Century Media
2013
1. For Your Own Good
2. Ten More Miles
3. Piece By Piece
4. Into The Free
5. Run Bhang-Eater, Run!
6. Greek Fire
7. The Days Passed
8. No Good Story Ever Starts With Drinking Tea
9. We Ride Together
Turisas' last album was one that kind of caught me by surprise. I hadn't really heard much of, or listened to the band, prior to Stand Up And Fight. It was a pleasant surprise though as I found the album heavy, epic, and addictive. The album pretty much made me a fan so I was looking forward to hearing some new material from Turisas.
As the release of Turisas2013 drew nearer though a couple things gave me some pause. Number one was the extremely uninventive title and number two was samples I heard in advance of the release. Neither filled me with a lot of confidence and after listening to this one through it seems my concern was justified. Where as Stand Up And Fight was a lesson in sounding epic, this one tries to be a bit more whimsical and just comes off as goofy a lot of the time.
The biggest problem for me on Turisas2013 is that the songs just don't have the same kind of build to epic choruses and don't strike the same heavy notes. The orchestration is there, but it just doesn't seem to have the same significance or lead to the same kind of bombastic power. Most of the tracks are decent, and their sound hasn't Entirely changed, but they never really find that next level. Nothing that makes me want to yell out "Rising! Fighting!". Worse, some of the material just seems random, often with misplaced shouting, and lyrics that are just plain dumb.
Some songs that just entirely lose me on this one are Run Bhang-Eater, Run! and No Good Story Starts With Drinking Tea. I'm not even opposed to some vaguely comical songs. I mean, I'm a Tankard fan so that should tell you all you need to know about that, if you know the band. The problem is Turisas' symphonic stylings and sound aren't really made for this approach. When the band growls out lyrics like "Public erection, gives little affection" it gets more of a groan from me than a laugh. This is just the wrong direction for the band in my opinion.
On the other hand, one bright spot here is Ten More Miles which sounds fairly epic and has a fun music video that accompanies it. The video is more successfully amusing as it shows some guy day dreaming in his dreary office job of warriors, etc. Basically, this one finds a way to be fun without becoming entirely too silly, and still has a good amount of power. The Days Passed is also pretty enjoyable with a nice energetic roll. This is the kind of thing I want to hear from Turisas. Give me songs about them hunting pirates or fighting for glory and keep me the songs about their boners.
Overall, this is an ok album, but it's rarely more than that. This is certainly a big drop off in quality from Stand Up And Fight as the band just doesn't bring the same kind of majestic and heavy tunes to the table. This might be an alright pick up for fans, but it's not their strongest effort. Maybe the comical nature of this album will sit better with some others, but I want my symphonic stuff to have a little more of an epic air than this. Turisas2013 just doesn't have the kind of power I want out of the band.
Highlights: Ten More Miles, The Days Passed
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Ten More Miles
3. Piece By Piece
4. Into The Free
5. Run Bhang-Eater, Run!
6. Greek Fire
7. The Days Passed
8. No Good Story Ever Starts With Drinking Tea
9. We Ride Together
Turisas' last album was one that kind of caught me by surprise. I hadn't really heard much of, or listened to the band, prior to Stand Up And Fight. It was a pleasant surprise though as I found the album heavy, epic, and addictive. The album pretty much made me a fan so I was looking forward to hearing some new material from Turisas.
As the release of Turisas2013 drew nearer though a couple things gave me some pause. Number one was the extremely uninventive title and number two was samples I heard in advance of the release. Neither filled me with a lot of confidence and after listening to this one through it seems my concern was justified. Where as Stand Up And Fight was a lesson in sounding epic, this one tries to be a bit more whimsical and just comes off as goofy a lot of the time.
The biggest problem for me on Turisas2013 is that the songs just don't have the same kind of build to epic choruses and don't strike the same heavy notes. The orchestration is there, but it just doesn't seem to have the same significance or lead to the same kind of bombastic power. Most of the tracks are decent, and their sound hasn't Entirely changed, but they never really find that next level. Nothing that makes me want to yell out "Rising! Fighting!". Worse, some of the material just seems random, often with misplaced shouting, and lyrics that are just plain dumb.
Some songs that just entirely lose me on this one are Run Bhang-Eater, Run! and No Good Story Starts With Drinking Tea. I'm not even opposed to some vaguely comical songs. I mean, I'm a Tankard fan so that should tell you all you need to know about that, if you know the band. The problem is Turisas' symphonic stylings and sound aren't really made for this approach. When the band growls out lyrics like "Public erection, gives little affection" it gets more of a groan from me than a laugh. This is just the wrong direction for the band in my opinion.
On the other hand, one bright spot here is Ten More Miles which sounds fairly epic and has a fun music video that accompanies it. The video is more successfully amusing as it shows some guy day dreaming in his dreary office job of warriors, etc. Basically, this one finds a way to be fun without becoming entirely too silly, and still has a good amount of power. The Days Passed is also pretty enjoyable with a nice energetic roll. This is the kind of thing I want to hear from Turisas. Give me songs about them hunting pirates or fighting for glory and keep me the songs about their boners.
Overall, this is an ok album, but it's rarely more than that. This is certainly a big drop off in quality from Stand Up And Fight as the band just doesn't bring the same kind of majestic and heavy tunes to the table. This might be an alright pick up for fans, but it's not their strongest effort. Maybe the comical nature of this album will sit better with some others, but I want my symphonic stuff to have a little more of an epic air than this. Turisas2013 just doesn't have the kind of power I want out of the band.
Highlights: Ten More Miles, The Days Passed
Rating - 3.0/5
