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!”
Into Battle
Ensiferum Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through the deepest forests, beneath the stars we ride
I can see the moon glowing red like the blood of warriors
There's a prophecy, that tonight many men will die
The fire will burn forever in our passionate hearts
Our destinies are calling us now
We are ready to take their lives
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE'LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
Prominent leaders, cast your swords in the wind as a sign of war
Men, prepare for death, 'cause we might never return
Blood will spill and heads will fall
As the swords sparkle, lights the night
The ground rumbles as we attack
In the throes of rage, we will fight
The lightning's flash, the thunder's roar
Will petrify the weak
We'll show no mercy, we'll kill them all!
We are sworn in the name of steel
The lyrics of Ensiferum's "Into Battle" depict a group of warriors leaving their homes behind to follow the trail of wolves deep into the forest. The moon glows red like the blood of warriors, and the warriors know that many men will die that night. Despite the impending danger, the warriors have a fire burning in their hearts, and their destiny calls them to take action. With gods by their side, they ride into battle with a fierce determination to kill and spill blood until the very end.
The lyrics speak to the primal urge that warriors feel when they go to battle. The call to battle is like a prophecy, and the warriors are ready to heed the call. They cast their swords in the wind as a sign of war and prepare for death because they might never return. The imagery in the lyrics is vivid and depicts the brutality of war. Swords sparkle as they clash, and the ground rumbles as the warriors attack. The thunder and lightning fill the air, and the warriors show no mercy as they kill their enemies. In the end, they are sworn in the name of steel, and their lust for blood is fulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
We left our homes behind, now we're following the wolves'trail
Leaving behind the comforts of our homes, we ride through the deep forests, guided by the wolves
Through the deepest forests, beneath the stars we ride
Travelling through the densest of forests under the light of shining stars
I can see the moon glowing red like the blood of warriors
The moon casts a reddish hue, reminiscent of blood spilled in battle
There's a prophecy, that tonight many men will die
A prophecy foretells that many warriors will perish tonight
The fire will burn forever in our passionate hearts
The fire of battle burns everbright in our hearts, fuelled by our passion
Our destinies are calling us now
Our fates beckon us to fulfill the purpose of our existence
We are ready to take their lives
We are poised to take the lives of our foes, with no hesitation
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We charge into the fray, accompanied by divine forces
We are strong and not afraid to die
Our strength and courage are unwavering, even in the face of death
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
Our desire to slay and spill blood must be satisfied
WE'LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
We will fight until the very end, sending our vanquished foes into the pits of Hell
Prominent leaders, cast your swords in the wind as a sign of war
Leaders of the army unsheathe their swords, signalling the start of war
Men, prepare for death, 'cause we might never return
Our men steel themselves for death, cognizant that they may never see home again
Blood will spill and heads will fall
Blood will be spilled and heads will be decapitated in the horror of battle
As the swords sparkle, lights the night
The blades of the swords catch the glint of light, illuminating the darkness
The ground rumbles as we attack
The very ground quakes as we charge our foes
In the throes of rage, we will fight
Consumed by our anger and fury, we lay waste to our foes
The lightning's flash, the thunder's roar
Amidst the strife of battle, lightning flashes and thunder rumbles
Will petrify the weak
Our enemies tremble in fright before the majestic power of nature
We'll show no mercy, we'll kill them all!
We will exhibit no mercy and exterminate our foes without exception
We are sworn in the name of steel
Our honour and allegiance lies with our weapons, pledged in the name of steel
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JARI TAPANI MAEENPAEAE, JUKKA-PEKKA MIETTINEN, MARKUS ALEKSI TOIVONEN, MEIJU RUOTSALAINEN, OLIVER FOKIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@GenosseDorfel
This is the song that led me to Ensiferum. Back in the days, when the world was young.
@surtr__rising
before the third age ...
@thefiendish186
Same here. I saw the LOTR thumbnail and thought lets give it a try. Was not dissapointed.
@bastiiieee1
I was there, 3000 years ago.
@LightThePrince
Same here!
@Chimalli2000
LOOKS LIKE METALS BACK ON THE MENU BOYS
@SawYiqiD
+John Monaghan You made my day!
@amaniandrus260
+John Monaghan damn right
@spicenug
+John Monaghan Best comment on this video
@ryanweible9090
too conductive and sonorous..and way too much electron sharing...