''The Varangian Way'' is the second full-length album by the Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exam ...

band

Turisas Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war. Turisas are a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal and s ...

, released on May 27, 2007 through

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. 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. A Special "Directors Cut" edition was released with the Rasputin single.

Track listing

# "To

Holmgard Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

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" ingle Edit(Enhanced edition bonus track) - 3:00 # "Rex Regi Rebellis" innish 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

* Mathias "Warlord" Nygård – vocals,

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

programming,

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

* Jussi Wickström – guitar * Tuomas "Tude" Lehtonen – drums, percussion *

Olli Vänskä Turisas is a Finnish metal band from Hämeenlinna. They were founded in 1997 by Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, and named after an ancient Finnish god of war. Turisas are a folk metal band, incorporating elements of power metal and sym ...

– violin * Hannes "Hanu" Horma –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, 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

Century Media press statement

Turisas official website

Track listing

Credits

Sources

References

See also