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Turisas + Daniel Lioneye - 1/22/2011 - Tavastia - Helsinki

The release of the new album, “Stand Up And Fight”, is coming closer, as Turisas come back again in Helsinki after less than two months, this time in Tavastia, which for once is quite full but not totally sold out for the show of the metal warriors. As most of the times, there is some unusual combination, as the band that support Turisas in today’s warm-up show (before the American tour begins the following week) is Daniel Lioneye, band born from a side-project of the much more popular HIM.
The almost completely renewed line-up, compared to the early days of the debut album, reflect also the strong stylistical changes in which the band went through, moving from hard rock with blues influences, to something definitely more extreme, which can be categorized more into black metal. This explains also the addition to the band of Bolton from Enochian Crescent at the drums. Quite the radical change, I’d say.
Somehow, this makes the band much more appreciated, as it’s shown in the audience reaction. To me it still sounds maybe a little too polished and modern to fully enjoy it, especially in the keyboards and clean vocals, but compared to the previous record is something totally different and also much more enjoyable according to my taste.
The crowd seems to enjoy it too, even if they are not so involved in the show, but still is a nice warm-up before Turisas. Also the set is quite short, and last for a little more than half hour, so that there is plenty of time for the audience to refill their glasses with more beer while waiting for the headliners.
Turisas for a change today offers four brand new songs live (at least one of which has already been played from a few months), and that’s not the only news, seen the new, lighter look of the leather and less furry costumes.
The slighlty new image of the band, including the new haircut of the always-smiling accordion player Netta Skog, shows also somehow an evolution in the sound, as it can be heard in the new songs. One thing that caught my attention is exactly the fact that there seems to be more room for the accordion, which integrates well with Olli’s violin, enhancing the power of these two “trump cards” of the Hämeenlinna-based six-piece.
But the opening of the show is a return to the early days of the band, with the intro of the “Battle Metal” album, followed by “As Torches Rise”. The new material comes when the duo formed by “March Of The Varangian Guard” (already known now by the fans, who are encouraged to sing along by the singer Mathias) and “Take The Day” is played.
The audience didn’t quite catch with the band on this second one, but I bet it’ll be different within a few months. It’s a bit of a shame though that the string and horn sections of the songs are just recorded, while back in autumn there were actual musicians accompaning them on stage. A luxury that you can’t always afford.
Among the songs from the traditional set, “Holmgard...”, “Portage...” etc., Turisas goes all caribbean with “Hunting Pirates”, not really a pirate song as one would think of Running Wild or Alestorm, but from this little taste of it it’s catchy and captivating enough to keep the groove going, and the fans are getting really excited as “Rex Regi Rebellis” starts.
There’s time before the encore for the titletrack of the new album, which sounds somehow epic in this hot and sweaty atmosphere here inside Tavastia. The 3-songs encore ends in a very predictable but yet proper way with “Battle Metal”, making the audience going wild still for one last time tonight.
The show all-in-all ended a little earlier than expected, but that’s because of the preparations for the traditional saturday night disco event here in the most famous Helsinki’s venue. It’ll take a while now before seeing Turisas in their home country once again, so for everyone who’s been at the show, you better treasure it! As for anyone who missed it, it’s very likely that the band will be playing in many summer festivals this year, can you resist till then?


Setlist Turisas:
01) Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus
02) As Torches Rise
03) One More
04) The March Of The Varangian Guard
05) Take The Day
06) To Holmgard And Beyond
07) A Portage To The Unknown
08) In The Court Of Jarisleif
09) Hunting Pirates
10) Rex Regi Rebellis
11) Stand Up And Fight
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12) Sahti-Waari
13) Rasputin
14) Battle Metal


Photos:
Turisas


Daniel Lioneye


Report a cura di Marco Manzi