The Varangian Way

This is the second full-length album by the Finnish band, and it tells a story. A party of Scandinavians travel the river routes of medieval Kievan Rus — the territory of modern Belarus, Ukraine and Russia — through Ladoga, Novgorod and Kyiv and down to the Eastern Roman Empire. The band is Mathias "Warlord" Nygard on vocals, orchestral programming and keyboards, Jussi Wickstrom on guitar, Tuomas "Tude" Lehtonen on drums and percussion, Olli Vanska on violin, Hannes "Hanu" Horma on bass and backing vocals and Janne "Lisko" Makinen on accordion. Nygard wrote nearly all of the music, sharing the third song with Wickstrom, the fifth with Makinen and Vanska and the sixth with Vanska. The words to "Cursed Be Iron" are traditional, taken from the Kalevala as compiled by Elias Lonnrot. The classical choir was recorded at the Vanha Kirjastotalo music hall in Tampere, and the orchestral samples come from the Vienna Symphonic Library. A director's cut edition was issued alongside the "Rasputin" single. The running order here is the original's as printed.