2011年 03月 19日 土曜日 15:30

Thu 17 Mar – Turisas, Crimfall

Just setting the tone of this review by saying how awesome a night this was! This was only my second gig at the Islington O2 and I have to mention what an awesome venue it is. Just the right size for an intimate gig without feeling cramped, but still feel like you're at a big show.

I'd never heard of the support band, Crimfall, before but how amazing! A band with two lead vocalists providing a great blend of melodic black metal with a kind of pagan folk metal with operatic vocals. Great set, I don't normally enjoy support bands that I've not heard of before but I kind of didn't want them to end. Crimfall - Recommendo!

After a bit of a wait, the anticipation for Turisas was built to extreme heights as the intro of the Battle Metal album, Victoriae & Triumphi Dominus, began. Everyone knew only one thing could come next; the epic As Torches Rise. One of my personal favourites played out as the band stormed on stage (albeit short of accordian player, Netta) followed by another classic off the first album, One More. Singer Matthias 'Warlord' Nygård looking very happy to be back on European soil, drinking European beer after seven long weeks "drinking American piss".

The set was very evenly mixed between songs from the first two albums as well as the latest effort Stand Up and Fight. Classic songs such as The Messenger, Five Hundred And One, To Holmgard and Beyond and Miklagard Overture stood well next to new ones such as Take the Day!, The March of the Varangian Guard, Venetoi! - Prasinoi!, The Great Escape, Stand Up And Fight, and some others (i'm not familiar enough with the new album to know). A thoroughly enjoyable night was rammed home by an awesome encore of Hunting Pirates, an extended and hilarious crowd-friendly version of Rasputin (as if that song needed to be any more popular) and of course, Battle Metal.

Overall, one of the best gigs i've seen in a long time!