Battle Metal (2004) - Turisas

Album
Battle Metal
Artist
Turisas
Year
2004
Genre
Folk/Symphonic Metal
Lyrical Themes
Vikings, The Norse

Tracklist

1) Victoriae and Triumphi Dominus
2) As Torches Rise
3) Battle Metal
4) The Land of Hope and Glory
5) The Messenger
6) One More
7) Midnight Sunrise
8) Amon Ancestors
9) Sahti-Waari
10) Prologue for R.R.R.
11) Rex Regi Rebellis
12) Katuman Kaiku

The now oh-so- ubiquitous term ‘Battle Metal’ has been thrown into the spotlight by the efforts of none other than Turisas, a band that are, amongst some arguments, seeming to be at the lead of the army of folk ‘battle’ metal bands today. The album ‘Battle Metal’ is not their latest effort- it came before 2007s The Varangian Way- but it seems to be a solid tracklist of folk metal tunes, even if it’s slightly less heavy.

The album begins with Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus, a short opening that is a cascade of nicely-composed trumpets and an orchestra of male and female vocals that lead nicely into the first full song, As Torches Rise, which isn’t a terrible song but not amazing either. An average attempt at a ‘hundreds of men lie weak, I think of my family, I’m in battle etc’ song that is still enjoyable to listen to, but not particularly mind-blowing.
Next up on the tracklist is Battle Metal, the song that gave the album and the genre its nickname. It’s an enjoyable song with lyrics that seem to be written with meaning- The heart of Turisas was forged by four winds
In a smithy high up in the skies- with a good chant of ‘BATTLE! METAL! BATTLE! BAT-TLE MET-AL!’ in the background. It’s definitely one to be enjoyed when they play it live.
The next track has a stolen name. ‘The Land of Hope and Glory’- also the name of a famous British song- is (sadly) not a cover. Much disappointment there. Hail Britannia.
Anyway, ‘The Land of Hope and Glory’ opens up by sounding like a Linkin Park song, but is then injected with a chorus of chanting male voices, which soon leads into a blasting riff on the electric guitar. It then goes into a folk metal tune of jumping tempos accompanied with the usual vocals of Warlord Nygard.
The next song, The Messenger, is not a song to particularly pay attention to EXCEPT for the first eight seconds. The violinist’s intro to this song is incredible and definitely top notch. However the rest of the song is very mediocre.
The rest of the songs on ‘Battle Metal’ are pretty similar to the rest of the album, with the exception of 'Prologue to R.R.R.', which is a sinister speech by the Warlord himself with his sexy voice and funny way of saying ‘peace’ and 'Midnight Sunrise' which seems to have a phone in the background (seriously. Am I going nuts?)

Overall Turisas’s ‘Battle Metal’ doesn’t particularly have any mind-blowing songs on it. It’s a very solid effort, however, and this along with ‘The Varangian Way’ will give you an all around view on the band.

Quality: 7.9
As Battle Metal is a theme so taken up upon nowadays, it seems that, even though Turisas were unique, this album is very generic. I don't suppose it's fair on them, but hey. Also, the use of edited vocals and PHONES is annoying.

Musicianship: 9.0
An immense effort. There is no denying that they are very talented musicians. However again, the use of generic modification knocks points off.

Writing: 8.7
A very nice array of lyrics, even if they do occasionally sound a little cliché.

Ingenuity: 9.5
High score here, Turisas, nice job. The band's mix of unusual sounds, violins, folk instruments and both harsh and soft vocals definately hit the spot.

Overall: 8.3

Not very mindblowing but still a very, very enjoyable album. Heilir, Turisas!