Turisas - Rock City Nottingham

Turisas… Rock City… Nottingham… 19:03:11…
Spring is almost in the air so it’s time for some mad March Battle Metal, not strictly a subgenre of heavy metal but try telling that to the hundreds of Turisas fans mustered here in Nottingham tonight. The Finnish masters of folk/symphonic/power metal who have taken their name from the ancient Finnish god of war are over here in Britain on a fleeting Viking raid, rampaging their way to a trilogy of gigs in London, Prestatin (Hammer Fest) and here in Robin Hood country rounding off their pillaging at rock city. Tonight’s gig is the third year running that I’ve seen Turisas, in 2009 I caught up with them at Bloodstock Open Air and last year they were on the bill of Sonisphere at Knebworth.
Support tonight comes in the form of fellow Scandinavians Crimfall also from Finland musically they’re in the same genre as Turisas but more melodic and orchestral. Crimfall sport not one but two lead singers, Helena Haaparanta belts out a good tune and wouldn’t go amiss in Wagner’s Die Walküre while Mikko Häkkinen treads the boards like a marauding barbarian growling and screaming his way through the macho bits of the songs. Storm before the calm, frost upon their graves and the crown of treason are just three of their ‘epic’ songs worth checking out online http://www.myspace.com/crimfall
With rock city’s sword and axe wilding armour clad hordes well and truly warmed up after the support band have departed the stage for Asgard or their tour bus (I’ll let you decide) it’s a brief respite before the main invasion. They come from the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow and hit the stage in dribs and drabs, we’re into the second song before Olli Vänskä (electric violin) walks into the fray and Netta Skog (accordion) has been left behind in Holmgard or wherever as she isn’t even on the tour but I digress. Mathias "Warlord" Nygård leads from the front and resplendently clad in leather and war paint he stomps about singing numbers like as torches rise, the march of the Varangian guard, stand up and fight (the title track of their new album) and to Holmgard and beyond. The rest of Turisas all play their part, Jussi Wickström (lead guitar) Jaakko Kunnas (bass) Tuomas "Tude" Lehtonen (drums) and the afore mentioned Olli Vänskä are all in the vanguard of the battle. The crowd have travelled from far and wide for tonight’s show and are well entertained by a band at the top of their game if more metal bands bothered to put a show on instead of just standing around the stage playing their songs then maybe they’d be rewarded with a loyal following which Turisas enjoy. Encore time with no less than three numbers, hunting pirates also from the new album is followed by an old favourite, the Boney M cover Rasputin all together now, Rah Rah Rasputin… to round off the show it could be none other than the title track of their debut album battle metal a mantra chanted by the crowd all evening long finally brings the curtain down on an epic night of Vikingesque shenanigans. Check out Turisas online http://www.myspace.com/turisasofficial… GD.