ASPHYXIUM ZINE

Sunday, January 1, 2023

EP Review: Turanis "Turanis" (Independent) by Dave Wolff

Band: Turanis
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Goth rock, metal
Format: CD, digital
Label: Independent
Release date: August 21, 2021
Turanis is a British band from Newcastle Upon Tyne who add goth rock undertones to what I interpret as a blend of classic metal and Swedish melodic death metal. For their debut EP, they condensed five tracks into a two to four-minute range that sounds geared to radio accessibility, especially with the clean production and melodic vocals.
The EP suggests the band is capable of making a relatively simplistic commercial formula swell with a concerted range of corresponding aesthetics through hooks, atmosphere, and varying themes by Wayne “Rivit” Bridge. Even though it sounds like it could have been simply oversimplified, the band meticulously arranged the songs in order to introduce different sounds and nuances concurrently. I got some sense of the story from Simon Gordon's clearly enunciated verses, although the lyrics aren't provided on Turanis' Bandcamp profile. According to what I understand, it could be depicting the journey of a hero seeking to overthrow a ruthless tyrant and take his place.
Although I would have preferred the tracks to run a little longer to elaborate on this legend, the production makes the narrative easy to follow and the songs’ shortened length seems to make it palatable. Each track is a dramatic shift from scene to scene, and each section of a single track has similar shifts, and these transitions add color to the accessibility eased into the recording. All through this is that undercurrent of shadiness that reveals itself in greater quantities when needed. This is especially so with the final “chapter” of this narrative.
I read the next album is going to expand more on gothic rock with added elements of dark ambient music, and my own curiosity has been awakened as to how they will approach this. –Dave Wolff

Lineup:
Simon Gordon: Vocals
Wayne "Rivit" Bridge: Guitar, bass
Dan Mullins: Drums

Track list:
1. Playground
2. A Ravens View
3. He Has Fallen
4. It All Ends
5. The Loss

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