Turisas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Turisas
Turisas performing at Metal Frenzy 2018
Background information
Origin	Hämeenlinna, Finland
Genres	Folk metal, power metal, symphonic metal, Viking metal
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Century Media
Members	Mathias Nygård Jussi Wickström Olli Vänskä Jaakko Jakku Jesper Anastasiadis
Past members	See former member section

Turisas is a cool metal band from Hämeenlinna, Finland. Two friends, Mathias Nygård and Jussi Wickström, started the band in 1997. They named their band after an ancient Finnish god of war, Iku-Turso.

Turisas plays a type of music called folk metal. This means they mix heavy metal sounds with traditional folk music. They also add parts of power metal and symphonic metal. You'll often hear strong, deep singing in their songs. A special thing about Turisas is that they often play electric violin solos instead of guitar solos!

First Albums and New Members

Since 2003, Turisas has been working with Century Media records. This company helped them release their first album, Battle Metal, in 2004. After that, the band went on a tour around Europe. They had other musicians join them to play instruments like violins and accordions.

In 2005, their guitarist Georg Laakso had a car accident. Because of his injuries, he had to leave the band in 2006. But the band kept going! Jussi Wickström played all the guitar parts for their second album, The Varangian Way, which came out in 2007.

More musicians joined Turisas as full-time members around this time. These included Hannes Horma, Olli Vänskä, and Janne Mäkinen. Later, their keyboard player, Antti Ventola, left the band. Mathias Nygård played the keyboards on The Varangian Way album. When they play live, Turisas uses special backing tracks for the keyboard sounds.

Tours and New Music

In 2008, their accordion player Janne Mäkinen went missing in Amsterdam. Another accordion player, Netta Skog, stepped in to help the band on tour. She soon became a full-time member.

After playing at many music festivals in 2008, Turisas went on a long tour in the United States and Europe. They were supporting another band called DragonForce. This tour lasted until March 2009. Then, they toured Europe again with bands like Cradle of Filth. They also played at big festivals like Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air.

In 2010, the band focused on making their third album. They also did a short tour in Asia and Australia, playing shows in Sydney, Melbourne, China, and Japan.

Stand Up And Fight Album

In March 2010, Turisas announced they were recording a new album. They even shared videos of their recording process on YouTube! The album was named Stand Up and Fight. It came out in February 2011 in Europe and March 2011 in North America. They even released the song "Stand Up And Fight" for free download before the album came out.

The band went on tours in Mexico, North America, and Europe to support their new album. In 2012, they were the main band on the "Paganfest: America Part III" tour, with other bands like Alestorm and Arkona.

Turisas2013 Album

In November 2012, Turisas announced they were working on their fourth album. They called it Turisas2013. This album was released in August and September 2013 in different parts of the world.

Music Albums and Songs

Turisas has released several albums and singles over the years. Here are their main albums:

• Battle Metal (2004)
• The Varangian Way (2007)
• Stand Up and Fight (2011)
• Turisas2013 (2013)

They have also released some singles, which are individual songs. Two of their singles, "To Holmgard and Beyond" and "Rasputin", were popular in Finland.

Music Videos

Turisas has made several music videos for their songs:

Band Members

Current members

• Turisas live at Metal Frenzy 2018 in Gardelegen
• 

  Singer Mathias Nygård

• 

  Guitarist Jussi Wickström

• 

  Bassist Jesper Anastasiadis

• 

  Violinist Olli Vänskä

• 

  Drummer Jaakko Jakku

• Mathias "Warlord" Nygård – lead vocals, keyboard, percussion (since 1997)
• Jussi Wickström – guitar, backing vocals, bass (since 1997)
• Olli Vänskä – violin, backing vocals (since 2005)
• Jesper Anastasiadis – bass (since 2012)
• Jaakko Jakku – drums, percussion (since 2012)

Former members

• Janne Mäkinen – accordion (2005–2008)
• Antti Ventola – keyboard (1997–2007)
• Georg Laakso – guitar (2000–2006)
• Ari Kärkkäinen – guitar (1997–1999)
• Sami Aarnio – bass guitar
• Tino Ahola – bass guitar
• Mikko Törmikoski – bass guitar (until 2004)
• Hannes "Hanu" Horma – bass guitar (2005–2011)
• Netta Skog – accordion (2007–2011)
• Jukka-Pekka Miettinen – bass guitar (2011–2012)
• Tuomas "Tude" Lehtonen – drums, percussion (1997–2012)
• Robert Engstrand – keyboard (2011-2014)

Live session musicians

Sometimes, other musicians join the band for live shows:

• Robert Engstrand – keyboard (since 2019)
• Caitlin De Ville – violin (since 2019)

Former live session musicians

• Riku Ylitalo – accordion, keyboards
• Wincef Boncamper – accordion
• Antti Laurila – accordion

Images for kids

• 

  Turisas performing at Metal Frenzy 2018

See also

In Spanish: Turisas para niños