Ensiferum
Ensiferum (Latin: ēnsiferum, meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish extreme … Read Full Bio ↴Ensiferum (Latin: ēnsiferum, meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish extreme power metal/folk metal band from Helsinki.
Ensiferum was founded in 1995 by Markus Toivonen (guitar), Sauli Savolainen (bass) and Kimmo Miettinen (drums). In the next year, Jari Mäenpää was taken into the band as singer and second guitar-player. In 1997, the first demo was released, containing three songs.
In 1998, Sauli and Kimmo left the band and were replaced by Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (Kimmo's little brother, then 14 years old) and Oliver Fokin. In January 1999, a second demo was recorded, which although it did not produce a recording deal, boosted the band's confidence. In November 1999 a third demo, "Hero in a Dream", was recorded, which was successful in obtaining a record deal with Spinefarm Records. The logo that appears on all the bands releases was designed for the third demo by Tuomas Tahvanainen, who also designed the logos for the earlier demos. In 2000, the band went into the studio to work on their first album, Ensiferum, which was released in August 2001. In the same year, Meiju Enho joined them as a keyboard-player.
In 2004, after the work was completed on the second album, Iron, Jari left the band due to conflicts between scheduled studio work on his side project Wintersun and touring with Ensiferum. For the tour with Finntroll, Petri Lindroos from Norther replaced Jari on guitar and as singer, and became a member of the band after the tour. In December 2004, Jukka-Pekka left the band and was replaced by Sami Hinkka (Rapture). Oliver also left in 2005 to be replaced by Janne Parviainen.
The band has been described as folk metal, melodic death metal, power metal and Viking metal.
Official site bio:
Ensiferum are a true powerhouse when it comes to folk-inspired melodic death metal, something they hammer home more resolutely than ever with eighth full-length Thalassic. The title translating from ancient Greek as “of or relating to seas”, it’s a suitably huge and wide ranging collection that incorporates orchestrations and traditional folk instrumentation alongside the roaring guitars, bass, and drums. “I think we managed to take another step ahead musically and we also utilized the best parts of our old sound,” states bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka. “There are lots of Ensiferum’s trademarks: beautiful folkish melodies, ass-kicking riffs, a nice mix of different vocals and great singalong choruses.”
It’s been three years since the towering Two Paths and the quintet kept themselves busy writing over that period. Viewing Two Paths and its predecessor One Man Army (2015) as being something of a pair, this time out they wanted to jump into the unknown and try a new approach, without forgetting their roots. Kicking the album off with the grand orchestral piece “Seafarer’s Dream” definitely makes an impression, though overall Thalassic scales back a little on such instrumentation. “I guess that has become kind of a part of Ensiferum’s sound, but on this album we actually used orchestrations less than before because the songs turned out to be more straightforward metal. We like to emphasize the story and the feeling of a song with the sounds that fit them best, so using huge orchestrations has to serve the purpose of the song and not be taken for granted and used all the time.” The likes of “Rum, Women, Victory” and “Run From The Crushing Tide” are certainly full on metal, but these sit comfortably alongside the jaunty “Midsummer Magic” and triumphant “Andromeda”. The band were helped in realizing these tracks by the addition of new keyboard player/lead clean vocalist Pekka Montin who “really raised the new songs to another level” while Mikko P. Mustonen once again presided over the orchestrations and violin virtuoso Lassi Logren recorded folk instruments on a few tracks.
The biggest difference separating Thalassic from the rest of Ensiferum’s catalogue comes from the fact that it’s the first of their albums to be built around a theme. “The idea of it started to brew in my mind when I was doing interviews for Two Paths and many journalists asked if it was a theme album, and I noticed that I was answering all the time that because of the way we compose it’s almost impossible to make a theme album. This really started to piss me off and the decision was made: the next album would have a theme. At that time we already had a few songs almost ready for the next album and I started to listen to the demos much more from the feeling aspect instead of analyzing them musically. For some reason all of them took me to a seashore and the theme was found: something related to sea or water. So I started to read about history, myths and legend around the world that had something to do with the theme, but even though all of the lyrics are obviously inspired by this, I tried my best to keep Ensiferum’s heroic mentality in them. In the end there were too many ideas for lyrics, because I didn’t set myself any boundaries, like all stories would have to be Nordic etc, and one of my favourite songs on the album tells about Andromeda from Greek mythology. I can’t promise that this way of lyric-writing will be the future of Ensiferum but at least we did this once.”
Thalassic was recorded and produced in Petrax and Sonic Pump studios by Janne Joutsenniemi, who was involved on their albums Victory Songs (2007) and From Afar (2009). “We like to go to a studio when we have all the songs 99.9% ready so the producer’s main job is to kick our asses while we record. Of course Janne Joutsenniemi is a world-class producer and we asked his opinion if we were doubting any details. It was really a pleasure to work with him again, and I think this was one of the most easy-going studio sessions I have ever been part of and we are extremely happy with the result. It helps a lot when you do proper demos of the songs, then everyone already has a very good picture of how each song will sound.” Gyula Havanchak handled the artwork and once again raised the Ensiferum standard, creating something that vividly reflects the songs, and indeed the theme running through them.
Looking ahead, the band only intend to keep on doing what they do best. “We are very privileged to be full-time musicians but you never know what the future brings. I hope we can keep doing the thing we love the most. What I really hope happens is a support tour with much a bigger band because in the folk/pagan/battle/whatever metal scenes everyone knows Ensiferum - so Steve Harris, if you are reading this: we are ready!”
Ensiferum was founded in 1995 by Markus Toivonen (guitar), Sauli Savolainen (bass) and Kimmo Miettinen (drums). In the next year, Jari Mäenpää was taken into the band as singer and second guitar-player. In 1997, the first demo was released, containing three songs.
In 1998, Sauli and Kimmo left the band and were replaced by Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (Kimmo's little brother, then 14 years old) and Oliver Fokin. In January 1999, a second demo was recorded, which although it did not produce a recording deal, boosted the band's confidence. In November 1999 a third demo, "Hero in a Dream", was recorded, which was successful in obtaining a record deal with Spinefarm Records. The logo that appears on all the bands releases was designed for the third demo by Tuomas Tahvanainen, who also designed the logos for the earlier demos. In 2000, the band went into the studio to work on their first album, Ensiferum, which was released in August 2001. In the same year, Meiju Enho joined them as a keyboard-player.
In 2004, after the work was completed on the second album, Iron, Jari left the band due to conflicts between scheduled studio work on his side project Wintersun and touring with Ensiferum. For the tour with Finntroll, Petri Lindroos from Norther replaced Jari on guitar and as singer, and became a member of the band after the tour. In December 2004, Jukka-Pekka left the band and was replaced by Sami Hinkka (Rapture). Oliver also left in 2005 to be replaced by Janne Parviainen.
The band has been described as folk metal, melodic death metal, power metal and Viking metal.
Official site bio:
Ensiferum are a true powerhouse when it comes to folk-inspired melodic death metal, something they hammer home more resolutely than ever with eighth full-length Thalassic. The title translating from ancient Greek as “of or relating to seas”, it’s a suitably huge and wide ranging collection that incorporates orchestrations and traditional folk instrumentation alongside the roaring guitars, bass, and drums. “I think we managed to take another step ahead musically and we also utilized the best parts of our old sound,” states bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka. “There are lots of Ensiferum’s trademarks: beautiful folkish melodies, ass-kicking riffs, a nice mix of different vocals and great singalong choruses.”
It’s been three years since the towering Two Paths and the quintet kept themselves busy writing over that period. Viewing Two Paths and its predecessor One Man Army (2015) as being something of a pair, this time out they wanted to jump into the unknown and try a new approach, without forgetting their roots. Kicking the album off with the grand orchestral piece “Seafarer’s Dream” definitely makes an impression, though overall Thalassic scales back a little on such instrumentation. “I guess that has become kind of a part of Ensiferum’s sound, but on this album we actually used orchestrations less than before because the songs turned out to be more straightforward metal. We like to emphasize the story and the feeling of a song with the sounds that fit them best, so using huge orchestrations has to serve the purpose of the song and not be taken for granted and used all the time.” The likes of “Rum, Women, Victory” and “Run From The Crushing Tide” are certainly full on metal, but these sit comfortably alongside the jaunty “Midsummer Magic” and triumphant “Andromeda”. The band were helped in realizing these tracks by the addition of new keyboard player/lead clean vocalist Pekka Montin who “really raised the new songs to another level” while Mikko P. Mustonen once again presided over the orchestrations and violin virtuoso Lassi Logren recorded folk instruments on a few tracks.
The biggest difference separating Thalassic from the rest of Ensiferum’s catalogue comes from the fact that it’s the first of their albums to be built around a theme. “The idea of it started to brew in my mind when I was doing interviews for Two Paths and many journalists asked if it was a theme album, and I noticed that I was answering all the time that because of the way we compose it’s almost impossible to make a theme album. This really started to piss me off and the decision was made: the next album would have a theme. At that time we already had a few songs almost ready for the next album and I started to listen to the demos much more from the feeling aspect instead of analyzing them musically. For some reason all of them took me to a seashore and the theme was found: something related to sea or water. So I started to read about history, myths and legend around the world that had something to do with the theme, but even though all of the lyrics are obviously inspired by this, I tried my best to keep Ensiferum’s heroic mentality in them. In the end there were too many ideas for lyrics, because I didn’t set myself any boundaries, like all stories would have to be Nordic etc, and one of my favourite songs on the album tells about Andromeda from Greek mythology. I can’t promise that this way of lyric-writing will be the future of Ensiferum but at least we did this once.”
Thalassic was recorded and produced in Petrax and Sonic Pump studios by Janne Joutsenniemi, who was involved on their albums Victory Songs (2007) and From Afar (2009). “We like to go to a studio when we have all the songs 99.9% ready so the producer’s main job is to kick our asses while we record. Of course Janne Joutsenniemi is a world-class producer and we asked his opinion if we were doubting any details. It was really a pleasure to work with him again, and I think this was one of the most easy-going studio sessions I have ever been part of and we are extremely happy with the result. It helps a lot when you do proper demos of the songs, then everyone already has a very good picture of how each song will sound.” Gyula Havanchak handled the artwork and once again raised the Ensiferum standard, creating something that vividly reflects the songs, and indeed the theme running through them.
Looking ahead, the band only intend to keep on doing what they do best. “We are very privileged to be full-time musicians but you never know what the future brings. I hope we can keep doing the thing we love the most. What I really hope happens is a support tour with much a bigger band because in the folk/pagan/battle/whatever metal scenes everyone knows Ensiferum - so Steve Harris, if you are reading this: we are ready!”
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Ensiferum Lyrics
*Guardians of Fate Race with the wind The night is ending They will win When…
01. Tale Of Revenge He bears a tale so gloom and tragic never to…
04. Guardians Of Fate Race with the wind The night is ending They will win When th…
Abandoned Sing for your tears A song of the hatred No one can…
Ahti At the time of sundown Nature bathes in colors In silence it…
Ajattomasta Unesta ""Katsokaa tuulen kulkua Kuulkaa ajan juoksua Alla ikitähtit…
Andromeda Woe to the one Who boast in front of the Gods Woe…
Axe Of Judgement Patience is a virtue When you live for revenge Hide your wea…
Bamboleo Este amor llega asi de esta manera No tiene la…
Battery Lashing out the action, returning the reaction Weak are rip…
Battle Song Hear the sound of swords fulfill the night Feel the winds…
Blood Is the Price of Glory Before the grimmest enemy Cold rain whipping those proud fa…
Bonus Song ""Hear the thunder drums Blasting in the night Feel the…
Burden Of The Fallen ""Nightmares return again There's no way to make amends His…
Burning Leaves Passing aeons Everlasting fight against the Evil Their arm…
Candour and Lies ""I I have sailed All alone So many times The…
Celestial Bond A long time ago I went to the shore I whispered…
Cold Northland Oh cold Northland Hear the cry of your children For the plag…
Cry For The Earth Bounds The cry for the earth bounds Who'll face the final sundown …
Deathbringer from the Sky High above the ground beyond the thunderclouds A black shade…
Descendants Defiance Domination The darkest hour, the hopeless time Is always before the ris…
Don't You Say ""From town to twon I roam and dwell Sing my…
Dragonheads Sails up! We're leaving today Distant lands are calling Cowa…
Elusive Reaches Protector of the sun arrives with light From the edge of…
Eternal Wait Over the forgotten sea Voice of angel is calling for me Some…
Feast With Valkyries ""Through mist we ride Howling wolves in moonlight Blood has…
Finnish Medley Jo Karjalan kunnailla lehtii puu, jo Karjalan koivikot tuu…
For Those About To Fight For Metal ""Outnumbered but never alone we stand Brave warriors axes i…
From Afar A raven came to me Spoke to me in my…
Frost Howling winds of the North The cold predator of the fells …
Goblin Once in the time of chaos, Of sunless days and of…
God Is Dead ""Bring out your dead I shout again Will it ever…
Guardians of Fate Race with the wind The night is ending They will win When th…
Hail To The Victor ""Scarless man mangled soul Of a solitary Some fights that…
Heathen Horde Too many times has moon travelled across the sky, Since our…
Heathen Throne This hate inside me It is constantly growing Years of holl…
Hero in a Dream A witch read from the palm of his hand That his…
I Once when we were returning from a battle, And we…
I Will Never Kneel ""Winds are calling me The cold breeze of death From…
In My Sword I Trust Many men have crossed my way Promising peace or my soul…
Into Battle We left our homes behind, now we're following the wolves'tra…
Into Hiding The islander slips into hiding And takes to his heels Out …
Iron The silence breakes the ground A shadow is riding the horizo…
King Of Storms ""Who dares to stare death in the eye? And face…
Knighthood I walk through the calm forest in the time of…
Lady In Black She came to me one morning One lonely Sunday morning Her l…
Lai Lai Hei Han katsoi maan reunalta tahtea putoavaa Nyt kanuiit kasvot …
Lai Lai Hey Hän katsoi maan reunalta tähtea putoavaa Nyt kauniit kasvot …
Last Breath Lying on the ground As battle rages on Warm blood covers …
Little Dreamer Once there was a boy back in time of the…
Lost in Despair I was lost, on my own And I couldn't bear the…
Midsummer Magic Once again It's that time of the year When we gather to…
My Ancestors' Blood Not just for victory Not just to crush your enemy Not just…
Neito Pohjolan Nähnyt oon sen, yllä aaltojen kaukaisten Kuinka loistaa kuu …
Old Man So much further off than time could reach Today it would…
Old Man (Väinämöinen, Part 1) So much further off than time could reach Today it would…
One Man Army This lifeless soil Barren of good thoughts Scorched by grudg…
One More Magic Potion Once when we were returning from a battle, And we…
Passion Proof Power Where to find the truth? Questions linger through time Unb…
Pohjola Luonto ponteva Pohjanmaan! Milloin taas hänen nänhdä saan? …
Raised by the Sword Oh, who is raised by the sword can't be beaten Who…
Rawhide Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Roll…
Retribution Shall Be Mine No sun rises today No moon shares it's light Eclipse of so…
Rum Women Victory What should one do when darkens the sky When in the…
Slayer of Light I have come to unfold your mind In my veins runs…
Smoking Ruins For many years ago He left his home behind No farewells or…
Star Queen The traveller′s heart is meant to be free No obligations and…
Stone Cold Metal Howl of a coyote wakes up a man A haggard shadow…
Sword Chant [Grim man's tale:] [I:] A flaming blade of the dark shad…
Tale of Revenge He bears a tale so gloom and tragic never to…
Tears Shadows of evening on a traveller's way Destiny tells where …
The Longest Journey Could my ruin have come, My day of trouble have arrived In…
The New Dawn Through the storm like the wind we ride Leaving it all…
Token of Time Harvest the field of time With the old man's scythe The narr…
Treacherous Gods The land is silent...before the storm! On the vast fields o…
Tumman virran taa Yllä harmaan korven korpit laulaa Hurme tämän kansan roudan…
Twilight Tavern We heard that enemies are approaching from the south We mar…
Two Of Spades I go all the way Night and day Women, booze and money It's…
Two Paths ""Callow dreams Dawn of spring No seeds of doubt yet…
Unsung Heroes Forgotten tomb hill Unnamed graves No light can reach ther…
Vandraren Vandraren har ingen stans att gå, när han kommit fram…
Victory Song The plan of invasion an evil deception Was made in the…
Wanderer In time bleeding wounds will heal Unlike some which are too…
Warmetal Evil Counqueror Chaos Disorder Blood and honor Demon on the …
Warrior Without A War Only change is unavoidable A brave new chapter is getting cl…
Warrior's Quest Strike with powers of magic stone Grab your legacy that you…
Warriors Quest Strike with powers of magic stone Grab your legacy that you…
Way Of The Warrior ""Let's go! Staring at the dying flames Moon as my…
White Storm On this magical dawn the colors of the autumn are…
Windrider He appears from the mists of a dismal lake And the…