Ensiferum

And so the journey begins, Ensiferum set their heavy metal course with such impressive debut album. It shows perfect harmony of killer riffs, melodies, technical guitar and drum work, with many heavy metal's sub-genres combined. This is mix of power metal, melodic death metal, folk metal and progressive metal, with some "blackish" moments. So, it's hard to define this sub-genre of heavy metal music. Mix of different sub-genres with epic atmosphere resulted totally new breed of heavy metal called viking metal. This didn't start with Ensiferum, but Bathory made that prototype when they abandoned their "black" sound, and made true epic heavy metal. Ensiferum stands as a definition of viking metal, because they maximize elements of it. Being a viking metal band doesn't mean that band has to be from Scandinavia, it's just fucking name of that unique heavy metal's sub-genre. Great thing is that this studio album has so many songs with different mood. That mood depends on tempo, ambient, progression and domination of heavy metal's sub-genres I already mentioned above. Power, melodic death, folk and progressive metal don't appear in each of these songs together. In a case all of these four appeared in each song, this would be labeled as progressive metal only. That's why bands like Ensiferum, Equilibrium, Folkearth and Heidevolk sound so complex and different than anything from other heavy metal.

Folk metal is not present like in standard folk metal bands Elvenking or Korpiklaani where they have band member with violin or accordion. Here, folk metal is used as backing atmospheric element which appears in some parts of songs, just like in: Treacherous Gods, Eternal Wait, Goblins' Dance, etc. Almost in every song. Progressive metal is present in songs like Old Man (Vainamoinen) where gloomy ambient evolves into faster and more chaotic, where drums turn from very slow beats into a bombardier, and slow guitar riffs turn into razor. Progressive metal is used for shift from power metal and melodic death metal to folk metal ambient. Perfect examples are Hero In A Dream and Token Of Time, while Eternal Wait is folk metal song with progressive metal approach, and Guardians Of Fate which is standard power metal/melodic death metal song has progressive metal touch too. There's killer combination of lead harsh vocals and clean choral refrains what makes them kick-ass sing-along songs - Token Of Time, Guardians Of Fate, Little Dreamer (Väinämöinen Part II), Treacherous Gods and Battle Song, while others are mainly with harsh vocals. Exceptions are Eternal Wait which is done with clean vocals mainly, with some growling moments, and Abandoned, which is entirely "clean".

Besides mind-blowing heroic chorus, keyboards make incredible epic atmosphere, and that completes the essence of viking metal sound. This is the first display of Jari Mäenpää's huge talent and creativity. Although he made really kick-ass riffs, highlights are his guitar solos. Killer combination of lightning-fast sweep 'n' shred technique can be heard in Hero In A Dream, Token Of Time, Guardians Of Fate, Eternal Wait and Goblins' Dance. Although they last for few seconds only, it's enough to give a headache to anyone who tries to play these songs witch his guitar. As a consolation there are Old Man (Väinämöinen Part II), Windrider, Treacherous Gods and Battle Song, with less insane technical work. Although rhythm guitar work consists of mainly power chords combined with amazing melodies from lead guitar, serious kick-ass riffage can be heard in songs: Guardians Of Fate, Windrider, Treacherous Gods, and Goblins' Dance. That last one has "blackish" feel, but it's heavier than any song from bands where pandas attempt playing their instruments. If standard "black" songs sounded fairly heavy like this one, I wouldn't consider "blackers" like earliest mallcore form.

Good sides of this release:
Acoustic and clean guitars, with rare use of fife and some other instruments to spice this release with folk metal sound. Epic sound which comes from kick-ass chorus and keyboards, and folk metal sound contributed to this as well. Well-made dominant progressions which resulted killer power metal, melodic death metal, folk metal and progressive metal combination. Amazing contrast between high-pitched harsh and clean vocals. There are plenty of powerful riffs, orgasmic lead guitars and excellent guitar solos. Drums played important role here, and made songs even more enjoyable. Lyrics are well-written, and create a feel of old man telling stories of wisdom, legends, Kalevala, etc.

Bad sides of this release:
Nothing is wrong here.

Highlights:
Each and every song.

Ensiferum is another praised band considered perhaps the best of its genre, so therefore I saw no reason not to check these guys out. The band hails from Finland, and they've been around since 1995, having three demos before this self-titled debut album from 2001. The music is aggressive and melodic at times with nice choirs here and there. The main influence is melodic death metal though.

The album starts with an introduction, which is a small acoustic song, and it's really bad. I think the purpose was to create an interlude for what's to come, but it's simply just bad and not really fitting to the second song, "Hero in a Dream" which is a great song, it starts off with some fast drumming and then a melodic riff. Right from here you can kinda get a picture of how this album is going to be like. Melodeath viking-like. Jari Mäenpääs vocals are harsh and aggressive as typical melodeath (or "Gothenburg metal"), he tend to scream at times but it's overall not a varied vocal performance here, except for the clean choirs. The choirs are pretty decent, fits nicely at those times, they're being used.

There are not really a use of folk instruments (some flutes though, as in "Goblins' Dance"), the guitar here is the primary source to making this album melodic and give it this folky-atmosphere, that I would not consider very viking-like. I don't think of vikings when I listen to this, but rather some finnish people in about the same times as the viking hung out in Scandinavia, running around in the forests fighting eachother.

The first songs on the album are pretty awesome, with good riffing and powerful music along catchy choruses and choirs, but it starts to get a bit filling after "Guardians of Fate" with a song like "Old Man" which is pretty long, or it feels like it when you are listening to it. There are not much remarkable in the song and it's not remarkable at all. "Little Dreamer" afterwards is also an attempt on creating some atmosphere and drawing the listener to this forest-land, but I think it fails. Sure, there are acoustic parts and nice guitar melodies, but it's just not enough. I've caught myself wanting to skip the rest of the album and listen to something else, because it gets drawn out that much. I also think, that the production plays a role here. It's decent, but could be much better. You can easy seperate the instruments from eachother, if you want to listen to the drums or so, but the sound of the album is kinda thick and put together in a small cave party or something in these forests. And I think it ruins the songs a little.

The guitars are driving the atmosphere and are the main instrument on the album. The vocals are decent, but just there and pretty clear, however, understanding what Jari is singing might be a bit of an issue with those harsh vocals. The guitar provides the melodies with a clean sound, it could be cleaner of course. But nothing distortion or anything. The drumming is decent, gets it spotlight at times but are still just there. The bass is not very present, but it can be heard in the intro of "Battle Song" going alone with drums before the guitar kicks in.

Overall, this is a decent album, I had pretty high expectations for it, since these guys were so praised by fans and my friends claiming this album to be close to perfect. If you are into the melodeath-folk style you can try it out, but perhaps one of Ensiferums other albums are better.

For obvious reasons, Ensiferum is one of the folk/viking metal bands closest to my heart. Along with Wintersun and Elvenking, they are directly responsible for my more recent coming around to harsh vocal stylings. While the band has been around longer than I've been listening to metal, I've come to appreciate all of their albums and developed a feeling of nostalgia for their work. Beginning with Ensiferum's self-titled debut, I have found them to be remarkably steadfast and as yet, fairly unique in their musical stylings. Their combination of rough-edged clean vocals, blistering guitar riffing, gentle and beautiful instrumental passages, and their distinctive scathing vocal delivery make for a rousing and heroic medieval metal experience.

The band's first album is as proficient and mature as debut releases come. The songwriting here is a little more varied than you might expect. The acoustic beginning to “Token of Time” and the almost pop/rockish sounding intro to “Guardians of Fate” are both extremely distinctive. The latter fools me almost every time I have my iPod on shuffle, as I'm expecting to hear something considerably more domestic until Jari sears my ears with his initial shout. Both of these songs are excellent pieces, along with my other favorite tracks, “Windrider” and “Battle Song”.

Whereas later Ensiferum albums might seem to be a little bit more constant in their “Viking” feel, this release makes up for its varied songwriting by at least keeping them all interesting and likeable. The bonus track “Goblin's Dance” is considerably darker and more harsh until it also hits an interlude with piping and chimes. With most other bands, this would give me considerable pause, but Ensiferum just pulls it off so darn well. Most of the album is like this, back and forth repeatedly between whimsical group shout passages and fast, raging melodic death metal. Better than nearly any other folk-inspired metal band (excepting perhaps the incomparable Finntroll), Ensiferum commits to this odd combination that might otherwise come off as disjointed, and makes it their trademark sound.

With a band like Ensiferum, the whole experience is really about the spirit in which the music was written and executed. This is as “epic” as metal comes. It may not have grand choirs or almost any sort of keyboard to speak of, but the grand measure of storytelling is as present as anywhere else. The beautiful, haunting melodies that the Finnish have always done so well drift alongside the rapid-paced music, somehow hanging there and moving at their own slow pace. While so much of the music rushes past in a blasting torrent, the memory and feel of these tunes persists for some time, like a breath of freezing air chilling the lungs.

Ensiferum is the birth of one of the most iconic names in modern folk/death metal. It's got leanings towards power metal, but is really doing its own thing entirely. Unlike a lot of modern bands, they've got a style that is almost completely their own. To date, the only band I've experienced that sounds considerably similar is Jari Maenpaa's brainchild Wintersun. Whatever the case may be, the band's debut is as admirable an entry as any other in their catalog, which most bands certainly cannot say.

Originally written for www.blackwindmetal.blogspot.com/

Jari Maenpaa is regarded as a musical genius, and he only deserves about 10% of that title. When he's on the ball, he can really smoke face, but the problem is that he is great at one thing while ranging from mediocre to bad at virtually everything else. He is heralded for the variety of music he's penned in his short career, and I can't take that away from him. He's covered folk/power metal blends, epic melodic death metal, touches of black (although nothing too profound), straight up Finnish folk and others throughout his work with both Ensiferum and Wintersun. The problem is that he's only really good at the first two styles. Ensiferum's self titled debut focuses mainly on the folk/power mix with some straight folk areas here and there, but it's one of the most wildly inconsistent albums I've ever laid ears upon. One of the most important things to understand in the world of music is the difference between variety and inconsistency. While there is doubtlessly a variety of styles on display here, the drastic peaks and valleys when it comes to their quality is staggering. City is varied, The Human Equation is inconsistent. Duke Lion Fights the Terror is varied, Nightfall in Middle-Earth is inconsistent.

The inconsistency is the Achilles heel of Ensiferum, and it makes listening to the whole album in one sitting actually fairly tedious. I always appreciate breaks and interludes when they're necessary, but the slower, folkier, cleaner sections clash with the fast paced, double bass fury of the highlights. Tracks like "Eternal Wait", and "Old Man" slow the galloping warrior to a boring stroll. Even the songs that switch around like "Abandoned" end up sounding weird and forced. Hell, the entire last two minutes of the aforementioned song are an out of place attempt at epicism that just hurts the album and keeps it from moving along. The awkward pacing makes it sound like the album and band just can't make up their minds as to what they want to do. The fact of the matter is that Ensiferum just flat out didn't know how to write songs very well at this point in their career. They noodle around with a lot of different ideas, about a little over half are actually good ones, and they manage to craft a couple masterpieces, but the album as a whole is horrendously flawed and uncomfortable.

Despite this incredibly annoying tendency, Ensiferum is a worthy listen if only for the good tracks. The first three proper songs are some of the best that the band has ever released, all of them blending folk melodies, metallic aggression, and a bombastic and epic feeling perfectly. "Guardians of Fate" is probably the best as it is (with the exception of maybe "Slayer of Light" or "Ahti" from later albums) the least fluffed up track the band has ever recorded. It relies less on soaring keys and twangy instruments and more on sharp riffing and pure attitude. The drumming is especially powerful when pushed to the forefront and is one of the main reasons the faster songs are so much better than the slow ones. It's not that the drummer is particularly talented, it's just that he seems to convey a bit more passion when he's running on all cylinders. The folk overtones are strange, as they seem to be more prominent on quicker, better tracks like "Windrider" and "Battle Song", but contrary to what I may have implied, they're never irritating or overdone. In fact, the fact that they're less noticeable on the ballads may well be another key factor in determining why the slow songs suck so much and the fast ones slay so much.

This isn't a bad album, per se, just an annoying one. All of the best songs are of one main style, while all of the bad ones are of another. To me, this clearly signifies what the band is good at and what they should stop dicking around with. It seems that Ensiferum never fully realized this and constantly tried to knock around slower half ballads for every record they've ever made. Surprise, they're always the weakest points of the albums. From this point, they only get better. They focus more and more on the epic metal and the songwriting gets more and more ambitious. The good songs on display (the first three, "Windrider", "Battle Song", and maybe half of "Little Dreamer") are pretty much the best they've ever done, but the other half of the album is fairly shit. As a result, we are left with the weakest Ensiferum album. If you don't mind having some slime and boogers on your gold, this is worth checking out.

Reviewing this album has turned out to be really hard. Even just starting the whole review was slightly daunting. Words cannot describe this completely unique early offering from the Finish metal band, Ensiferum. This is their first full length album and probably the best thing they ever done.

For the uninformed, Ensiferum combine Folk, Power and melodic death metal under one banner. Formed by Markus Toivonen and later joined by Jari Mäenpää, they put out a few demos before releasing this particular piece of work. Musically speaking, this record excels at putting across heaps of ideas, while still maintaining the balance between pure melody and brutality. Folk interludes are in an abundance here, and they never outstay their welcome. These sections are hugely apparent in the track 'Token of time'. The guitar playing on a whole is absolutely stellar, it's really surprising that this is a debut album given the quality of it. Its highly concievable that Jari left his mother's womb with a fully developed picking ability. His sweeps and runs are as clean as a whistle and anybody who has listened to his (now) main band Wintersun can agree with this. Saying that, his leads are never really overbearing, a lot of metal guys who can sweep pick reasonably well seem to throw it down the listener's throat at every opportunity. In fact, this record has many tracks that are entirely devoid of solos. I admire the bands restraint.

The drums are pretty fucking intense. They kick in at all the right points, one track that springs to mind is 'Hero in a dream'. In this particular track, they propel the song along at frenetic pace when needed, stripping back in the mid sections where the track calms down. The bass does its job. It isn't to prominent in the mix however. I can only remember one point where it did something reasonably great (the intro to 'Battle song' is pretty rockin'). The keyboards never stray into 'Super nintendo synth zone' and they really help with the atmosphere in certain tracks. A solid performance really, I will leave it at that.

I can't throw all the praise at Jari's guitar acrobatics though, as Markus really excels in his duties as well. As I mentioned, the acoustic folk sections are handled beautfully, and the heavier riffage is exceptional. I understand that he handled some backing vocals on this album, and these are top notch as well.

And on the subject of the vocals, the variety displayed here helps to keep things from going stale as well. I have to commend Jari's vocal performance, his deep, soulful singing voice really helps to portray the various emotions and atmospheres of this album. His high end growl isn't that bad either. One track that showcases the two vocal styles is the epic, grandoise 'Treacherous gods'. The aforementioned track (like a lot of the songs from this release) has multiple vocal sections, alternating between huge choral arrangements, lone singing and raw, throaty Death metal sections. The final section of this song is pretty damn awesome. For some reason, it sounds like it was recorded up a mountain in the middle of the winter.

Moving on, lyrically this album is pretty much inspired by fantasy and tales of warriors 'fighting in the lands of unknown'. My favourite moments include the opening battle cry in 'Treacherous Gods' and the simply barmy vocals in 'Token of Time'. Everything is done masterfully, with tracks like 'Windrider and 'Little Dreamer' being poetic and downright inspiring. The latter track has some pretty wonderful imagery, presumably about a child's imagination and his journey into the struggle of adulthood. The former is all about revenge. Again, I assume this is what the lyrics are intended to mean, but really, they could have multiple meanings, another a sign of really good writing.

I'm having to look really hard for criticism. As I said before the bass is pretty low in production, but to be fair a lot of albums have this problem. I don't think the album would be quite as awesome if it had that sort of old Iron Maiden/Slough feg bass heavy production though. Another (trivial) criticism is the inclusion of the bonus track on my version, 'Goblin's Dance'. It really doesn't fit in with the rest of the album although its not a bad wee track. I'm really scrapping the bottom of the criticism barrel and I'll freely admit it. Its getting hard not to come off like a complete fanboy here!

Notable tracks on this CD that I haven't mentioned yet include, 'Guardians of fate' for its speed and huge fucking viking riffs and 'Eternal wait' for its greensleeves like acoustic guitar and multi layered choir arrangements. You can't go wrong with any of the tracks on here really, they all represent wonderful songwriting and melodies that stick in your head for weeks. There is always something new to find with each listen.

I must admit that this is one of my favourites out of my entire collection. Along with Gamma ray's 'Somewhere out in space' and more recently, Equilibrium's 'Sagas', this album is a beacon of pure escapism in music form. Its an album to play when you need to escape from the endless rat races, the sucky dead-end job and the seemingly endless drudgery of everyday life. Its just a great record, simple as.

Tracks of note (for those who can't be arsed reading all that bullshit up there).

Hero in a dream, Token of time, Guardians of fate, Little dreamer, Windrider, Eternal wait and Battle song.

“Time and time again, I witness the birth of a new born star”. A lyric from Ensiferum’s song ‘Treacherous Gods’ that I can attest to in regards to the album itself. Ensiferum’s 2001 debut self-titled album is a beautifully crafted piece of art in the realm of metal. Ensiferum is a folk metal band coming from Helsinki, Finland, where to this day continues to be one of the most successful and popular folk metal bands in the world. Ensiferum is a band which combines the aggressive sound of heavy metal with the soft, melodic elements of folk music such as acoustic instruments and clean traditional vocals. With superb musical arrangement, lyrical content and overall instrument proficiency, Ensiferum is without a doubt one of the best metal albums of all time.

The intro to the album, simply titled ‘Intro’, is a soft and short multi-layered acoustic track which leads seamlessly into the album’s first full song, ‘Hero in a Dream’. Merely the first ten seconds of the song created an amazing folk-ish atmosphere entirely different from any metal band I have heard, with its melodic and almost heroic guitar riff and catchy galloping drumbeat. Though a great, fast-paced track and perfect for the opening song, it is not quite the best song on the album, which is quite a statement considering this song’s quality. Almost all the songs on their debut album offer something new and innovative. Songs such as ‘Abandoned’ offer soft melodies and hardcore verses to perfectly express emotions of sorrow and anger respectively. Similarly, songs like ‘Battle Song’, evoke an adrenaline rush which ripd you from your seat and places you into a horde of Vikings rushing through the battlefield towards their enemies. The song which defines Ensiferum’s sound and greatness is the third track, titled ‘Token of Time’. This song takes every feature that makes Ensiferum unique and synthesizes it into a single track. The acoustic introduction and interludes, the folk inspired guitar riffs and clean male choir are what I believe make Ensiferum sound so unique. There is not a single song on the album that I would refuse to listen to, because every song on this album is aptly composed. There is no “bad” song, only a good song that is surpassed by an amazing song. To name a few stand out tracks, I definitely recommend ‘Token of Time’, ‘Guardians of Fate’, ‘Abandoned’, ‘Treacherous Gods’ and ‘Eternal Wait’.

What makes Ensiferum such a stellar album is the perfect balance between soft folk melodies and heavy metal. For example, ‘Abandoned’ starts abruptly with speedy blast beats on the drums while the guitarist plays a heavy tremolo riff. Then almost as if to put this in equilibrium, an acoustic verse complete with clean male vocals initiates. Another aspect of the album that I enjoy is the lyrical content. The majority of Ensiferum lyrics in all of their albums are derived from archaic or historic events as well as literature, Norse mythology and the Finnish epic poem “Kalevala”. In addition to being derived from other sources, there are also songs based solely on themes such as war and nature, which are written with an extreme poetic prowess on behalf of Jari Mäenpää, the bands lyricist, vocalist and guitarist at the time of the album’s release.

The mention of Jari brings me to my next point which is the band itself. Jari Mäenpää(guitars and vocals), Markus Toivonen(guitars), Jukka-Pekka Miettinen(bass) and Oliver Fokin(drums) together create an epic fellowship of flawless musicians. Their synchronization is perfect and Jari’s music composition is probably the best in the genre of metal. Jari’s performance as leader of the band is simply wonderful. As both a vocalist and guitarist, he can play both roles during songs without any hindrance. His guitar work is intricate and puts an atmosphere of epic Viking tales into songs even without the use of traditional folk instruments.

Although I think most readers who are familiar and even subtle fans of metal will enjoy this album almost as much as I did, I believe there are readers who may be skeptical of my opinion on this album. For example, I know there are those who believe all heavy metal is obnoxious noise with tones of rebellion and gore in every note and lyric. This is a generalization I refute completely and quite frankly am offended by. Metal bands such as Ensiferum admittedly do play aggressive heavy metal, but it is done in a way that is very melodic and certainly not rebellious or offensive; Ensiferum’s overall tone is heroic and epic. Not only this, but Ensiferum combines this heavy metal with a horde of melodic elements such as acoustic interludes, clean vocals and gutiar work that is more geared towards harmony rather than down-tuned guitars strumming on power chords. All in all, I believe Ensiferum is an album that most fans of music in general can enjoy, especially those that already have a liking for heavy metal.

Ensiferum is an album that truly defines the genre of folk metal. It’s amazing blend of heavy metal and melodic folk music is a hybrid that most people would think to be extremely odd, as both genres contrast each other quite a bit. But after listening to the album, I believe many will agree that the blend is a perfect match when done right.

Epic metal has always been a somehow vague term. It has been used to describe the sound of totally different and diverse groups, such as early Manowar, Virgin Steele, (occasionaly) Bathory, even Bal Sagoth or Enslaved. Regardless of the dissimilarities between these groups, it seems that there exists a common factor, which allows their music to be categorised within the same genre. Generally speaking, the concept of “epic metal” is attributed to every band that attempts to create a narrative atmosphere through its lyrics and music, an atmosphere relating to magnificent battles, heroic feats and sword and sorcery themes.

Even though epic metal encompasses a variety of different music forms, some tend to associate it exclusively with power metal. The reason behind this rests on the fact that the bands who first developed an epic approach were more or less power metal bands (Manowar, Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol). Things became even more complicated with the coming of “true metal” during the mid ’90s. True metal became almost automatically linked to power and epic metal, causing the conflation between these three terms to grow to enormous proportions. It was quite common that the reference to one of these three concepts also brought - unintentionally - the other two to mind. This phenomenon turned out to have a negative effect on epic metal, because its “twin”, true metal, gradually developed an obsolete and childish character, elements of which were wrongfully ascribed to epic metal as well.

It was clear that epic metal was in need of a new direction, an approach that would highlight its distinct identity and somehow distinguish it from power and true metal.

Hailing from Helsinki, Finland, Ensiferum released their self - titled debut album in 2001. The band’s origins seem to be important, since Finland had always had a tradition in giving birth to bands that successfully combined different genres of metal (Amorphis, Children of Bodom, Sentenced [of old]). The first impression one gets after listening to “Ensiferum” is that it is an extremely interesting album, with clever power metal guitars and extreme, brutal vocals. If that was all there is to it, then Ensiferum’s debut album would simply be an excellent record. However, what makes “Ensiferum” a special effort and the band themselves real pioneers, is the genuine epic feeling that the record emanates. Listening to Ensiferum’s debut makes you imagine yourself on the battlefield, bearing a blood stained sword and uttering savage and barbarian battle cries. It is a feeling that most true metal bands fail to create.

The album starts off with a small introduction, simply titled “Intro”, and then the real action breaks loose, with “Hero In A Dream” . The main riff of the song may sound like typical happy power metal, yet everything changes as soon as Jari Mäenpää’s acid vocals break in. The way Jari employs his voice adds to the aggressiveness of the song, while it also makes the refrain sound quite heroic. “Token Of Time”, the track that follows, marks the appearance of folk elements in Ensiferum’s music. These folk elements, present throughout the entire album, intensify the high amount of originality that Ensiferum’s sound enjoys. As far as “Token Of Time” itself is concerned, its marvellous and inspired refrain constitutes the main reason why it is considered one of the best epic metal songs of the recent years. “Ensiferum” also includes a number of other interesting compositions: “Abandoned”, which has a more melodic and melancholic touch, “Windrider” and “Battle Song”, which stand closer to the black metal aspects of the band’s musical personality, and “Treacherous Gods”, which explodes into an excellent mid - tempo riff that sounds like a bulldozer, or rather like a battle clad battalion marching along. In general terms, “Ensiferum” bears a very important privilege: not even one single song of the album sounds indifferent or uninteresting.

When it comes to the lyrics, Ensiferum draw their inspiration from traditional Finnish legends and heroic tales. Many songs are based on the famous Finnish epic Kalevala and its main character, Väinämöinen, whereas some other tracks enter the scenery of tremendous battles and narrate savage stories of blood and glory. The clever choice of lyrics, combined with the folk and war - like elements of Ensiferum’s sound, create the ideal atmosphere for an epic metal record.

In short, Ensiferum’s debut album could be considered the band’s most accomplished effort to date, a record that utterly deems with epic energy. Furthermore, it set some things straight, as far as epic metal is concerned: Ensiferum (together with fellow warriors Turisas and Kopriklaani) proved that epic metal could be considered as a metal genre in its own right, not just a sub - genre of power metal, as it can successfully be combined with apparently distant elements, even those of black metal music.

Within the technological community, it is not uncommon for what was once a pioneering piece of equipment to be usurped with great haste by something that is superior to it in most if not all ways. It becomes obsolete and we as a human race feel no need to cling onto such relics, unless we're really short for cash e.g. my computer. Of course there are times when companies or people jump far too ahead of themselves and decide to glue the wrong bits onto an already existing product only to fall flat on their faces in a field of cow shit e.g. PSP. Folk metal is the PSP of the heavy metal genre; don't let you fool this into thinking I'm saying it's the absolute nadir of all heavy metal sub-genres however. Keep in mind that metalcore is just as useless but is more or less a failed derivative that is so far off the mark; it'd be the equivalent to trying to sell a refrigerator with a calculator welded to it as a handheld gaming device. A scientific calculator at that.

Folk metal is terribly insidious however; at times it will sing out a true heavy metal riff not unlike an alluringly sexy siren's call only to shiv you in the bollocks with a despicably melodious and fruity folk instrument, repeatedly. Well at least the good ones do this; Korpiklaani and the majority of their ilk manage to obscure any trace of actual metal instrumentation and proceed to direct their efforts towards stroking their keyboards and other superfluous instruments to such a degree, that only an industrial sized tub of ointment will cure what ails them. That's an argument for another day however, for now we're focused on the lesser of two evils; Ensiferum and their self-titled debut.

So 'Ensiferum' then, there's quite a nice deluge of comments that pour over this band and their every release for reasons that are lost on me. Let's take the song "Guardians of Fate", the fourth track if we're including that bloody awful introductory track; May I just say that introductory tracks are really starting to get on my tits these days and as far as I'm concerned unless your introductory track involves jamming a nice, big needle full of morphine into my neck, you can feel free to shove said track, up your arse. Unless it's "The Hellion" or "Monolith" or one of the very few tracks I can't think of right now.

Sorry that was rather tangential. "Guardian of Time" is probably the best track on the entire album for some very simple reasons; it contains a nice set of speed/power metal riffs, doesn't squander precious time on flamboyant folk instrument interludes or sub-par melodies and the solos are awesome. It's such a simple and effective song, even the keyboards are used adeptly and don't feel as contrived as they do on the many other tracks present. "Battle Song" would also be another top track if it wasn't the horrendously average main riff and the over-abundance of keyboards in the latter half that annihilate any trace of momentum that the song had been working towards before that point.

Unfortunately the rest of the album is a mish-mash of some decent heavy metal moments with folk/keyboard interludes spliced into it, and if they aren't being thrown in at random then they're most likely suffocating the rest of the instruments with their presence; the album is akin to the 'Three Stooges Syndrome' once all the instruments are playing at once.

For example, "Windrider" would be a decent mid-paced track that displays a respectable amount of riffs if it wasn't for the completely obtuse folk interludes that are shoehorned in during the first and latter half of the track. I think you get the drift by now though; the presence of folk instruments and keyboard cock up the entire flow of what are average metal songs. "Treacherous Gods" is probably the only track on this album where the two compliment each other nicely but one track out of twelve is not a good ratio whatsoever and is only proof to the lack of coherent composition within the confines of the album.

Last but not least, are the ballads and unfortunately this is where the band dive-bombs headlong into their keyboards and melodies because they're inept at consistently writing decent riffs. The slow pace only exacerbates the weaknesses of this album to the point of being intolerable on levels only matched by an air raid siren being jammed into your sinus. Within songs such as "Old Man" and "Little Dreamer" there are those occasional moments of brilliance such as the tremolo picked sections but they're throw right out the window in due time because the band is afraid of being metal. Of course with "Little Dreamer" they relegate a fleeting moments in the middle and at the end (twice!) to terrible melodic sections which ruins what was beginning to be a decent song.

I could keep point out examples and continue berating this band for the utterly fucking stupid decisions they've made in terms of song composition but what's the point? I think the best way to put is to note the correlation between the songs and their running time; the best songs are short (around three minutes) whilst the worst of the lot are longer (five to six minutes). If you were to eviscerate any trace of lamentable folky moments on this album you'd have something with a bearable playing time and it wouldn't make me wretch near constantly. Of course if that was to happen then the band would become rather average and would no longer stand out; people would lose interest because their three second attention span isn't being placated by a gimmick, and they wouldn't be able to spout sycophantic praise about being so unique and whatnot.

As unique as this album was for it's time, that doesn't excuse it from its flaws; the status of being unique does not automatically bestow the creation with perfection. Take Unexpect's 'In a Flesh Aquarium'; it's sure as hell unique, there's no arguing that. Alas it's the biggest musical clusterfuck I've been witness to, and I can quite happily sit through a Sigh album. Quod erat demonstrandum, you bastards.

Still this is probably one of the better folk metal albums you will come across; you could certainly do a lot worse than listening to Ensiferum's self titled debut if you direly needed to listen to listless music that eschews the tenants of heavy metal so they can wank around with weird folk instruments. That doesn’t mean you should though.

Ensiferum debuted with this full length album half a decade ago, and I must say that they haven't topped it yet. Formed several years before the release of this CD, the group on this recording includes several well known Finnish musicians like Jari Maenpaa (Wintersun) and Trollhorn (Finntroll). The group is basically viking metal in essence, some say folk metal too but the folk influence is not as prominent as it is in a band like Falkenbach. Regardless, this album does everything right for a metal cd that is incorperating viking elements.

First should be noted that this album is pretty accessible for anyone,production is good, songs aren't too long, and there are still clean vocals that go along with the harsh vocals. The music is very simple at heart but is executed well. There are a few riffs in each song (usually in verse chorus bridge structure) but the songs build up and have enough breaks and variations so that the song is never boring and over before you know it. The riffing is best described as very simple melodies in a folkish style (played on a distorted guitar) with power chords underneath, accompanied by solid bass and drums. Vocals are very powerful. Ranging from growls to all out screams, Jari delivers excellent vocals as always. The clean ensemble vocals are also a joy to listen.

Each song contains its own hook (a main theme) that is centered around. It could be the huge and epic clean chorus of Battle Song or the melody of Hero in a Dream, or the acoustic melody in the beginning of Eternal. Verse and choruses tend to be simple musically letting vocals take over, and are also short enough so that there are several choruses in each song, giving a nice familiarity after a few listens to the cd. The beautiful thing about this cd is that it has an immense replay value. Your favorite song will probably change every month or so if you take the time to listen to the whole cd once or twice a month. There are just to many catchy riffs (and not the annoying stuck in your head all day pop melody catchy) and melodies here that every song is interesting.

The lead guitar work is also immense. Jari plays some extremely clean leads on some of the songs (only a few feature solos). His sweep picking is as crystal clear as on the Wintersun cd, and the lead harmonies have a beautiful folk sound to them that is extremely pleasing. The vocals are also extremely well done. Whether it be the Battle Song clean chorus or the screamed bridge of Old Man, this album is full of emotions. Lyrics are also not too cheesy for the genre, not much based in mythology (except vainamoinen), instead more of a story telling style usually based on warriors and battles. The drumming is also spot on, delivering fast beats usually driven by double bass and snare on 2 and 4, with the occasional half time feel in the hi hat and snare. The bass also adds a nice heavy foundation to the music, which is nothing innovative but does give the necessary bottom for the headbanging riffs on this album.

There is a fine line, a seemingly self-contradictory combination, or perhaps a middle ground between simplicity and intricacy that every truly perfect album has to adhere to. It’s one thing to be able to impress either yourself or an audience of musicians with an ability to put as many ideas or riffs as possible into a song, but being able to utilize this technique within the bounds of something as simplistic and vanilla as folk music and come out with something that wows the ears is no small task. But whatever the stylistic inclination may be, these albums are the standard setters, the flawless realizations of an original idea that demands emulation and cloning like a nightmare out of an Aldous Huxley novel.

Naturally, the original idea also has to be a good one, and that is what is presented in Ensiferum’s debut album. About 4 years of honing, modification, and evolution was involved in what eventually became the band’s sound, and what it has yielded is a unique hybrid of three seemingly irreconcilable metal styles. The concept of melodeath bands dabbling in power metal is often inevitable, though few really do it well, and the marriage of folk music in a limited manner as token ballad material for bands such as Blind Guardian and Helloween is not unheard of. But fully marrying all 3 of these styles into one consistent sound is something that wasn’t really common in the mid-90s melodeath or power metal scenes, and this band owns their creation on every minute of this album.

No matter what the length or scope of a particular song on here, there is a measured approach of thematic, sectional, and stylistic development that keeps every song on here fresh even after several repeated listens. Very simple and symmetrical melodic material is subjected to a brilliant combination of tempo changes, atmospheric variations, and timbre manipulations that does all it can to make you forget that you’re hearing 3 or 4 chord songs with melodic folk material that was intended to be sung by just about anyone. It could almost be said that these 4 Finnish metal heads brought the aristocrats of the Baroque era to the bargaining table with the bards of the olden Nordic tribes and worked out a musical peace treaty of sorts.

Although there are no slouches to speak of in this outfit, the stage is pretty much owned throughout by Jari Mäenpää. There have been a good number of screamers amongst the more extreme side of the metal coin who have growled up their left lung as if it were a fine art, and even more who can fill a room with a powerful, clean voiced baritone, but Jari is the only one who can do both as if he was both an Olympic sprinter and long distance runner at the same time. All one need do is listen to “Hero in a Dream” or “Windrider” to get a taste of his full command of the melodeath voice, then hear “Abandoned” for a clean vocal performance that rivals James Hetfield’s ballad work with Metallica. Of course you could also hear an exemplary performance of both vocal styles on “Little Dreamer” and “Old Man”, both representing one of the most brilliant metal tributes to the Kalevala epic ever conceived.

When this diverse vocal repertoire, aided by the occasional group chorus, is combined with a dense atmosphere of folk instruments, hard edged guitar riffs, tasteful keyboard usage, and a ballsy rhythm section; what results is the true embodiment of epic. Even short and simplistic power metal oriented songs like “Guardians of Fate” and “Battle Song” come off as ambitious works of stylistic intrigue, blasting out a few power chords and some fast drum work, along with choral and melodic material to take the listener on a journey of heroic endeavors and mystical encounters. Acoustic guitars and a Kantele find their way into several of the longer songs on here, although the most notable section is heard at the end of “Little Dreamer”, which is fitting as the principle character of the Kalevala is credited with creating the first version of this instrument.

Interestingly enough, there are often times where the band will give one of the three styles they have successfully merged greater prominence as a means of contrasting each song. “Treacherous Gods” is pretty close to a full melodeath song, particularly in its riff approach. The choirs and the epic tendencies are still there, but the first half of the song carries many similarities with the better aspects of the early Gothenburg scene. “Goblins’ Dance” is all electric and as fast as any classic power metal song with harsh vocals, but the feel of the song and the formulaic strummed nature of the electric guitars make the entire thing sound like an olden folk dance. The guitar solos on “Token of Time” and “Abandoned” are brilliant yet brief tributes to the shredding style often employed by power metal outfits, though placed in the centers of two heavily folk oriented songs.

For this style of metal, which has had a huge surge in popularity in recent years, this is the purest and least pretentious of the lot. For all of the pomp and circumstance, this sound is humbled by a keen awareness of the fact that a song has to be interesting as well as catchy, something that most imitators in this genre don’t often realize. Likewise, this album is just as accessible to melodeath and power metal fans as anything in their own genre of preference, which is not something that could be said for the majority of the Folk/Viking style. It crosses boundaries because the musicians involved didn’t believe in them, which is the foundation of the metal spirit.

Ensiferum’s fist album. Their self-titled. Now here I’m reviewing my favorite metal album of all time. Despite the fact that I have a few amazing albums to which I give a rating of 100% for being flawless in my opinion, this one takes it all. I was blown away when I heard the first tracks off of this, and even today I’m still amazed by the quality of this masterpiece. This is the only disc that I can listen to anytime, in any mood, and not get bored. Ok, enough blind compliments and down the question you’re asking yourself: Why is this so great?

Because Ensiferum plays a type of Viking/folk metal that is, first of all, completely unique. Nothing else sounds like them, not even Wintersun despite being fronted by the same guy. Wintersun is cold. This is fucking epic.

Let’s get to the contents of the album. First off comes a 1 minute 50 second intro of a light acoustic sound followed by a slow medieval guitar tone. Nothing else really happens here, but it’s perfect this way. A great intro. Then they kick it all down with Hero In A Dream, one of the fastest tracks on the album and an amazing song. Very fast riffing here, accompanied by Oliver Fokin’s masterful drumming. Jari’s vocals are mostly harsh as usual with a short but excellent clean passage. This track’s more brutal edge lacks the more medieval touch of later tunes in the album, although that doesn’t make it bad by any means.

I could go around making a track-by-track review (and it would probably get rejected) but it’s quite useless since talking about each song isn’t necessary to the reader. All that needs to be said is that each song, hell each single second on this album is unique and extremely well done. You want folk metal, you got it right here. The only thing each song has in common is the fact that it’s completely unique and unlike each other. And that each one totally owns. Still, one could go around grouping the songs based on their general characteristics. Token Of Time and Little Dreamer are probably the most medieval-evoking songs, and this among an extremely medieval-sounding album’s worth of songs. Old Man is the slowest one here but no less amazing, with Abandoned, and Eternal Wait being also slower but also much more melancholic. Then of course we have the fast in-your-face folk songs that scream at you until you’re off killing Christians randomly. These include the aforementioned Hero In A Dream, Windrider and the incredible Treacherous Gods. These are fast, with some of the harshest vocals on the album but curiously all include some (short) clean passages. Finally we have Battle Song and Goblins’ Dance, two relatively short “victory songs” at the end of the album that have a general victorious mood for Battle Song and party atmosphere for Goblins’…

Now for the written content. The lyrics are beautiful and inspirational. While the song titles might seem simplistic at first, the lyrics within each of those songs are unique and very deep, reminiscent of middle-age fantasy tales, especially Lord Of The Rings despite the complete absence of any reference to the LOTR universe in any of Ensiferum’s work.

As I hinted before, the band all perform to their utmost here and there are no flaws to be found in the entire instrumentation, which I find to be an amazing thing considering this is their first album. Vocals, riffs, drum beats, bass lines, you name it and they do it and not just do it but fucking own 99% of bands out there doing it.

Yeah, I love this album. I could give it 200%. Or more. But I’ll stick to 100% for simplicity’s sake. And because I doubt I can rate it above 100 on the Archives.
You like folk metal?? You don’t if you don’t own this. You like metal? You still need this if you do because whatever you preferred metal style, this is excellent. “Ensiferum” Transcends all genres with its abundance of qualities and total lack of flaws. Get this album.

Sputnik's very own Grant Hunter had the right idea when reviewing Bathory's Blood Fire Death. Vikings are pretty damn cool. And, you know, metal is obviously pretty cool as well. So it would only make sense to combine the two, am I right? Surely. So now we've combined Vikings and metal to get Viking metal, pretty simple right? But wait…what exactly is Viking metal? Is it loud, aggressive metal akin to death or thrash which rapes and pillages the poor ears of its listeners? Does it include odes to the might Odin? To be honest, until recently, I didn't know either. And though my eyes have been to said genre, this isn't the place to go into such intricacies. So I won't. But I what I can do is tell you about one of this mysterious genre’s bands. Formed in 1995, in (seriously, get THIS) Sweden (don't worry, I was surprised too), the band is set to release its third album, Victory Songs, in around a month. But the inevitable "how will it stand up to the band's previous albums?" question will surely come up. And as it stands, I'm sceptical to whether the new album can stand up to Ensiferum's epic debut titled…Ensiferum.

So you might be wondering why I think such things. Well part of the reason might have been the band's slightly disappointing 2006 EP, Dragonheads, but a larger, more positive reason for my supposed lack of optimism is rests in the actual excellence of Ensiferum's self titled debut. Full of rousing, sing along hymns; folky, melodic guitar lines and riffs; and memorable choruses Viking style, Ensiferum as crafted themselves a very enjoyable sound. Of the fifty-five minute album, there are two songs which particularly showcase the band's style at its best are Hero in a Dream and Goblin's Dance. Expressing the distinctively Norse sound of old, both tracks are quite lively affairs which stress power and melody. The atmosphere of said tracks is also quite notable. Most, if not all of the tracks sport a very epic atmosphere. And with song titles like Battle Song, an epic, rousing sound shouldn't be much of a surprise. If this atmospheric element was stressed in any of the tracks, it would have got to be the aforementioned Goblin's Dance. The song, quite reminiscent of a victory song, is one of the most sing-along tracks on the album, and the up-beat offering just beckons its listeners to shout out along with the rest of the band. Yes, Ensiferum's debut album is undeniably quite the experience.

Undoubtedly, the most impressive member to be heard on Ensiferum is Jari Mäenpää. Taking on the roles of guitarist and vocalist of the Viking metal band, Jari's efforts are quite commendable, as he handles both roles exceedingly well. His straightforward guitar playing mixed with the harsh growls that might have come out of a black metal album combines exceedingly well to produce an exciting, impressive sound which dominates the tracks to be found on the album. Unsurprisingly, the rest of the band takes after Jari. As a whole, Ensiferum's sound is quite controlled. Solos are present, yet guitar noodling is not as prominent as on some of Ensiferum's related bands. I would venture to guess that the music is at least somewhat complicated, yet the effort put into the moulding of songs like Token of Time and Old Man (Vainamoinen) make them sound more streamlined and simple with more emphasis on actual song writing than technical profusion.

Ensiferum's self titled debut album is definitely an excellent platter of Viking metal. Ensiferum definitely met, and eat times even exceeded the expectations I had for it. The Swedes put forth an excellent effort, one that combines heavy, yet melodic riffing, impressive, folky interludes, and fun sing/growl-along atmospheres. Fans of this Folk, Viking, or even Power metal should find themselves right at home with this release. If you're looking to get acquainted with Ensiferum, this is definitely the album to check out, as it's easily a stronger album than the band's second, Iron (that said, Iron does have better artwork). Check it out if you have the chance, it's quite a fun listen.

(Originally written for Sputnikmusic)

In 2001, a small miracle saw the light of day for the first time. Four guys (Jari Mäenpää/vocals & guitar, Markus Toivonen/guitar, Jukka-Pekka Miettinen/bass and Oliver Fokin/drums) once and for all proved why Finland, by the side of Germany and Sweden, can be counted to the most metallic countries in the world. That, since a couple of years, several talented bands had emerged from Finland we already knew. Also that within their genres (mostly melodic power metal and melodic death metal) they could be counted with the best newcomers in the world, because of their flawless handling of the instruments and equally flawless production jobs (one word: Finnvox…), could not be denied. Where all these Finnish grenades came from was unknown to me; all I had to do (and did) was to bow down, to take of my hat in salute and be thankful for all the wonderful music. Sonata Arctica, Children Of Bodom, Norther… and the guys of ENSIFERUM.


Just looking at the cover instilled no hopes within me. Sure, it fit well to the music, but it seemed somehow too dark, old fashioned… I don’t know. Equally unattractive were the song titles. The usual run of the mill about heroes and battles… But then I downloaded some songs from the net, and I was practically blown away. Musically we’re talking about melodic black/death metal with folkish viking/medieval influences here. A combination I’m sure everyone has heard a thousand times before, but not executed in this way, that I promise you! What these guys have accomplished with the self titled debut cannot be summed up in word. One has to listen to understand. Already with the opener Hero In A Dream that comes blasting out of the speakers after the obligatory intro, the band shows what they stand for, and what musical direction is to be taken. The song is, simply put, cool as fuck, with fast parts, hard parts, the unbelievable screaming of Jari, and with a super tight rhythm section. Simply the best way to open an album! And it continues, with Token Of Time, that flows somewhat slower through the speaker, losing nothing by the way of strength, however, and featuring, just like the first song, heavenly choruses and a refrain that practically screams to be sung along to. Thereafter comes Guardians Of Fate, and the tears nearly well up in my eyes… Again, the gas pedal is pressed to the floor, and the choruses are pure steel.


So it continues throughout the entire album, and there is no song that could be described as bad or “filler”. No matter if we’re talking fast songs (like the previously mentioned, Windrider or Battle Song [listen to the ending of this song; oh God Almighty!]) or slower songs (like Old Man, Little Dreamer or Abandoned) the guys manage to sound 100% convincing, making every second heavenly. Enough time for development are given the songs, which can be noted by looking at the duration times. Some songs begin slowly and calmly, after a time developing into speed orgies, but always managing to keep the interest of the listener. So ends the song Abandoned, e.g., with a long, sad instrumental outro, which says a lot about the qualities of the Finns. Naturally the sound is crystal clear, and every instrument is given equal placement, just like we’re used to with the Finnish bands.


An absolute killer, from beginning to end. Now we’ll just have to wait to see if they can top this with the second album, which is to be released in the beginning of 2004. I look forward to the future, and hope that ENSIFERUM will have lots of productive years ahead of them.


Originally written for http://www.nocturnalhall.com

Fast as fuck. Atmospheric. Cool folk interludes. Great vocals. Yeah, it's Ensiferum's debut. Ensiferum are a band from Finland and they're playing viking/folk metal on steroids. They have the speed and intensity of Children Of Bodom and the atmosphere and great sense for folk interludes of, let's say, Einherjer. So, let me explain it a bit more. Music of Ensiferum consists of folky acoustic melodies, group screams (not like those in thrash, more like viking brotherhood like or something), fast as fuck Bodomish riffs, great vocals and great viking and battle inspired lyrics.

As said, vocals on this one are great. Jari can really sing. His harsh vocals are awesome brutal but one can still understand what is he saying. He also does cleans which fit great into their style of music. The guitarists do their job nicely, riffs are fast and catchy and the acoustic are also really folky and just for viking metal. Drumming is cool, there are some interesting double fills and the fast parts are well executed. Bass is just bass, can't say much more about that.

The album starts off with a cool intro, which nicely builds up the atmosphere.
Next three songs are, along with Eternal Wait, probably the best on the album. ''Hero In A Dream'' kicks you in the face right away. Awesome riff and a great headbanging chorus. It's fast as hell thoughout the whole song and it's probably the fastest song on the album. ''Token Of Time'' starts acoustic and is a bit slower then the previous song. It's really epic. It also has that nice interlude before the chorus. ''Guardians Of Fate'' starts of like some punk-rock song, but don't let that scare you away. It continues in the same manner as the previous two songs. ''Eternal Wait'' is slower and longer, but it has some great riffs.

The other songs are just as amazing as these.

Few bands managed to release such a strong first album as this one is. There is not a bad song on here, actually there isn't a minute of bad music up on this one. If you love fast, catchy and interesting metal, get this. Even if you're not really into Scandinavian stuff usually.

I heard one of Ensiferum's songs on a metal web radio station (www.snakenet.com) and it immediately caught my attention. The more I listen to metal, the harder it is to surprise me, but these guys blew me away at first listen.

But first, introductions are in order. Ensiferum are a Finnish band that blend black metal, viking metal, and folk-style melodies. They're still quite obscure, even among metalheads. I can't fathom why. This is their debut CD.

What makes this album so great to me are the superb melodies. Their guitarists clearly have fantastic ears for melody, and the folk influence enhances the music greatly. The lyrics have a very clear fantasy/folklore/mythological theme, and are pretty decent, fortunately written and sung in fluent English. The band members are also skilled musicians. The guitars, as mentioned earlier, create sublime melodies as well as tasteful yet impressive solos and heavy riffing. The drumming is solid but somewhat in the background. The vocals alternate between black metal-ish screaming (similar to Dissection) and clean vocals that show a surprising amount of variety. They all come together to form a coherent whole that is rare in young bands. The songs vary in tempo, theme, and balance of vocals throughout the album.

If you like melodic metal, especially Finnish bands like I do, then you really can't miss with this band. I'm very surprised that this album apparently came out in 2001 and that Ensiferum hasn't gained more notoriety. It's only been released by Spine/Spikefarm at this point so it isn't easy to purchase outside of Finland. I can't recommend this band enough. They appeal to a niche, and I guess the only criticism I could think of them is that they aren't especially brutal or heavy, so it might not appeal to all metalheads. If you do like them, I'd suggest recommending them to all other metalheads you know, because what this band needs right now is some good ol' fashioned word of mouth. I'll be watching this band very closely in the future.

There aren't any bad songs on the album, but if I had to recommend specific tracks I'd say that "Token of Time", "Abandoned", and "Windrider" are my favorite tracks so far.