Victory Songs

Lord of the Rings had a ring... but Ensiferum has a song.. a "Victory Song". And how mighty their songs are.

Its hard for me to listen to this music and not get vivid imagery intact in my mind i usually picture of the "Lord of the Rings": the epic battles, the humble villages and the folk lore. That's what "Victory Songs" truly embraces the sound of folklore in this case Viking and Finnish folklore happens to sound very similar to what many people would consider the "Elvish folklore". Victory songs truly caries you away with sounds above and beyond the use of any standard metal band including bagpipes, flutes, and Mandolins. Everything on the album unfolds somewhere between a "shire" type sound to a viking war-songs fitting of epic battles of Elves vs Orcs.

The album also has a lot of awesome pacing hitting you up front with some Triumphant war-songs and following that up with some melodic victory songs of nomadic tales, all leading up to the epic conclusion "victory song" which has a chorus so memorable you cant help but sing a long with heavy Mug of Dwarfish Ale.

Now some hardcore Ensiferum fans will discredit this album due to the fact of Vocalist change and the difference in this album between Iron vs Victory Songs. However i shun these naysayers because differences only prove to be strengths for Ensiferum. These Finnish war hero's know how to craft tasty music even the most hardened brutal metal fan can enjoy if given a chance. Also Ensiferum fans may dislike the shift away from long and drawn out solos, however many great guitar solos of a different style are still on Victory Songs proving more so that Ensiferum can do whatever the hell they want and have it all turn out awesome.


There is nothing silly to be had here, only epic Viking tales from Finland. Many other black metal bands have tried to accomplish Victory Songs sounds only failing and falling flat and gimmicky sounding.

This is nothing short of a masterpiece and needs to have credit where credit is due. So grab a hearty mug of ale and prepare Vikings to march all over your living room.

Very few things come as naturally as the tendency to divide up Ensiferum’s career based on their choice of frontman. There is the timeless, according to some even legendary, past of the band, with Jari Mäenpää, and the new Ensiferum, with Petri Lindroos as vocalist and a few less original band members to boot. Though a more careful analysis will reveal the need to nuance this view (primarily due to the Dragonheads EP, which has Petri on vocals yet whose songwriting is in many ways closer to earlier Ensiferum), the general distinction is, all in all, correct. And, strangely enough, it’s this, their third album, which makes for a more different Ensiferum than its somewhat superior follow-up, From Afar.

The first thing that needs to be said about Victory Songs is that, although there are a few differences, this is still first and foremost an Ensiferum album, proud and true, and the listener never forgets that. He’s just occasionally reminded about stronger influences from elsewhere. These influences are most evident on the fast-paced songs which make up the first portion of the album (special note must be taken of Ad Victoriam, the intro, which is Ensiferum’s most breathtaking to date; a great annunciation of things to come). Petri Lindroos’ work with Norther can definitely be sensed here, unlike on many of the more epic and/or heavily folk-oriented tracks later on. That isn’t to say that this sounds like Norther’s music, just a reminder of where our vocalist comes from. The changes are deeper than that however, both in the structure of the album (three fast-paced “war/action” tracks in a row isn’t Ensiferum’s usual style) and in the nature of some of those tracks, especially Ahti. Now, this is the song which awoke a certain apprehension for this album ever since I first heard it because of its taking a perilously close approach to the more happy and partying side of folk metal, and that tends to lead to nasty consequences (Finntroll and Korpiklaani *shudders*). Fortunately, although it took a while getting used to, I realized that the Ensiferum guys did a great job even with this song. The chorus may be a tad repetitive (too many Ahtis) but the instrumentals are solid (their usual symbiosis of folk-oriented keyboards and guitars). It still feels a little out of place but is good enough not to be actively irritating. In a way it even gives the album a special kind of charm, a distinction from the others if nothing else.

After this slightly unusual and potentially discouraging first part everything goes uphill. Ensiferum hit back with full force with the twin classics, One More Magic Potion and Wanderer. All the trademarks of the former come back here, as even Petri’s vocals take on a much more well-adapted tone to the music. The justifiable fears that the Ensiferum of old would never again resurface are fortunately proven wrong. Their ability to fuse the main elements that are the guitar/folk keyboards combo, the extremely catchy clean choruses and the general epic atmosphere fully succeed here, and both these tracks would fit very well on the monumental Iron. Wanderer is probably the album’s best track, mixing catchiness with the qualities of a massively epic travel song masterfully. Even its length is optimal, longer than your usual song but without going past the seven-minute mark that would make it a bit too ponderous.

The final portion of the album is composed of another fast-paced section of more aggressive songs (Raised by the Sword, The New Dawn), which are rather well-placed after the two previous numbers, a kind of return to action after a short mid-album cooling off, and, to conclude, the long and epic title track, the longest song Ensiferum had done up to that point. This choice of overall song placement gives the album a rather common structure (very similar to Amon Amarth’s Versus the World, yet one which is, in both cases, marked with huge success. Both Raised by the Sword and The New Dawn are great, perhaps a tad less memorable than the classics of the past, but to call them filler would be grossly unjust. The title track is the crowning jewel of this album. Clocking at a bit over 10 minutes, it’s basically a mini-album, with its own complex intro, main part and intricate outro/conclusion. The main body of the song is very well-composed and indeed the only possible complaint is that it’s not really that distinctive from the other similar yet shorter tracks on the album, just obviously more complex because of its greater length. It’s really just another excellent track among several others preceding it, not a truly outstanding and mind-blowing way to end the album (it fares unfavorably when compared to, say, the follow-up album’s The Longest Journey or Amon Amarth’s …And Soon The World Shall Cease to Be, both landmarks).

Victory Songs is a very good album. As someone else once said with remarkable reasoning, it’s the autumn album of Ensiferum’s first four albums, each of which represents a season (S/T is spring, Iron is summer and From Afar is of course winter). The album covers are the main reason for this assessment, Victory Songs’ having many tones of yellow, orange and crimson dominating it. In turn the album’s entire atmosphere tends to reflect this. Despite it being their weakest (admittedly by a rather narrow margin), Victory Songs is still a folk metal masterpiece which outperforms the vast majority of the genre’s albums. It just represents Ensiferum in a slight identity-seeking phase.

Ensiferum was one of the first bands with harsh vocals that I listened to. In fact, I had only been familiar with one band using such vocals before Ensiferum and that was Wintersun. Also, Ensiferum was my “intro-band” to folk/viking metal and I remember how excited I was about the folk-atmosphere and the recently-found growling vocals of their self-titled. Since then, Ensiferum has always been in my top 3-bands and their later albums have only stabilized that status. Especially Victory Songs. I love their s/t and Iron but for me, Victory Songs is peak of their career until today.

When I got my hands on Victory Songs for the first time, I was a little suspicious about the new singer. Jari Mäenpää had make a lasting impact on me with that unique, emotional and aggressive singing style of his and I doubted that Petri Lindroos would have so fitting vocals for Ensiferum‘s overall atmosphere. I was partially right, ‘cause Petri’s vocal work isn’t quite so impressive as Jari’s. Jari has more variety in his vocals, of course mainly because he does clean ones too. Still, Petri is a very good singer and I’m glad they found a talented guy to fill Jari’s former place.

On Victory Songs, Ensiferum has slightly evolved towards more melodeath-ish sound but still manages to lift the epic atmosphere into a new level. Successfully mixing melodic death metal with majestic songwriting isn’t an easy task but on Victory Songs, the guys of Ensiferum show us that it only requires people who know what they’re doing and who have experience with both styles. Besides folk/viking and melodic death metal, Ensiferum also blends some power metal into their music. However, it’s main role is to create more great and catchy melodies into the soundscape, not to fill the music with happy feeling as some might fear when hearing that. Because my three favorite sub-genres of metal are folk/viking, power and melodeath, I’m very fascinated by this. Victory Songs is the best blend of those genres I’ve heard: it focuses mainly to folk/viking but shows us an excellent support of power and mdm as well. Album’s lyrical content is fantastic (in two meanings here and there) featuring mainly interesting tales from Nordic lore and intense images of nature. Even though lyrics are quite expectable, it matters not because they fit so well into the songs and the overview of the band.

When it comes to variety, Victory Songs is a marvelous work. It includes great intro that takes you into the heart of grandiosity by beautiful acoustic arrangements and glorious synth-patterns (Ad Victoriam). It has two heavy, fast and brutal yet melodic battle metal-songs strengthening it‘s might (Blood is the Price of Glory and The New Dawn). Within it’s bowels flows three tale-driven, folky and intriguing tracks endlessly radiating their ancient light over the listener (Deathbringer from the Sky, Ahti and One More Magic Potion). To further enhance the diversity, the album contains one wonderful clean-vocals-only song with somewhat peaceful approach to the story (Wanderer) and two masterpieces of exalted epicness to crown the entirety (Raised by the Sword and Victory Song). The last one I mentioned, Victory Song, deserves a special note. It’s the most bombastic and also longest song Ensiferum has made. Full of magical melodies and visions from the northern lands it strikes deep into one’s heart. It’s beginning makes you silent and takes you to a journey through great riffs, ass-kicking growls and a wonderful part of Finnish singing to the epic zenith of the whole album before leaves you in the middle of melancholic bag pipe melody and sounds of thunder and rain. If that’s not awesome, then what is?

In conclusion, Victory Songs is best of Ensiferum‘s three albums, though it is only few steps ahead the other two. It’s also one of the best folk/viking-metal albums (and metal-albums in general) that I’ve ever listened. It’s one of those rare albums that almost would make you kill in order to get more. I recommend it to every fan of the genre who feel themselves undisturbed by the presence of strong influences from other genres.

The general consensus is that Ensiferum lost steam after Jari Mäenpää left, and while this is an accurate assessment, by all standards this is a great release. In some respects the songwriting on here shows improvement over “Iron”, particularly in the ballad and acoustic department. In other respects, this is an obvious downgrade from the overwhelming triumph and majesty that this band built their earlier material to portray.

The obvious area where this album doesn’t quite measure up is the vocal department, not so much because it lacks any passion or power, but because there was so much of those things before that pretty much nothing could measure up to it. Jari is not someone that you can replace, he’s in a class all his own. With the entrance of Lindroos the harsh vocal department is perfectly maintained, but all the husky baritone solo vocal parts and Rob Halford vocal gymnastics are gone. He is very much capable of singing a tuneful melody in a gravely, high edged tone similar to Hansi Kursch, but all clean and low singing is handled by two other members, neither of who fill out an arrangement the way Jari could on his own, which a quick listen to Wintersun’s self-titled album will prove.

Despite a slight downgrade in the vocal prowess of the new front man, musically this measures up very well to the precedents set before it. In many cases, the folk instrument and ballad sections prove to be slightly more interesting than previously heard. The principle theme of opening track “Ad Victoriam” lends itself a good deal more to humming a cappella after the album has ended than the opening theme of the debut, and is far more climactic than the one that leads off “Iron”. Choruses such as the one heard on “The Wanderer” and “Raised By The Sword” also upstage the previous album’s single “Tale Of Revenge”, though they don’t quite reach up to that same magical level that the debut’s two single worthy, though they didn’t actually become as such, songs “Guardians Of Fate” and “Abandoned”.

In fact, this changeover in personnel has predisposed the band to augment the catchy melodic aspect of their sound, while playing down the thrash metal and neo-classical shred work that made for a more varied listen previously. The riffs move more towards a power metal feel, particularly on the extremely catchy speed track “Deathbringer From The Sky”, which is arguably the most riff driven and least folk inspired of all the songs on here save the thrasher “The New Dawn”. Tempo and feel changes are not quite as frequent, making them more noticeable when they occur, and pull things into a more accessible arena. The guitar solos, which are few and far between, do not display the virtuoso shredder qualities that Jari’s did, but function more as an elaborated extension/variation of the folk themes dominating most of the music. You could almost argue that for people not familiar with the band, this might be a better place to start than their debut, despite it not being quite as riveting.

The songs that really stand out from the pack of extremely catchy and memorable anthems are the title song and the album’s single. “One More Magic Potion” has one of those really memorable yet elaborate chorus melodies that grabs you the same way that “Guardians Of Fate” did, while it also has some interesting flute and acoustic sections that are also quite animated. The closing epic “Victory Song” is a grower if there ever was one, mostly because of how powerful that main theme that also appears in the opening song is. It is varied a little at the start and then used repeatedly in every chorus amidst a sea of atmospheric beauty. When you combine all of the majestic clean singing, mellow string synthesizer ambiances, pounding rhythm section and guitar riffs, everything just explodes into a celebration of glory and lives up to its title.

In the end, no matter how great this actually is, anyone who has followed the band up until now will wonder what this would sound like with Jari still at the helm. It probably would have been very different considering his status as a principle songwriter on the band’s earlier releases, but even if he had just done session vocals you could hear this thing getting just all the more closer to its actual potential. It’s a solid album, and at times outright superb, but it is also a good deal different from the last two. Nonetheless, this is worthy of the Ensiferum name and should please anyone who follows them and their genre, as well as most fans of Finland’s power metal and melodic death metal scene.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on November 20, 2008.

Yes, Jari Maenpaa left. Yes, Petri Lindroos from Norther is the replacement. You can stop crying now. I'll be the first to admit, Maenpaa is years ahead of Lindroos in the vocal department, but he is a decent replacement and fills in the shoes adequately. Is it enough to mark the album down purely because Maenpaa is no longer part of the band? No, not at all. It seems a lot of flak gets thrown at this album because when he left, he apparently took all of the magic with him, and then wanked with it all over Wintersun.

This is far from the truth, when given the chance, Victory Songs is a great record on par with the previous two. I've rated it the highest out of the three, but that's because this is the most consistent. Bitch and moan all you want, but there are only two tracks that aren't as good as the rest on this one. I had the same problem with Iron, so shouldn't the lesser number of tracks warrant a lower score than that one? No, because while Raised by the Sword and The New Dawn may be mediocre in comparison to the rest, they aren't anywhere near the shit burgers that were Lost in Despair and Tears.

The music as a whole seems to alternate between a tad faster than on Iron, to about the same pace as Old Man or Little Dreamer from the debut. Blood is the Price of Glory opens as the first full song with furious double bass destruction, an energetic yowl from our new vocalist, and a signature folk melody that will get stuck in your head for days. Upon hearing this, I wondered why everybody was saying that all of the magic was gone. If all of the complaints were that they haven't progressed as a band, I believe it could have a smidgen of merit, but this is not a step down from the last record at all! I am not complaining that they aren't changing though, mainly because I believe that if you find a formula that works wonderfully, there is no need to change. Don't fix what ain't broken I guess. Ensiferum's speedy blend of folk metal works brilliantly to me, and I see nothing wrong with continuing the ass kickage.

Now I'd like to address what I DON'T like about the album, and they are tracks 7 and 8. Raised by the Sword tries to lull you into a false sense of security before punching you in the balls. Well, it gets point A across, but ends up missing your groin and accidentally punches you in the shin. Sure, it'll sting for a bit, but it goes away fairly quickly. The New Dawn on the other hand goes straight for the throat, but once again misses and pokes you in the eye. I'm not a sadomasochist, so I don't know for sure, but I can never imagine eye gouging to be a pleasureful kind of pain. The songs aren't horrible.... they're not failing grade, but they don't really fit into the album in the sense that they.... well, just aren't very good. As I've said earlier, mediocre. The melodies aren't as strong or catchy here, and the riffs under them fails to make up for the melodic shortcomings.

Another thing that seems to piss people off, are the quasi-ballads Wanderer and Victory Song. I can see why people dislike them, but I think they pull them off magnificently. The former is a very restrained song, which is strange for Ensiferum. Even on Old Man they have melodies all over the damn place, here the riffs sound like they are being held back from what they want to become. This actually works out wonderfully, as huge, galloping, speedy folk riffs would not sound right on a song like this. Wanderer is catchy and memorable, so it is a classic in my book. Victory Song breaks the ten minute mark, officially making it the "epic" of the album. Although it takes nearly three minutes to fully pick up, it never feels like it is meandering or lost. The acoustic intro sets up the victorious distorted progression, which again leads into the explosive verse riff. Victorious may be a bizarre adjective to use when describing a riff, but it really fits. The whole song continually progresses and never falls into the pit of "okay, I want the song to be longer, what do I do? ATMOSPHERIC BULLSHIT!!" ala Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The Finnish passage is great as well, it's hard not to sing along, even when you have no freakin' clue what they are saying.

I can't really delve into each song, as they are all vastly different (Ahti is a more straightforward headbanger, Deathbringer from the Sky has some heavy power metal stylings, One More Magic Potion is one of the most overtly folky, et cetera) but trust me when I say there is something for almost any metal fan here. I think it just may be Ensiferum's crowning achievement, but I'm still torn between Victory Songs and Iron. This scored four percent higher because the two obligatory boring tracks aren't nearly as bad as the two from Iron, but the great songs aren't as magnificent as Iron's were. It's a toss up really, it's up to you to decide. An A- for one of my favorite bands of all time. If you can get past the fact that the main songwriter / vocalist / guitarist is gone, and take the music for it's own merit, you'll find yourself enjoying a top notch Ensiferum record.

I had barely gotten into Ensiferum when I found out that the lead singer/guitarist Jari Maenpaa was leaving, so I didn't realize what it would entail for the band until hearing "Victory Songs." Ensiferum has, in a certain sense, taken a step backward in terms of its musical style, or a step back followed by a step in a new direction. With the loss of Jari has come the loss of the cold, jagged, and fearless edge the made their first two albums seem pretty brutal despite their folksy content. Ensiferum definitely has a warmer, more folk-oriented focus now, and while they still do some blisteringly fast guitar work, it doesn't have quite the same bite to it.

Choosing Petri Lindroos was a relatively logical choice in terms of his vocals: he has the same guttural but fairly basic harsh vocals as Jari, though he can't seem to get as low. Compared to his vocal work with Norther, he's dropped the vocals down an octave or so and it sounds a lot less angst-filled than his vocals on Mirror of Madness, for example. One thing Petri loses in the drop is some of the weird harmonics he can get when he's doing high screeches; this took some getting used to but I haven't heard many vocalists who can match his sound; it almost sounds like two people are growling at once.

In the matter of vocals, I also like Jari's clean vocals better than Markus Toivonen's. He (Markus) can certainly carry a tune but once again lacks the rawer edge that Jari has. I'm only harping on the vocals because that was the first thing I noticed that was different about their new sound.

Secondly, they have more folk instrument sections, and seem to feature more real instruments, which is a definite plus; I feel like they've ramped up the quality on most of the folksy sections, which has a lot to do with their somewhat softer, warmer sound.

Now for a couple of standout tracks. "Blood is the Price of Glory" is a nod to blistering war chant-like songs such as "Iron" and "Hero in a Dream" but can't quite bring itself to the same level as those other two. "Raised by the Sword" has melodies that remind me the most of songs from their self-title, with a pretty good guitar solo. "Wanderer" is a nice, slightly more pensive song that I think strongly illustrates the new direction the band is going in. I find "Victory Song" to be very catchy despite the fact that I don't like it all that much. The rest of the songs aren't weak, but generally are strung around one or two nice ideas but don't have enough cohesiveness to make you listen to them over and over again.

A respectable effort overall, but likely to disappoint people who were hoping for another album that has that edge of brutality that set them apart from many other folk metal bands. I highly recommend to those who miss that sound to check out Jari's new project, the self-titled Wintersun, which is a nearly perfect album in my opinion; it's absolutely packed with the cold and blisteringly fast metal we've all come to love and expect from Jari.

For over a decade, the Viking metal band, Ensiferum has been setting the bar for their genre. Their first two albums, Ensiferum and Iron, breathed life into the folk metal genre with their aggressive and energetic mix of metal and Scandinavian folk. Victory songs is no exception to this trend.

From beginning to end, Victory Songs delivers a constant stream of speed, energy, and originality. The traditional metal instruments coexist flawlessly with the folk instruments, creating a sound very different from most music. Ensiferum manages to make their music intensely fast and energetic, while making it melodic and beautiful at the same time. Their general sound is extremely dynamic, going from acoustic guitars and fiddles to extreme metal, and from clean, melodic folk style singing to heavy death metal style vocals.

The main difference between Victory songs and Ensiferum’s previous two albums is that the lead guitarist and vocalist, Jari Mäenpää, has been replaced by Norther’s Petri Lindroos. Mäenpää’s vocals and guitar licks were the most prominent thing on Ensiferum and Iron, but Lindroos manages to fill in well, retaining the same sound the band is known for. His harsh vocals, while not as dynamic and unique as Mäenpää’s, sound great with the rest of the band.

My main problem with Victory Songs is that it sounds very similar to Ensiferum’s other two albums. While Ensiferum’s music is completely different from anything else, it all sounds about the same. Ensiferum seem to have trouble stepping out of their comfort zone and exploring new sounds. They are so different from anything else though, that they don’t need to experiment to be original.

Ensiferum’s Victory Songs is easily one of the best metal albums of 2007. While it does have a few short comings, it is still far better than anything on the radio. I would recommend this album to anyone who is tired of mainstream music, and isn’t afraid to listen to a little extreme metal

Since the release of their debut self titled album back in 2001, Finland’s Ensiferum have found themselves to be regarded as one of the best viking / folk metal bands on the scene.
Victory Songs is the band’s third full length in 6 years.

Victory Songs opens with one of the most beautiful introductions I have heard in a long time. It was surprising because there aren’t any folk influences to be heard at all; instead it has the hallmarks of the instrumental pieces performed by bands like Summoning. It is a sweeping, atmospheric track that sets the mood impeccably for what is about to follow.

With the mood appropriately set we are re-introduced to familiar territory with Blood Is the Price of Glory which is exactly what you would expect to hear on an Ensiferum album. It is a black metal tinged and melodic folk track with an array of double kick patterns, keyboard melodies and sing along vocals interspersed with the lead black metal vocals. The sound established in this song is more or less where the rest of the album stays.

Unlike many of the other bands who dabble in this subgenre, Ensiferum seem to have struck the perfect balance between their folk influences and their black metal influences. The end result is an album that never swings too far in either direction and sounds completely centred. I would hazard a guess that a lot of the popularity they enjoy is due to this balancing act.

The musicianship on display is amazing. That the band are able to weave black metal riffs into something that sounds true to both of the genres they are embracing is a tribute to their skills as song writers. Even with the obvious black metal influences the overall feeling of sitting around a camp fire, drinking beer and singing aloud is never lost. In addition, without knowing much at all about European folk music, it is impressive that the vast majority of the music is played at quite a quick pace yet still manages to sound authentic.

A big part of the listener’s enjoyment will stem from their ability to digest large amounts of folk inspired black metal. Whilst I recognise the amount of talent that is present on this album I found my interest waned towards the end of the disc. Not because the quality dips for a second but because folk metal isn’t all that appealing to me and there are nearly 50 minutes of it on Victory Songs.

That Ensiferum as a band are immensely talented is undeniable. The real question is whether or not folk metal is your thing. I found a lot to like on this disc but also had my issues with it because of its overtly folky nature. If bands like Isengard, Storm, Finntroll or the myriad other folk metal acts out there do it for you then Victory Songs will serve as an excellent addition to your collection.

Originally submitted to http://www.themetalforge.com

Markus Toivonen is a genius. I think most people are too caught up in Jari fever to realize this, but he is. Not to say that Jari isn't good, because he's amazing, and Wintersun is one of my favorite bands, but Markus is the mastermind behind Ensiferum, not Jari. Markus formed the band in 1995, a year before Jari joined, Markus has been in the band ever since, and Markus writes almost everything for Ensiferum. Song writing is the most important part of any band, and Markus has always been Ensiferum's main writer. I think that most people have rated this album lower than it deserves for the simple fact that Jari has left the band, but if this exact album was released by any other band, everybody would be raving about how good it is, because it's awesome.

Victory Songs is definitely different from Ensiferum's first two CDs. It's more folky, with some songs even reminding me of humppa metal at times. Also, the overall atmosphere is slightly different, a little less wintry. But these aren't bad things, Ensiferum is evolving instead of repeating themselves, and the results are amazing.

Ad Victoriam opens the CD with possibly the coolest intro I've ever heard. The great folk melody builds throughout the song before exploding into the second song, Blood Is the Price of Glory. This song, along with Deathbringer from the Sky, reminds me of the layout of Ensiferum's last CD, with track 2 being fast and upbeat and track 3 being power metallish. Both songs are fast and solid. Then track 4 and 5, Ahti and One More Magic Potion, show more contrast from Ensiferum's older material. Both have a variety of instruments, sounding folkish and almost humppa, yet they are still mid to fast paced songs. Then comes the Wanderer, which is probably my favorite ballad ever. It's written perfectly, nothing fancy, just pure inspiration, and the lyrics fit perfectly. Tracks 7 and 8 are both solid, but the next stand out track is the last, Victory Song. This is a 10 minute epic, with the sweetest progression ever. It starts with slow folk melodies, then is brought together with the double bass and builds until the end, fading out to pipes playing the main riff. Have to hear it.

Overall, I would rate this album above the debut, but slightly below Iron, which is pretty impossible to top. Hopefully people will realize how talented Markus is and give him the respect he deserves.

In 2004 Jari Maenpaa, the vocalist/guitarist/songwriter and, well, mastermind behind Finnish Viking metal band Ensiferum left his nine year old band to focus on his new side project Wintersun. Predictably, fans began questioning the future of the proud Viking warriors who had previously delivered such impressive outings such as their s/t and Iron. With Jari leaving the fold, Norther guitarist/vocalist Petri Lindroos took his position. Now Petri is fairly decent at what he does, as the Norther's Mirror of Madness album shows us, but he isn't exactly as great as Jari Maenpaa. With 2006's Dragonheads EP being, well, weaker than one would expect from a band of this stature, my expectations for the album were pretty low. But now that I've heard their third recording, Victory Songs, I'm pleased to announce that I will shortly be eating my words. Yes, Victory Songs is quite easily the Ensiferum's strongest release since their debut album six years ago.

Adorned with a title such as Victory Songs, as well as album art depicting a lone Viking warrior (as per Ensiferum tradition), that the opening track, Ad Victoriam is a cheesy (albeit well put together) instrumental based around folky tunes shouldn't be much of a surprise. Three minutes and ten seconds in length, it sounds like it could have come out of Lord of the Rings, or a movie similar to that. It's interesting, to say the least, but not exactly what we we've waited three years for. So you can imagine the excitement as the opening notes of Blood is the Price of Glory come roaring out of the gates. Bombastic, loud, proud, and heavy, Blood is the Price of Glory is a great example of what can be expected from Ensiferum's latest album. The music still has that aggressive edge. The folky elements still sound glorious. The song writing is still as tight as it has ever been. And most importantly, the loss of Jari Maenpaa has not really hindered Ensiferum at all. Petri Lindroos has done an excellent job on all fronts, whether it be through his guttural screams or his topnotch axe work. Though neither really top Maenpaa's efforts (especially in the case of the vocals), Petri still does a far greater job than I expected him to do.

Of Victory Song's nine songs, there are two which stand out among their contemporaries. These two tracks are the ballad, Wanderer, and the epic title track. The former, a six and a half minute composition is a more mid-paced offering and focuses more on Ensiferum's folk roots. Tranquil, serene track is definitely one of the strongest songs the band has written to date. The inclusion of clean vocals from Markus Toivonen (guitarist and only original member to remain with the band) serves to make the track even more interesting, as it compliments the rather simple yet effective musical performances from the band. In terms of atmosphere and (for the most part) structure it reminds me of a less sombre Death and the Healing (off of Wintersun's debut). Quite beautiful indeed. The other standout song is Victory Song. As the old saying goes "save the best for last," and boy does this ever ring true in Ensiferum's case, for Victory Song is another one of the greatest songs the band has ever crafted. Ten minutes in length, the track combines everything the band has crafted over the duration of their career. Making use out of a variety of different riffs, melodies, and song structures, the band does an excellent job in creating an interesting, engaging track which manages to maintain the listener's interest through the entirety of its ten minute runtime.

No matter how strong a band is, when its core is ripped out, it will likely affect the group in a large way. Before hearing Victory Songs I was bracing for the worst (well perhaps not that far, but you understand what I am trying to say). But luckily the loss of Jari Maenpaa has not derailed the path of Viking metallers Ensiferum. The Finnish band's latest release does not necessarily explore new musical horizons, rather, they build on established ideas and improve on previously used techniques and tendencies. I would definitely go as far as to say that Ensiferum's bests their latest couple releases and might be (or justa bit under) on par with their debut album, Ensiferum. Fans of power, folk, and Viking metal should enjoy Victory Songs, as it is an excellent slab of metal. Likely to be one of the years better albums, for sure.

(Originally written for Sputnikmusic)

I have no doubt that fans of Ensiferum feared for the worst upon hearing about this album. I myself was worried that I’d be completely turned off to the band after this release. Jari Maenpaa had been a driving force behind the first two albums, writing memorable riffs and solos, while simultaneously belting out incredible vocals, both clean and harsh. Clearly, a tough act to follow…


“Victory Songs” features Petri Lindroos filling in the guitarist/vocalist position. Do NOT go into this expecting to hear the “classic” Ensiferum sound. As attractive as the thought is, the old sound isn’t required for the album to be good. The album opens with “Ad Victoriam,” an intro track that is almost reminiscent of Bathory’s “Oden’s Ride over Nordland” for a few moments. After an inspiring 3 minutes of military drums, chorus and flute, the album truly begins.


Following the intro, “Blood is the Price of Glory” kicks into high gear. After hearing that opening guitar slide, wall of sound and Petri’s furious roar within the first few seconds, I knew this album was going to be interesting. What struck me the most was the sheer intensity of the music. At the same time, beneath this intensity, there is extremely catchy melody. Vocal choirs spring up throughout the entire album, showcasing Markus Toivenen and Sami Hinkkas’ excellent clean vocals.


One of the best things about the songwriting here is that it doesn’t seem to get stale—each song manages to distinguish itself, from the Power Metal-ish “Deathbringer from the Sky,” to the beautiful ballad “Wanderer,” to the epic “Victory Song.” All the while, the folk influence and melody shines through in each track. Unfortunately, the length of “Victory Song” is a setback—it’s simply too long, and seems to drag a bit.


Most likely the biggest issue that people will have with “Victory Songs” is the vocals. As stated, Jari Maepaa is certainly an incredible vocalist. When listening to Petri sing music from the first two albums, one can tell that his voice doesn’t fit. However, this music is a far cry from their older works, and Petri’s powerful, admittedly monotone vocals actually assimilate quite well here. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that he can sometimes reach deep, producing an almost Death Metal vocal style.


“Victory Songs” is truly an impressive album, and stands solidly on its own amidst Ensiferum’s expanding discography.

I wonder what it would be like if I have never heard songs of Ensiferum until this new album “Victory Songs”. As a typical metal fan, I’m sure that I wouldn’t benefit it with such an album title. That kind of word group in a certain way will repel the fans that are fed up with heavy and power epic deliriums in the past few years. And what a pity it would be to miss such a high level album as this! It is necessary for a first meeting with Ensiferum to tell you some basic stuff about them – yes, they are from Finland too, yes, they play folk/Viking metal, yes, they have great potential which they succeeded to improve. It’s hard for me to remember how few are the bands that passed successfully through such a change as removing their frontman, main composer and author of lyrics, and still sound as great as ever.


At first listening “Victory Songs” sounds a bit unvaried, but on second attempt there are few great contrasting songs and others which complete the whole structure. It is always hard for me to explain what “Viking” metal is, but in my experience in this type of bands, I can assure you that Ensiferum have all the basic characteristics – harsh vocals and fast drum section which completes the powerful melodic guitar riffs.
The beginning of the album is almost fabulous. “Ad Victoriam” has the honor to open it. With its instrumental it draws a peaceful atmosphere of the cold north lands, where the children of snow and ice live happily together. After this we receive a hit from a snow-ball with “Blood Is the Price of Glory”. It is really surprising how great the new frontman Petri Lindroos (also vocalist in other Finnish band - Norther) manages to deal with his job. “Deathbringer From the Sky”, “Ahti” and “One More Magic Potion” are in the core of “Victory Songs” and if you lose your strength headbanging on them, you can simply lie by and enjoy the four rest masterpieces. A special place among them holds the ten-minute self-titled opus “Victory Songs”, which logically culminates in the end of the record.


I highly recommend to the skeptics (the same as I was) who think that Ensiferum can’t deal well without its founder and ideologist Jari Maenpaa, to listen to this album. There won’t be any disappointment. The only thing that I can say to the new listeners – welcome to the icy metal fairy-tale!

Am I going to bash this just because Jari is gone, and only one founding member remains? No.

Am I going to praise it just because it's Ensiferum? No.

Was I expecting this to be a mediocre to poor album? Yes.

Is it? No, it's actually pretty good.

Is it as good as the old stuff? Hell no.

Okay, those are all the questions any Ensiferum fan would ask. But seeing as how those people will hear it one way or another, regardless, I guess I should fill in on the music a bit more ...

In 2004, Jari, the prime member of the band, left to form Wintersun, which changed the band. Filling the gap on vocals is Petri, the vocalist of Norther. Having a much worse vocalist, having lost it's key song writer, and only now one founding member, Ensiferum is inevitably a shell of what it once was. This shell manages to hold up well though, all things considered.

The songs are still fast and melody-driven. The folk accented Viking songs heavy with blast beats and irresistibly catchy sing-along choruses are still there. The acoustic interludes, and the mock choir keyboards too.

So, why is it not as good as the other albums? Two major reasons. The first is the most tangible, and readily noticeable - Petri’s vocals. Petri’s vocals just sound awful to me. I find myself occasionally thinking when listening to this “God, listen to this idiot trying to imitate Alexi Laiho.” Sure, they could be worse, but they are just not passionate, they sound so upsettingly fake. Like he knows what role he’s supposed to be playing, and he plays it - he’s not screaming his heart out, he’s just a hired hand. Or in this case, a hired throat. Most of the catchy parts are sung by the guitarist (and only remaining original member) - and those parts are great, no complaint there.

My second complaint is something much less tangible. Not the absence of members, melodies, styles - it’s just the absence of the magic that made the first CD so outstanding and brilliant ... so classic. The title track and Wanderer, are good examples of this. Nothing about them is worth noting save their choruses. They’re actually pretty boring, especially the title track being a huge 10 minutes, a 10 minutes that seems to go by without much of anything happening. They feel in a way to be forced. The passion is just not there. What makes a truly special band is a group of guys with intense passion, direction, and a collective message or mindset - the original members had that - but you can’t just fill those spots and expect the same outcome. It just doesn’t work.

This album will make for great drinking music, indubitably. And it’s really a very fun listen. But this album doesn’t inspire awe, and it certainly isn't a classic like the other albums.

The time is finally here to see how Ensiferum can cope with the loss of their talismanic frontman and guitar wizard Jari Mäenpää. Since his departure shortly before the release of their 2nd album ‘Iron,’ Ensiferum, led by guitarist and sole remaining founder Markus Toivonen, have been carrying on with Norther vocalist Petri Lindroos at the mic, releasing the very satisfactory ‘Dragonheads’ EP and an excellent live DVD to commemorate their 10th anniversary. During this time bass player Jukka-Pekka Miettinen and drummer Oliver Fokin have also left under quieter circumstances. Despite Toivonen always having been the main songwriter for the band, line-up upheaval of this sort, and especially the loss of a maverick like Mäenpää, is always cause for concern when awaiting new work from a band.

2 of the biggest concerns I had for Ensiferum future that I left unsaid for the sake of conciseness in my ‘Dragonheads’ review have thankfully not come to pass. Firstly, there was the worry that the raging speed would be lost from some of their songs - Mäenpää certainly contributed a great deal to this part of their style, and with the more sedate nature of “Dragonheads” (the song), it was a nagging concern that Ensiferum would be slowing down. From the minute “Blood is the price of glory” comes blasting out of the speakers, however, it is evident that this isn’t going to be the case. On the whole things may have been taken down a slight notch, with some more melodic passages breaking up the faster songs than before, but Ensiferum have always been a band who don’t forget about the ‘metal’ in folk metal, and ‘Victory songs’ keeps that tradition going. The folk influence is probably more overt than it has been in the past, with the melodic death influence on the wane somewhat, but the band have thankfully lost none of their fire.

In addition, there was the concern that Toivonen would allow his ego to cloud his judgement with his new role as one of the band’s vocalists (along with new bass player and lyric writer Sami Hinkka, he now provides the clean and choir vocals). There was the danger that the songs would end up horribly formulaic with harsh and clean vocals constantly trading off, but a lot more time, effort and basic creativity has been put into this CD. Toivonen and Hinkka don’t really get into the spotlight until the single, “One more magic potion” that sits 5th out of the 9 tracks. Until this point they only really provide the odd choir passage and background shout (the brilliant harsh/clean dual performance on “Deathbringer from the sky” is between Lindroos and a guest vocalist). Toivonen does, however, sing solo on the semi-ballad “Wanderer,” and his slightly strained and anguished style suits the melancholy atmosphere perfectly. He has improved as a vocalist in the short time since ‘Dragonheads’ (looking at their live show, he has certainly had enough practice), but people who dislike his voice aren’t likely to be won over here.

As noted, the songs have slowed slightly, and this has allowed the folk influences to come to the front a little more. As result, keyboard player Meiju Enho gives her most varied and prominent performance so far. Her main role is still in providing the usual background symphonics, but she is also given the opportunity to allow her keyboard to dance over the top of the less thrashy songs more often than before, imitating a variety of traditional instruments.

Petri Lindroos, of course, has been given an unenviable task of not only fronting the band, but also replacing a truly excellent guitarist to boot. He (as anyone would have been able to tell you) doesn’t match up on either front, with his vocals more monotone and his instrumental skills not on the same level as his predecessor, but it would be very unfair to criticise him on these grounds – he certainly does the job he has been brought in to do well enough and the overall sound doesn’t suffer at all as a result. Mäenpää should really be looked on as something of a bonus Ensiferum had in their early days, someone just a little special that they would do well to hang on to as a secondary songwriter, and just because Lindroos isn’t of the same high calibre doesn’t mean he should be viewed as some sort of hack.

‘Victory songs’ sees Ensiferum’s first attempt at tackling a truly epic song in the 10-minute almost-title track “Victory song,” and they succeed at the task with breathtaking results. Going through the expected folky intro section, the song builds and builds before eventually gives way to a middle-to-fast tune that alternates between harsh and clean singing. The song covers a wide range, also boasting an acoustic section that features Toivonen and Hinkka singing in Finnish, and closes the CD on a rousing and powerful note.

While there will inevitably be criticism levelled at ‘Victory songs’ by people unable to see past Mäenpää, Ensiferum have well and truly proven that there is life after their former vocalist, and have turned out an excellent CD that comfortably holds its own alongside their first 2. Mäenpää’s shredding guitar solos and varied vocal performances may have been lost, but despite this, Ensiferum’s heart is still beating strong and with any luck will continue to do so for years to come.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com)