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!”
Battle Song
Ensiferum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Feel the winds of death on your skin
See the arrows fly, flaming in the sky
Hear the screams of men, as they die
[Chorus:]
We won this battle with might and fearless hearts
We came and we fulfilled our prophecy
With heads up high and glimmering eyes
We returned with our glory
Silence now falls upon this blood red field
Vultures feasting with the flesh of dead bodies
"This is a great moment for all of us
But now its time to head back home victorious"
[Chorus x2]
The lyrics to Ensiferum's Battle Song paint a vivid picture of the chaos and carnage of a battle. The opening lines describe the sounds and sensations of swords clashing and winds blowing, as well as the sight of arrows raining from the sky and the screams of dying men. The chorus celebrates the victory of the warriors, who have fulfilled their prophecy and will return to their kingdom with pride and honor. The final lines describe the aftermath of the battle, with vultures feasting on the bodies of the fallen, and the victorious warriors reflecting on their triumph before returning home.
The lyrics of Battle Song are powerful and evocative, conveying a sense of the brutality and heroism of warfare. The song is an anthem of victory and glory, celebrating the courage and strength of the warriors who have overcome their enemies. The lyrics also suggest that the violence and death of battle are an inevitable part of human history, but that those who fight with courage and honor can find meaning and purpose in the midst of the chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
Hear the sound of swords fulfill the night
Listen to the clangs of swords echoing in the darkness of the night
Feel the winds of death on your skin
Senses the chilling breeze carrying the aroma of death
See the arrows fly, flaming in the sky
Witness the arrows aflame soaring across the sky
Hear the screams of men, as they die
Hear the cries of men echoing as they take their last breath
[Chorus:]
We won this battle with might and fearless hearts
We emerged victorious in this battle with our brave and unwavering spirits
We came and we fulfilled our prophecy
We have accomplished what we had predicted and set out to do
So now we shall march back towards our kingdom
We will now return home to our realm with pride
With heads up high and glimmering eyes
Proud and exhilarated with our heads held high and eyes sparkling
We returned with our glory
We came back victorious, basking in our achievements
Silence now falls upon this blood red field
The battlefield now descends into an eerie silence, covered with blood and gore
Vultures feasting with the flesh of dead bodies
Vultures feed on the remains of those who perished in the battle
"This is a great moment for all of us
"This moment is an exceptional achievement for all of us
But now its time to head back home victorious"
However, it's now time to return home with our deserved victory
[Chorus x2]
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JARI TAPANI MAEENPAEAE, JUKKA-PEKKA MIETTINEN, MARKUS ALEKSI TOIVONEN, OLIVER FOKIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dylanvalorfall
Hear the sound of swords fulfill the night
Feel the winds of death on your skin
See the arrows fly, flaming in the sky
Hear the screams of men, as they die (As they die)
We won this battle with might and fearless hearts
We came and we fulfilled our prophecy
So now we shall march back towards our kingdom
With heads up high and glimmering eyes
we returned with our glory
Silence now falls upon this blood red field
Vultures feasting with the flesh of dead bodies
This is a great moment for all of us
but now it's time to head back home victorious (Victorious)
@hammurambi
I listen to 'Into Battle" right before exams.
@ReMonMonRe
Battle song
@monkeyjiu-jitsu8994
So soothing and relaxing.
@thenorseone4167
i would not say relaxing when i hear this i just want to go in battle
@TurretMusic
I'm vegan.
@JASONARAS3333
μη δερνεις κωστα
@thewarrior4724
@@TurretMusic Vegans have no prophecies that come to fluentiant. So irrelevant
@hyper_5pace902
@@thewarrior4724 It was a joke...
@dagonn3
This whole album is fucking solid.
@Alevelol
I remember when I was younger and saying "I can listen to every kind of music, except metal, don't talk me about that!". Now, I feel like I've evolved when I used to listen to Ensiferum for four years.