Turisas
Group Option
Admins
Members
Photo Albums
Description
Turisas is a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal, with some influences taken from symphonic metal. Turisas is known to play all of their solos on electric violin, as opposed to traditional guitar solos. The album title Battle Metal has given rise to the term "battle metal" being used as a description of Turisas' genre (used mainly by Metal Hammer magazine and its readers) but it is not yet recognised as a canonical metal subgenre.
Announcements
Turisas has announced it's new album will be titled "Stand Up and Fight." “’Stand Up And Fight’ is a loose continuation of the story from ‘The Varangian Way’, and picks up where the previous one left us, in Constantinople,” explains mainman Mathias Nygård. “However, it is not a sequel as such. In general, the songs are much more universal and deal with topics that can be placed just as tightly into the modern world as in the 11th century Byzantine Empire. ‘Stand Up And Fight’ has much more to offer the contemporary listener.”
Mathias further commented on the album: "Turisas has always been about progression and evolution, and now with a new album we're not here to repeat ourselves but to have something new to come with - also visually. Our look has developed through the years, and it's never been something we created once to be static forever. Innovation is reinventing yourself regularly. We toured ‘The Varangian Way’ for three and a half years with a look that was tied to the album. With a new release, it was time for a makeover. The visual side has always played a very strong role in Turisas, and fear not - that's not going to change. Stronger than ever, Turisas has returned!"
The title track is currently available as a free download at this location (Facebook or Twitter account required).
Discussions
No discussion added yet.
Wall
Love this band. Ever since the first time I heard "Battle Metal", I was sold! I'm planning on catching these guys in concert with a friend, next time they roll through! HAIL!!
Monday, 17 September 2012 21:25
Turisas is a Finnish folk metal band from Hameenlinna. It was founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickstrom and named after an ancient Finnish God of war.
Turisas is a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal, with some influences taken from symphonic metal. Turisas is known to play all of their solos on electric violin, as opposed to traditional guitar solos. The album title Battle Metal has given rise to the term "battle metal" being used as a description of Turisas' genre (used mainly by Metal Hammer magazine and its readers) but it is not yet recognised as a canonical metal subgenre.
On October 28, 2005, guitarist Georg Laakso was badly injured in a car accident and due to the extent of his spinal cord injuries, on July 12, 2006 issued a statement of his permanent resignation from the band on the official website. Nevertheless, the band continued to work on their second album, titled The Varangian Way, which was released in early 2007. Jussi Wickström recorded all guitars on the album.
Mathias Nygård revealed in the January 2007 edition of Terrorizer magazine that the touring musicians Hannes Horma, Olli Vänskä, Janne Mäkinen and Antti Laurila had been added to the band as full-time members, taking them up to an 8-piece act. It later turned out that of the two accordion players, only Mäkinen had become an official member. Laurila is no longer a touring musician for the band. On February 19, 2007, keyboardist Antti Ventola posted a message on the Turisas discussion forum announcing that he and the band had parted ways. This was later confirmed by the rest of the band. Mathias Nygård performed the keyboards on The Varangian Way and Turisas are presently using backing tracks to replicate them on stage.
In January 2008, accordion player Janne "Lisko" Mäkinen disappeared mysteriously in Amsterdam. For the upcoming tour dates in spring 2008 Turisas announced Netta Skog as a step-in accordionist. She had already helped the band on the European tour in October–November 2007. Netta was soon after added to the band on a full-time base.
After a string of festivals in the Summer of 2008, in September the band started a long tour through the United States and Europe in support of DragonForce. This tour ended in March 2009, and the band then took part in a new European tour with Cradle of Filth and Moonspell, dubbed the "Filthfest Tour 2009", in April and May 2009.
As of March 2010, Turisas announced they are in the studio working on their new album; since then, the band has documented the recording process in a series of studio diary videos on YouTube. The title for the upcoming album, Stand Up and Fight, was revealed on November 11, 2010: the album is planned to be released through Century Media on January 31, 2011 in Europe and on February 8, 2011 in North America.
A new song called The March of the Varangian Guard was performed at the band's Finnish gigs in October 2010. On 17th December 2010, the title track "Stand Up And Fight" was released as a free download on the band's website.
The band has been announced to take part in tours in Mexico/ North America/ Canada with Cradle of Filth, the other supporting bands being Nachtmystium and Daniel Lioneye beginning at the end of January 2011 and in Europe with Die Apokalyptischen Reiter on March–April 2011.
Current members
• Mathias ‘Warlord’ Nygard – vocals, percussion (since 1997)
• Jussi Wickstrom – guitar (since 1997)
• Hannes ‘Hanu’ Horma – bass (since 2007)
• Tuomas ‘Tude’ Lehtonen – drums, percussion (since 1997)
• Olli Vanska – violin (since 2007)
• Netta Skog – accordion (since 2008)
Former members
• Janne Makinen – accordion (2007–2008)
• Antti Ventola – keyboard (1997–2007)
• Georg Laakso – guitar (ex-Cadacross) (1999–2006)
• Ari Kärkkäinen – guitar (1997–1999)
• Sami Aarnio – bass guitar
• Tino Ahola – bass guitar
• Mikko Törmikoski – bass guitar (until 2004)
Turisas is a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal, with some influences taken from symphonic metal. Turisas is known to play all of their solos on electric violin, as opposed to traditional guitar solos. The album title Battle Metal has given rise to the term "battle metal" being used as a description of Turisas' genre (used mainly by Metal Hammer magazine and its readers) but it is not yet recognised as a canonical metal subgenre.
On October 28, 2005, guitarist Georg Laakso was badly injured in a car accident and due to the extent of his spinal cord injuries, on July 12, 2006 issued a statement of his permanent resignation from the band on the official website. Nevertheless, the band continued to work on their second album, titled The Varangian Way, which was released in early 2007. Jussi Wickström recorded all guitars on the album.
Mathias Nygård revealed in the January 2007 edition of Terrorizer magazine that the touring musicians Hannes Horma, Olli Vänskä, Janne Mäkinen and Antti Laurila had been added to the band as full-time members, taking them up to an 8-piece act. It later turned out that of the two accordion players, only Mäkinen had become an official member. Laurila is no longer a touring musician for the band. On February 19, 2007, keyboardist Antti Ventola posted a message on the Turisas discussion forum announcing that he and the band had parted ways. This was later confirmed by the rest of the band. Mathias Nygård performed the keyboards on The Varangian Way and Turisas are presently using backing tracks to replicate them on stage.
In January 2008, accordion player Janne "Lisko" Mäkinen disappeared mysteriously in Amsterdam. For the upcoming tour dates in spring 2008 Turisas announced Netta Skog as a step-in accordionist. She had already helped the band on the European tour in October–November 2007. Netta was soon after added to the band on a full-time base.
After a string of festivals in the Summer of 2008, in September the band started a long tour through the United States and Europe in support of DragonForce. This tour ended in March 2009, and the band then took part in a new European tour with Cradle of Filth and Moonspell, dubbed the "Filthfest Tour 2009", in April and May 2009.
As of March 2010, Turisas announced they are in the studio working on their new album; since then, the band has documented the recording process in a series of studio diary videos on YouTube. The title for the upcoming album, Stand Up and Fight, was revealed on November 11, 2010: the album is planned to be released through Century Media on January 31, 2011 in Europe and on February 8, 2011 in North America.
A new song called The March of the Varangian Guard was performed at the band's Finnish gigs in October 2010. On 17th December 2010, the title track "Stand Up And Fight" was released as a free download on the band's website.
The band has been announced to take part in tours in Mexico/ North America/ Canada with Cradle of Filth, the other supporting bands being Nachtmystium and Daniel Lioneye beginning at the end of January 2011 and in Europe with Die Apokalyptischen Reiter on March–April 2011.
Current members
• Mathias ‘Warlord’ Nygard – vocals, percussion (since 1997)
• Jussi Wickstrom – guitar (since 1997)
• Hannes ‘Hanu’ Horma – bass (since 2007)
• Tuomas ‘Tude’ Lehtonen – drums, percussion (since 1997)
• Olli Vanska – violin (since 2007)
• Netta Skog – accordion (since 2008)
Former members
• Janne Makinen – accordion (2007–2008)
• Antti Ventola – keyboard (1997–2007)
• Georg Laakso – guitar (ex-Cadacross) (1999–2006)
• Ari Kärkkäinen – guitar (1997–1999)
• Sami Aarnio – bass guitar
• Tino Ahola – bass guitar
• Mikko Törmikoski – bass guitar (until 2004)
Monday, 24 January 2011 10:49
