TURISAS To Play Japan In May

Finnish battle metallers TURISAS will join forces with fellow Finns TAROT, BEFORE THE DAWN and POISONBLACK for the "Finland Fest 2010 - Metal Attack" event on May 29 at LiquidRoom in Tokyo, Japan.

A video message from TURISAS for the band's Japanese fans can be viewed below.

TURISAS recently entered Sound Supreme studio in Hämeenlinna, Finland to begin recording its third album for a late 2010 release via Century Media Records.

Commented TURISAS vocalist, songwriter and producer Mathias "Warlord" Nygård: "After a nine-month break from touring to be able to fully focus on songwriting, we've finally moved forward and have now started recording. It's going to be a long project, and keep us busy all the way until the break of summer, but believe me, the wait will be all worth it.

"With three years between albums, there's been enough of time to find a fresh angle and new ideas not to repeat ourselves or albums we've done in the past. The songs rock big time, but the epic elements aren't going anywhere — it's going to sound larger than ever before. The leap forward is going to be just as big as between 'Battle Metal' [2004] and 'The Varangian Way' [2007]."

Nygård and TURISAS were honored with the 2009 Culture Award by the Regional Council of Häme province. Since 1991, the award has been handed out annually to a person living and working in Häme region as a way to honor his/her achievements in the field of culture. The award was received by Mathias and guitarist Jussi Wickström on November 23, 2009. The Council mentioned that Nygård and the band represent "new kind of creativity in Häme" and that they "create new international culture by using old tradition."