''Battle Metal'' is the debut studio album by the Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band Turisas. It was released on 26 July 2004 by

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...

Background and production

Turisas was formed in 1997, but did not have a recording contract until November 2003, having been signed by Century Media. Thus, ''Battle Metal'' is a collection of songs written over a period of six years. The band began

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...

and recorded a demo in early 2003, after Mathias Nygård, the band's singer and songwriter had completed his one-year

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

. Turisas had originally planned to enter a studio later that year, but decided to postpone upon learning that only three and a half weeks of recording time would be available to them. By autumn, Nygård was offered up to five weeks of recording time at the Sound Suite Studio in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, with Terje Refsnes, a notable producer. Actual recording began in November at the Steeltrack Studio in Parola, Finland, with the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

parts by Olli Vänskä, followed by

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

by Riku Ylitalo. After Tude Lehtonen had completed the drum parts, the band left for France to continue recording through December. The band had remained at the Sound Suite Studio for thirty days, but was unable to finish the recording, still missing the vocals, choirs, as well as some acoustic instruments and

percussions A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and returned to Finland. Most of these was recorded at the Steeltrack Studio in January – February 2004, while Nygård went back to Marseille to complete the vocals; ''Battle Metal'' was finally finished on 31 March.

Music

"Victoriae & triumphi dominus" ("Lord of Victiory and Triumph") is an instrumental intro, leading to the opening track, "As Torches Rise", meant to capture a battlefield's atmosphere of darkness and despair. "Battle Metal" is a remake of "The Heart of Turisas" from the eponymous 2001 demo with subdued

growling Growling is a low, guttural Animal communication, vocalization produced by animals as an aggression, aggressive warning but can also be found in other contexts such as playful behaviors or mating. Different animals will use growling in specific ...

. "The Land of Hope and Glory" delves into the themes of nostalgia and homecoming, combining folky sounds with a bombastic chorus. "The Messenger", one of the band's oldest songs, explores the topics of fate and religion. "One More" is based around a violin theme, which was first featured in the song "Terra Tavestorum", appearing on the 1999 demo of the same name. Set in a

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

, the song's mood is reminiscent of the absent friends. Its folky tunes are reminiscent of the

Romani music Romani music (often referred to as Gypsy or Gipsy music, which is often considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Romani people, an ethnic-minority group concentrated in parts of Europe. Historically nomadic, though now largely settled, ...

and are complemented by a big, orchestrated chorus. "Midnight Sunrise", an older song as well, contrasts the myths of various evil creatures living in dark places, unable to handle sunlight, and coming out at night to prey with the phenomenon of the

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

. "Among Ancestors" is a choir-driven song, describing a battlefield on which the warring soldiers are missed by their loved ones. "Sahti-waari", which can be roughly translated as "Old Man Ale", is a homage to the traditional homebrewed beer from the Häme region of Finland. Vaari, the Finnish word for grandfather, is not about any particular character. Rather, it is a celebration of the old traditions and their recent reemergence in the form of

neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...

. The lyrics in "Prologue for R.R.R." are taken from the opening for the historical novel ''The Surgeon's Stories: Times of Gustaf Adolf'' by Zacharias Topelius, a Fennoswede author. "Rex regi rebellis" ("The King is Rebellious Towards the King" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

) is dedicated to the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

and the Finnish cavalry Hakkapeliitta, the topics that have fascinated Mathias Nygård since childhood. The title again comes from ''The Surgeon's Stories''; the lyrics in Swedish are by Topelius as well, taken from " Finska rytteriets marsch i trettioåriga kriget". "Katuman kaiku" ("The Echoe of Lake Katuma") is an instrumental outro. Katumajärvi is a lake in the Häme region, which was targeted by the Second Swedish Crusade to subjugate and Christianise the local

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

tribes. According to a legend, when the invaders left, the locals jumped into the lake to wash away their

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

and continued to practice the old beliefs and traditions for many years to come, with some surviving into the 19th century.

Track listing

The 2009 reissue features the "Battle Metal 2008" music video, as well as two live tracks, "As Torches Rise" and "One More" recorded at

Ruisrock Ruisrock is a rock festival held annually on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland. Ruisrock, founded in 1970, is the second-oldest rock festival in Europe (after Pinkpop) and the oldest in Finland. The festival has attracted internationa ...

and Wanaja festivals respectively in 2008.

Personnel

* Mathias Nygård – vocals, alto, soprano and sopranino recorders, programming, additional

*Jussi Wickström – electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar,

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

*Tude Lehtonen – drums/percussion (

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, udu, congas, bongos, electric percussion) *Antti Ventola – synthesizers, piano,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

*Georg Laakso – electric and acoustic guitar Additional musicians *Riku Ylitalo – accordion *Olli Vänskä –violin * Emmanuelle Zoldan – female vocals

Charts

References

External links

"Battle Metal 2008" official video
{{Authority control Turisas albums Century Media Records albums 2004 debut albums