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Track Listing: The March Of The Varangian Guard Take The Day! Hunting Pirates Venetoi! - Prasinoi! Stand Up And Fight The Great Escape Fear The Fear End Of An Empire The Bosphorus Freezes Over

After a rather long gap of four years, Finnish folk metal warriors Turisas are back with their incredibly unique presentation of a style of music that Finnish bands have made almost entirely their own. Fans haven't been able to see much of the band on the road lately because they have been rejecting numerous tempting touring offers solely in order to dedicate their entire efforts into the making of this album, and after some tremendous periods of hard work, they have brought to us their third full-length offering "Stand Up And Fight". The longer they took, the more my expectations grew, and having loved their previous releases, I was extremely excited when I gave this album a listen for the first time.

"The March Of The Varangian Guard" starts off the album in a manner that's reminiscent of the opening track "To Holmgard And Beyond" on the previous album "The Varangian Way", but with a prominent symphonic flavor added to it. It's a clear sign of things to come and the rest of the album follows a similar musical pattern. "Take The Day!" follows, a more drawn out tune that focusses on Mathias Nygard's vocals, backed up well with the war-like chorus lines by his band mates. It's a very operatic kind of tune, and should please music connoisseurs in general. The word 'epic' is often over-used, but I find it apt to use it for this particular song.

"Hunting Pirates" captured my interest straight away, in the sense that it sounds like the perfect fit for a pirate movie. It's very easy going, musically rich with various layers of instrumentation, and should turn out to be a fun sing-along for people who like to follow the lyrics. The only track on the album with a true folk title, "Venetoi! - Prasinoi!" comes next, and like quite a few of older Turisas tunes, is a song that when played live, would make an audience put their dancing shoes on. It's actually my favorite song on the album and should be part of their live set. The progressive element is back in the next song, the title track itself. It's another easy paced tune that should be a pleasant listen for one and all.

"The Great Escape" starts off as more of a "rock" tune with a heavy guitar sound but soon progresses to end up as a folk metal song in the end. The longest tracks on the album "Fear The Fear" and "End Of An Empire" come across as fascinating examples of Mathias Nygard's development as a more well-rounded and creative musician since the last album. Real string and horn instruments have been used this time around as compared to the use of samples in the past, not only giving the album a "live" and realistic feel, but showing what a band can achieve when given longer studio time and a better budget by their label. Every aspect of Turisas' music is evident on these two tracks that seem to have been arranged in order to do maximum justice to every single instrument. "The Bosphorus Freezes Over" provides a melancholic end to the album, and upon listening to it, you can almost sense the atmosphere at the end of a battle.

Overall, this is Turisas' richest composition till date, and has nine meticulously arranged tracks that fans should be able to appreciate, if not straight away then at least after a few listens, and I only say that because of the progressive, symphonic nature of most of the tracks. In addition to fans of the band, I would recommend this album to fans of progressive rock as well. I foresee this album broadening Turisas' fan base across the planet. The only thing I'm now curious about is to see how many of these tunes they are able to replicate in a live setting.

A brilliantly composed set of tunes, "Stand Up And Fight" is the most accomplished effort in the band's career thus far. Get this album and raise your battle horns in enjoyment of some epic music. All bow down to the mighty Turisas!