Live: Turisas + ChthoniC – Corporation, Sheffield – 10/11/2011

Adam — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:05:23 +0000

It’s always hard to tell how a support band will be received beforehand, especially when they and the headline act vary in style. Fortunately, there were more than a few hardened black metal fans in attendance tonight, me included, and CHTHONIC put on a great display, showing their powerful, brutal and oriental atmospheric style of black metal.

The set was primarily made up of superb new album ‘Takasago Army’ and the previous album, ‘Mirror of Retribution’, and was lapped up by the crowd, duly obliging with fist pumping, throwing the devil horns and headbanging all thrown in for good measure. The 40 minute set flew by, and new material like ‘Broken Jade’, ‘Southern Cross’, ‘Oceanquake’ and ‘Takao’ sounded excellent live as they created an excellent atmosphere with their powerful and destructive nature.

One thing you can always expect from a TURISAS show is to have a bloody good time, and it was no surprise that the party was in full flow as soon as they hit the stage. With the crowd constantly shouting ‘Battle Metal’ not only before they came on, but near enough after each song had reached it conclusion, you could tell the fans were right up for it tonight.

With new album, ‘Stand Up And Fight’, and a new image too, yes, the furry outfits are all but gone apart from a bit here and there, in favour of a denim and leather approach, but don’t worry, the new image doesn’t stretch as far as the war paint, that is still fully intact, with a few members of the audience also deciding to adorn themselves with the customary red and black too!

Opening number, ‘The March of The Varangian Guard’, was the first of a handful of material played tonight from the new album, and really got the ball rolling before pints were raised aloft for a cracking rendition of ‘One More’, which got both the festivities and singing in good stead for the rest of the show. As usual, frontman Mathias ‘Warlord’ Nygard had requested some local ale, although the closest he got was from Kent. Still, he appreciated it more than the foreign lager he was served on other the UK dates so far according to him.

The energetic set kept on going with the likes of ‘To Holmgard And Beyond’, and the upbeat ‘Sahti-Waari’. The new material was going down an absolute storm with the likes of ‘The Great Escape’, ‘Take The Day!’ and eventual set closer ‘Stand Up And Fight’ particularly impressing live.

As TURISAS came back for the encore, everybody’s favourite cover really set the place alight. ‘Rasputin’ was greeted by the ever hungry hordes, with everyone shouting Ra-Ra-Rasputin and literally blowing the roof of the venue. The time had come for those fans who were requesting this from the start of the show. A rousing rendition of ‘Battle Metal’ closed the proceedings, and brought a close to a fun filled folk metal gig. TURISAS are really masters of their craft when it comes to catchy tunes that you can’t help but dance, headbang and throw the horns to. Until next time you crazy folksters!

Ratings:

TURISAS: 4.6/5.0

CHTHONIC: 4.2/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Photography By Alex Shaw (Turisas gallery click here)

Live: Dragonforce + Turisas – Manchester Academy 1 – 26/09/2008

Adam — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:42:33 +0000

The brand new DRAGONFORCE album 'Ultra Beatdown' has literally just hit the streets, and hot on the heels of that release, the band are launching their corresponding world tour. This is only the second of circa 80 shows which will see the power metal heroes play Australia, USA, Japan, Canada and all over Europe. Joining DRAGONFORCE for the majority of their trek are Finnish nutters TURISAS - hardly a similar style power metal act, but certainly an entertaining band nonetheless.

With a good proportion of the crowd arriving early, TURISAS endorsed the reason why as they ripped through such classics as their ode to drinking alcohol, 'One More'. The BONEY M cover (ra! ra!) 'Rasputin' is aways an enjoyable number, but the highlight of any TURISAS show is their anthemic war cry 'Battle Metal'. Finally, 'To Holmgard and Beyond' rounded off 45 minutes of highly entertaining, tongue-in-cheek metal, and this set would have been a perfect warm-up for any act.

Every time I see DRAGONFORCE, I wonder how the hell they have got to the level they have when there are certainly some superior power metal bands out there. Only 2 nights ago I saw an awesome display by FIREWIND only half a mile down the road, in front of a tenth of the crowd – a show that I have to say I enjoyed more than the DRAGONFORCE show tonight.

OK, DRAGONFORCE have got a handful of great songs (I'm talking 'Valley of the Damned', 'My Spirit Will Go On', 'Fury of the Storm' and 'Through the Fire and Flames') all of which I enjoyed tonight – but they've also got plenty of mediocre stuff which unfortunately has to be played to pad out the set. The hyper-speed melodies do make some of the songs difficult to enjoy live. However, the over-the-top solos of speed obsessed guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are extremely entertaining, even if they often sound like the noise you get when trying to tune into a radio frequency.

As for the new material, it just sounds like same old, same old, with only set opener 'Heroes of Our Time' coming close to the standard of the previously mentioned highlights. The awful keyboard solo by Vadim Pruzhanov was cringe worthy, but it was a necessary evil as it allowed drummer Dave Mackintosh to take a much needed breather. Mackintosh is the hardest working drummer you'll ever see live as he has to pound the drums at a ferocious speed, forming a key element of the DRAGONFORCE sound.

DRAGONFORCE like to make a lot of their show very light-hearted – but at times I find it a bit of a parody and a lot of it I don't find funny. Still, judging by the reaction of the sell out crowd tonight, it seems that my opinion is the minority. Still, I have to admit, with the excellent sound in the Academy tonight, for the first time ever, I did actually enjoy a DRAGONFORCE show.

DRAGONFORCE Setlist: Heroes of Our Time / Operation Ground and Pound / Reasons To Live / Fury of the Storm / Revolution Deathsquad / Soldiers of the Wasteland / The Last Journey Home / My Spirit Will Go On / The Warrior Inside / Valley Of The Damned / Through the Fire and Flames

TURISAS Setlist: Battle Metal / A Portage to the Uknown / One More / In the Court of Jarisleif / Rasputin / To Holmgard and Beyond

DRAGONFORCE Rating: 3.8/5.0

TURISAS Rating: 4.0/5.0

Review by James Allman

Photography by Alexander Shaw

TURISAS

DRAGONFORCE

Baconmusic » Turisas

Live: Turisas + ChthoniC – Corporation, Sheffield – 10/11/2011

Live: Dragonforce + Turisas – Manchester Academy 1 – 26/09/2008