Turisas

Named after a deity of war drawn from Finnish myth, Turisas fuse symphonic metal, power metal, progressive rock, and Finnish folk elements into their heavy-metal sound. The group coalesced in the southern Finnish town of Hämeenlinna when vocalist Warlord Nygård and guitarist/bassist Jussi Wickström joined forces in 1997. Seeking to bring pagan folklore and graphic battlefield stories to the stage, Nygård and Wickström enlisted percussionist Tude Lehtonen, keyboardist Antti Ventola, and guitarist Georg Laakso. Their initial studio effort, the 1998 recording Taiston Tie—also known as “The Battle Path”—was ultimately shelved after the musicians deemed the results inadequate for capturing the expansive vision they had in mind. A 2000 demo titled The Heart of Turisas reached listeners, journalists, and industry figures, and the band’s explosive concerts helped generate interest that led Century Media to offer a contract in 2003. The resulting debut album, Battle Metal, was tracked at facilities in both France and Finland before its mid-2004 release, after which the quintet played several prominent European metal festivals. Laakso sustained serious spinal injuries in an automobile crash during the autumn of 2005 and subsequently departed; Wickström therefore handled every guitar part on the follow-up, 2007’s The Varangian Way. Bassist Hannes Horma, violinist Olli Vänskä, and accordionists Janne Mäkinen and Antti Laurila—previously employed to augment live performances—were credited as full members on that record. Months before the album’s spring 2007 release, Antti Ventola informed fans via the band’s online forum that he had exited the lineup.