{"id":38543,"date":"2014-03-21T09:06:04","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T14:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=38543"},"modified":"2014-03-21T09:06:04","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T14:06:04","slug":"turbo-the-fifth-element-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/turbo-the-fifth-element-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Turbo | The Fifth Element<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TurboThe Polish band Turbo has deservedly achieved its cult status among rock and metal fans of their homeland. Founded in 1980, it laid the ground for Polish heavy metal with their first Maiden-esque album Dorosle Dzieci<\/em>, released in 1982. Later on, they went on exploring other subgenres of metal with their subsequent albums \u2013 hard rock (Smak ciszy<\/em>, 1985), thrash metal (Kawaleria Szatana<\/em>, Ostatni Wojownik<\/em>, 1987 and 1989, respectively) \u2026 with some echoes of death metal (Dead End<\/em>, 1990) or nu-metal\/modern metal (Awatar<\/em>, 2001) here and there. And yet, after their triumphant return with Tozsamosc<\/em> back in 2004, Turbo remains faithful to the classic, pure heavy metal sound ever since. What is more, they\u2019ve just released their second album after the departure of the original lead singer Grzegorz Kupczyk (replaced by the equally impressive Tomasz Struszczyk). <\/p>\n

Piaty Zywiol<\/em> is soon to be released in Europe and the U.S. in its English version The Fifth Element<\/em>. It\u2019s not the first time the band has been invading the English-language market with their music \u2013 and yet, The Fifth Element<\/em> is a good place to start an exciting journey with Turbo and its mastermind and lead guitarist, Wojciech Hoffmann, into the band\u2019s classic heavy metal inspirations, technical refinement and musical maturity all blending into one.<\/p>\n

The majority of the tracks on The Fifth Element<\/em> are fast-paced and furious ones led by galloping guitar riffs, with dynamic rhythm section and raw, feisty vocals (\u201cThink And Fight\u201d, \u201cTaste Of Forever\u201d \u2013 the latter enriched with a particularly outstanding, wild guitar solo by Hoffmann). For those familiar with the early Turbo, \u201cHeart On The Pyre\u201d may appear somewhat similar to the dynamic sound characteristic of the group\u2019s 1982 debut album. <\/p>\n

The echoes of Turbo\u2019s classic inspirations are also present here, with Maiden-esque \u201cThe Fifth Element\u201d (embellished with a beautiful guitar outro) or choral background vocals in \u201cLight Up The Night\u201d which may remind a listener of a classic Accept. An interesting track is \u201cBlues Measured By The Clock Ticking\u201d, which begins as a gloomy, acoustic ballad, but after a surprising change of pace evolves into a heavy song much in vein of Sabbath. There are also tracks in which melody prevails, such as \u201cSmash The Wall\u201d and \u201cHandful Of Sand\u201d, both being well-crafted pieces of melodic metal, almost catchy in spite of their overall heaviness and rough guitar shredding. <\/p>\n

Tomasz Struszczyk, the band\u2019s lead singer, proves his singing abilities and vocal range to be very solid and convincing throughout the whole record, it\u2019s \u201cThis War Machine\u201d with his equilibristic high pitched vocals (sounding much like Udo Dirkschneider) where his talents really shine through. There is also a place for an obligatory metal ballad \u2013 \u201cRelentless\u201d \u2013 features another breathtaking vocal performance by Struszczyk as well as Hoffmann\u2019s wailing guitar sounds. And, apart from the bonus track which is an acoustic version of \u201cSmash The Wall\u201d (with some surprising sound effects), the frosting on the cake is \u201cAmalgam,\u201d over four minute long instrumental piece, a showcase of Wojciech Hoffmann\u2019s guitar artistry. <\/p>\n

One of the best shredders of his homeland, Hoffmann certainly knows how to rock for more than thirty years, and on The Fifth Element<\/em> he delivers the expected dose of mad guitar riffs and fast-paced solos, classic in form but simultaneously fresh and by no means repetitive. With a line-up of solid musicians and an apt, passionate singer who perfectly fits into Turbo\u2019s style, the band\u2019s leader is here to show Turbo is alive and well, worth checking out and still able to outshine many of today\u2019s metal acts. And The Fifth Element, their latest album, is clear proof of these facts.<\/p>\n

Genre: Traditional Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nWojciech Hoffmann – guitars
\nBogusz Rutkiewicz – bass guitar, guitar on [1], guitar & acoustic guitar on [7]
\nMariusz Bobkowski – drums
\nTomasz Struszczyk – vocals, acoustic guitar on [11]
\nDominik Jokiel \u2013 guitars<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1. Think And Fight
\n2. Taste Of Forever
\n3. Heart On The Pyre
\n4. The Fifth Element
\n5. Smash The Wall
\n6. Handful Of Sand
\n7. Relentless
\n8. Amalgam
\n9. Light Up The Night
\n10. This War Machine
\n11. Blues Measured By The Clock Ticking
\n12. Smash The Wall (acoustic)<\/p>\n

Label: Metal Mind Productions<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Columnist — The Polish band Turbo has deservedly achieved its cult status among rock and metal fans of their homeland. Founded in 1980, it laid the ground for Polish heavy metal […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":38544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,5955,8982,8983,8981],"class_list":{"0":"post-38543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-metal-mind-productions","10":"tag-the-fifth-element","11":"tag-traditional-heavy-metal","12":"tag-turbo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}