The Varangian Way is the second full-length album by the Finnish folk metal band Turisas, released on May 27, 2007 through Century Media.[1] It is a concept album that tells the story of a group of Scandinavians traveling the river routes of medieval Kievan Rus' (territory of modern Belarus, Ukraine and Russia), through Ladoga, Novgorod and Kyiv, down to the Eastern Roman Empire.
| The Varangian Way | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | UK: May 28, 2007 Finland: June 6, 2007 Europe: June 18, 2007 North America: July 17, 2007 Japan: July 25, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | November 2006 - March 2007 at Sound Supreme Studio, Hämeenlinna, Finland | |||
| Genre | Folk metal Power metal Symphonic metal | |||
| Length | 42:57 | |||
| Label | Century Media | |||
| Producer | Mathias "Warlord" Nygård, Janne Saska | |||
| Turisas chronology | ||||
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A Special "Directors Cut" edition was released with the Rasputin single.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| PopMatters |   link |
Track listing edit
- "To Holmgard and Beyond" – 5:17
- "A Portage to the Unknown" – 4:50
- "Cursed Be Iron" – 5:03
- "Fields of Gold" – 4:34
- "In the Court of Jarisleif" – 3:17
- "Five Hundred and One" – 6:18
- "The Dnieper Rapids" – 5:20
- "Miklagard Overture" – 8:18
- "Rasputin" (Boney M. cover) (Director's Cut bonus track) - 3:53
- "To Holmgard and Beyond" [Single Edit] (Enhanced edition bonus track) - 3:00
- "Rex Regi Rebellis" [Finnish Version with Prologue] (Enhanced edition bonus track) - 10:20
- "Battle Metal" Live at Party San '06 (Enhanced edition bonus track) - 5:40
A Limited Edition "Pagan Fest Tour Edition" version comes with two bonus tracks, Rasputin and To Holmgard and Beyond (single edit), and a DVD containing the video for Rasputin and several live performances.
Credits edit
- Mathias "Warlord" Nygård – vocals, orchestral programming, keyboard
- Jussi Wickström – guitar
- Tuomas "Tude" Lehtonen – drums, percussion
- Olli Vänskä – violin
- Hannes "Hanu" Horma – bass, backing vocals
- Janne "Lisko" Mäkinen – accordion
- Music by Mathias Nygård, except track 3 (Nygård/Wickström), 5 (Nygård/Lisko/Vänskä) and 6 (Nygård/Vänskä).
- Lyrics by Mathias Nygård, except track 3 (traditional/Elias Lönnrot), taken from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.
- Classical choir recorded at Vanha Kirjastotalo Music Hall, Tampere, Finland.
- Orchestral samples included in this recording from the Vienna Symphonic Library.
Sources edit
References edit
See also edit
- Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks
- The Long Ships (historical novel dealing with the same subject)
- Kalevala (the lyrics of "Cursed Be Iron" contain a section of the poem "The Origin of Iron")