Into the final week of Metal Month II we go, and time to get up off my arse, knuckle down and start wrapping up a few things before we run out of time. Firstly, our last look into
As we complete our short look into Viking Metal, The Batlord has suggested this band as a must, and as I'm still rather clueless about this subgenre (listening to a handful of bands is not going to make me an expert, nor did I expect it would) I bow to his wisdom and present to you the first of our final three bands to be investigated here.
The Varangian Way --- Turisas --- 2007 (Century Media)
You'll probably notice right away from the tracklisting that there is no mention of Odin, Thor, Asgard or Valhalla here, and that's because Turisas are a Finnish band, and rather like Finntroll, tend to stick to the myths relevant to their own particular part of Scandinavia. The band, nevertheless, have experienced their own form of Norse --- or Finnish, if you like --- tragedy, and one would almost believe that the god whose name they took for their band name was scowling down upon them for some perceived slight. Listen to this:
Guitarist George Laakso was involved in a fight in 2004 in which he was stabbed six times in the back. He made a full recovery though, only to be catastrophically injured in a car accident the very next year. This left him paralysed and in a wheelchair. Though he tried to continue with the band it was impossible, and it is unlikely he will ever walk, never mind play guitar, again. To add to that, their accordion player disappeared mysteriously in 2008, having told his bandmates he would not return from Amsterdam on the plane with them, for unspecified, or unrevealed reasons. He has never been seen since. Finally, the band then landed a plum support tour across America and Europe playing second fiddle (literally, more later) to ... Dragonforce! Man, those Finnish gods must really hate them!
“The Varangian Way” is their second of so far four albums, and tells the story of an epic journey by the Finnish heroes into Russia. It's a concept album, but I'm unfamiliar with the myths of Finland. If I can work it out from the lyrics I'll let you know. There's a good dramatic, heavy beginning as we head “To Holmgard and beyond” with marching, rattling drums and proud guitars. I already like the idea in the lyric for this song, the sense of camaraderie and the gentle fun poked at the sailors:
”Osmo and Dalk, Kyy, Kokko and Ulf/ Were glad to be off the oars/ Turo had eaten too much again/ Now hanging himself overboard/ The Tostensson twins were excited as always/ Adventure was their game/ Myself, Hakon the Bastard/ Was out to find my name “ So we know our narrator's name anyway. The vocal when it comes in is surprisingly pleasant, not too rough and certainly understandable. Kind of a power metal feel to this I think, with a choir of backing vocals adding to the grandeur and majesty as the ships set sail for lands unknown, the men aboard determined to make their names resonate down through history as the first ones to cross those borders. Machinegun guitar and hammering drums lead the song, and there's definitely a more restrained sense in the vocal here, the feel of adventure and excitement permeating the tune. Lovely accordion passage then as it slows down in the third minute, the last appearance on album of Lisko, before his strange vanishing act. Hard chugging guitar joins in now and the choir adds its voice as the song reaches a climax and the men of Finland sail out towards their destiny. Great start.
A really nice, but short and soft violin passage takes us into “A portage to the unknown”, which opens on accordion but soon blasts out in guitar assault, the drums rattling as the choir give full vent before vocalist Warlord Matthias Nygård takes the song solo for a short moment, then it all powers back up again as the sailors seem to accept that this is a one-way mission:
”What will we find and what was left behind/ There's no return, get it off your mind. “ Nice keyboard work here, also contributed by Nygård, and the interplay between him and Lisko is pretty cool. Very stirring music all told. Harder vocal now, almost a screaming roar, then a very progressive-style keyboard run which takes us to the end of the track and into “Cursed be iron”, where the vocal changes radically, into a high-pitched scream more comfortable in the death or black metal arena really. Thankfully though that doesn't last, and accompanied by muted drumming and Lisko on the accordion Nygård takes the song into a sort of traditional style. It's weird: it alternates between “Viking death metal” and this more folky, traditional music. Bit offputting as it just jumps from one to the other, taking you by surprise each time.
Hope seems to desert the Norsemen – are Finnish Vikings still Norsemen? --- as “Fields of gold” (NOT the Sting song, I hasten to add!) details their growing disillusionment with their quest as it stretches on, seemingly unobtainable, and the idea they may never see their destination.
”Is a draw the only win?/ Would a tie double the loss? A fight*for existence/ Life-death: 0-0 “ More of the folk music coming in here with violin and accordion, and the return of the “death metal” vocal screaming away, but returning too is the chorus, the choir, carrying the tune in a perhaps incongruously triumphant vein. Given the lyric I would have thought this might be a slow, morose ballad, but nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps defiance is the main theme in the song, a refusal to be beaten. Egyptian style melody then suffuses the music as it runs into an extended instrumental section, mostly carried by keys and guitar. Some nice whistle and military drumming before we go into a reel or something before the big dramatic finish. Then it seems that, despite their misgivings and fears, the Finnish heroes reach their destination and are welcome by the (presumably) king Janisieif, who gives them shelter and I think promises to give them men too. Hard to know when you're unfamiliar with the legends and histories of the country, but that seems to be the basis of it.
“In the court of Jarislief” is a short song, propelled by some demonic violin work from Olli Vänskä, really quite amazing, and the story then continues in “Five hundred and one”, where piano --- the first time I've heard it used on this album --- takes the tune in a little uptempo style before big heavy keyboards, guitars and the roaring scream blast in, trundling drums adding to the mix as the heroes praise the succour offered them by the king. The song develops into a sort of boogie, rocking along in a mid-paced vein, some great keyboard arpeggios from Nygård peppering and in some places driving the tune. In fact, he absolutely blows it out of the water with an unbelievable mellotron solo in the fourth minute: really prog rock! A huge, powerful choral ending, worthy of the end of the album, but we have yet two tracks to go.
Danger again looms for the sailors though as they encounter “The Dnieper Rapids”, a real sense of urgency and even panic in the opening instrumental as the ship heads for the deadly hazard, guitars from Jussi Wickström scything through the track, and for the first time I hear female vocals in the choir; really adds something. As indeed do some very cleverly placed and used orchestral samples, giving the thing a very cinematic and epic feel. Very strange to hear the end of “The Fountain of Salmacis” by Genesis, unless Gabriel and Co. robbed it from somewhere! That takes us to the conclusion of the album, with “Miklagard overture”, but though you would expect such a title to refer to an instrumental, well it doesn't.
It's also the longest track by far here, just over eight minutes. With an acoustic and gentle sort of pastoral opening, framed by lush keys and crying violin it ramps up as it heads into its first minute, with a melody that unaccountably reminds me of the Bond theme! Even this though, allied with the darker vocal, can't detract from the grandeur of this closing track, especially when the orchestral keys come into the mix, and what is this? Sounds like a Yes-style keyboard run! This just gets stranger, and yet here, stranger is better! Back to the acoustic for a moment before it all heads into the big finale, which has definitely been worth waiting for. Superb.
TRACKLISTING
1. To Holmgard and beyond
2. A portage to the unknown
3. Cursed be iron
4. Fields of gold
5. In the court of Jarislief
6. Five hundered and one
7. The Dneiper Rapids
8. Miklagard overture
There's a “Director's Cut” special edition but to be honest it only includes a cover of Boney M's “Rasputin”, which while funny is not really worthy of coverage here (maybe somewhere else...) and another edit of the opening track, so I'm not going to go into it. What I can say is that this has been the most enjoyable album I've listened to in this whole section. More than Bathory, more than Einherjer, more possibly even than Manowar, were I to feature them. I loved everything about this album, and the progressive rock touches, samples, or whatever they were, while weird, were very welcome and helped this album stand out among those I've reviewed so far.
It's sad that Turisas had such bad luck, and I do wonder whatever happened to Lisko, but they had a new album out last year so they're obviously still alive and kicking, albeit with some different members than played on here. But if there is, of what I've heard so far, a crowning glory to the Viking Metal of Finland, I think you'd have to go very far to top this.
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, eat your hearts out.
Spanish Viking Metal band is something of an anachronism, as they have no real connection to the northern invaders, but Hordak --- named for one of the villains in “Masters of the Universe, apparently --- consider themselves the Spanish equivalent of Viking Metal. Meh, we'll see.
The last European wolves --- Hordak --- 2006 (Griffin Records)
They certainly have songs that seem to fit the image, with titles concerning wolves, ravens and battlefields, and the opener to this, their second of three albums, is an instrumental that sets the scene, with what sounds like a French horn booming out before acoustic guitar is joined by flutes and pipes courtesy of guest musician José Luis Frías, the piece retaining very much a celtic influence. It's a relatively mid-paced effort to start us off, and takes us into “Silvano, senor des bosques”, where I'm a bit taken aback to find that the vocals on this are almost as bad (to me) as ol' NSK from Tietanblood! Scratchy, raw, visceral, not the sort of thing I like at all. Oh, Trollheart! What have you done?
The music is very good though, so I'll concentrate on that and largely ignore the vocals of the inappropriately-named Autumn, while his buddy Winter (sigh) handles guitars, bass and drums. As does he. Apart from the bass. Also keyboards. Well the song has a nice romping almost Maiden quality to it, the drums crash but don't thunder or smother and the guitar work is pretty much flawless. The title track opens on a sort of humming acoustic guitar line, Spanish guitar perhaps with a clean vocal, but spoken only for a moment before hard electric guitar breaks out and our man Autumn starts spitting all over the song. Good driving rhythm to it, and it speeds along with the help of a really searing solo from I guess Winter. Maybe. Why do people always do this? Play the same instrument as someone else in a band? Don't they know how hard it makes it for the reviewer? Selfish bastards.
“Son of the fatherland” has a really nice acoustic opening, as do many of these songs, with some more soft flute from José Luis Frías, then the guitar winds up into a hard riff as the song begins to take off, then speaking of taking off, Autumn's scream is like the roar of a jet engine as they thunder down the runway and kick everything up to ten, drumming rattling along furiously as the guitar quickens to meet it. “Witchblood” is a little more restrained, with a grindy guitar and slightly slower drums. Kind of a military marching beat to it. Oh, now we have a double vocal, with Autumn screeching and hissing while another (Winter?) does a darker, deeper one. The first track so far, I think, not to begin with an acoustic guitar, “Fog on the battlefield” just goes for the throat from the start, with a big battleroar from Autumn as the boys pile into an almost speed metal trip. The drumming really takes centre stage here, hammering like a thousand battlesteeds galloping across the field. Something almost like a jig on the guitar there for a short moment, stop/start guitar giving way to more fluid fretwork and back to the jig. Interesting stuff. Certainly powerful and exciting. Gets the blood pumping, as they say.
We take a break then with the second instrumental, “El lag elol” --- don't know what it means: eternal lake? --- as José Luis Frías again favours us with his fine flute playing, as well as some truly lovely Spanish guitar work from one or other of the two guys. A lush keyboard introduces “The night and the fire”, which seems to ride along on a somewhat swaying melody line, with guitar as ever leading the way. The tempo changes fairly quickly though as it kicks up with the arrival of Autumn's vocal, and we get another jig or reel or whatever it is on the guitar. “Ravenkind” starts off rippling electric guitar then breaks into another uptempo rocker with blistering percussion then we close on “Hugin and Munin”, named for the two ravens who were supposed to sit on the throne of Odin and bring him news back from the world. Their names translate as “Memory” and “Thought”. It's a mid-paced, celtic-flavoured song, with another reel or jig in there somewhere, and more flutework. Decent ending to an album that sort of turned into a disappointment for me.
TRACKLISTING
1. For a new pagan age to come
2. Silvano, senor de los bosques
3. The last European wolves
4. Son of the fatherland
5. Witchblood
6. Fog on the battlefield
7. El lago enol
8. The night and the fire
9. Ravenkind
10. Hugin and Munin
I'm probably being unfair to Hordak here. Their music is pretty bitchin', and the vocals, while definitely not my cup at all, are competent. It just isn't quite what I was expecting. Maybe I had been spoiled by listening to Tierra Santa previously, I don't know, or perhaps the prospect of good mythical lyrics made me expect more. But this is not really a band I would come back to of choice, despite their prowess and talent. Some things click with you, some don't. This didn't. But it's still a fine example of the variety and wealth of Viking Metal, certainly beyond the shores of Scandinavia.