First, an admission that apart from this album I have only heard a few songs from Turisas. I have kept meaning to investigate the band as they seems to be a heck of a live outfit according to what I have read, but somehow I have never managed it. So, it was with some real interest that I put this album on, and to say that I was surprised is something of an understatement. I know that they have suffered some line-up changes since the last one, but maybe that has had a larger impact than was anticipated as while this is a solid album it is nothing more than that, and I was incredibly disappointed. “No Good Story Ever Starts With Drinking Tea” is a throwaway number that I would have expected from an act like Alestorm (I refused to see them in concert, my son-in-law was most upset), not a band with a reputation like Turisas. Even The Pogues were better at this style of music and I’m not a fan of them either!
But, this isn’t a bad album throughout, just not what I expected. Opener “For Your Own Good” contains some really good piano which keeps the song grounded, and Mathias Nygård has strong vocals which keep everything on track as the song builds into something far more symphonic and powerful than the introduction suggested. But I expected more folk elements and less power metal, and some of the reviews I have been reading seem to suggest the same. Overall there are a few good numbers but not enough to make it anything special.
