Turisas - Stand Up and Fight

Remember the speech William Wallace gave to his warriors before going into the legendary battle of Stirling on “Braveheart”? Well, it could as well be Turisas “Stand Up and Fight” theme playing and the reactions would be just as enthusiastic and motivated as the ones portrayed on Mel Gibson’s directed movie. I know it may sound a bit silly for a grown adult to behave like a Dungeons and Dragons-like nerd, but this new album from Pagan and folk metallers Turisas really made me want to grab a gigantic sword, put on a steel-armour and slay a few throats.

On their third full-length work the Finns haven’t written mere songs, they’ve created epic symphonies to soundtrack tales of brave and bloody battles and the overall feel falls slightly into Hollywood or Disney Pictures bombast. “Stand Up and Fight” is rich on dynamics as the songs differ a bit from each other, opening song “The March of the Varangian Guard” sounds like the perfect soundtrack to an epic movie scene with the troops marching into the battlefield, while following theme “Take the Day!” boasts a slightly 80’s metal feel. “Hunting Pirates” just like its name suggests sees Turisas plying the Pirate metal trade with invigorating results, and next comes “Venetoi! - Prasinoi!” which wouldn’t be out of place in an epic movie soundtrack like “Prince of Persia”.

In general, I know that albums of this ilk tend to be a bit goofy and honestly, there’re moments scattered throughout “Stand Up and Fight” that almost border on cheese, for a second I feared that vocalist Warlord Nygård would sing it’s the final countdown on “Take the Day”, a song that has slightly Eurovision splendour, something that Finns seem to fancy given that Lordi once won the Eurovision festival. Yet, I believe that the band’s refined songwriting skills and ability to straddle between multiple ambiences and moods gives the whole album a genuine boost and prevents it from sounding like Andrew Lloyd Webber production. (6.8/10)

Luca Niero

Band info: www.turisas.com

Label info: www.centurymedia.com

For fans of: Ensiferum, Eluveitie, Finntroll