and the awesomely named 'No Good Story Ever Starts With Drinking Tea'!
'2013' takes slightly longer to get into than 'Stand Up And Fight, mainly due to the difference in Nygård's production and the mix and mastering which was handled this time around by 'Jaime Gomez' (Cathedral, Ulver, Primordial) but this is still absolutely brilliant stuff and the new members fit like a red and black painted glove! '2013', Turisas really could not have picked a better name for this album!!
http://www.turisas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/turisas
https://twitter.com/turisasofficial
https://www.facebook.com/centurymedia
Review written exclusively for Brutiful Entertainment by Rick Tilley
www.facebook.com/richard.tilley.351
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