Ensiferum
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| Origin | Helsinki |
| Country | Finland |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Genres | Viking metal Folk metal |
| Labels | Spinefarm |
| Members | Petri Lindroos Markus Toivonen Meiju Enho Sami Hinkka Janne Parviainen |
Ensiferum is a Viking / Folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. The band label themselves as "Heroic Folk Metal".
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[edit] Musical Characteristics
- Growling/screaming vocals, often mixed with clean vocals for choruses and bridges;
- Distorted guitar mixed with acoustic guitar;
- Folk melodies played on lead guitar or keyboard overlaying heavier traditional heavy metal backing rythms such as the classic gallop rhythm;
- Double bass drumming patterns;
- Occasional classic metal "shredding" guitar solos;
- Lyrical themes relating to fantastical, archaic, or historic stories usually with heroic sentiment. Lyrics are inspired by literature, films, and poetry, such as the great Finnish saga "Kalevala".
[edit] Band history
Ensiferum was founded in 1995 by Markus Toivonen (guitar), Sauli Savolainen (bass) and Kimmo Miettinen (drums). For the band's name they took the latin word Ensiferum which means "sword-bearer". In the next year Jari Mäenpää was taken into the band as singer and second guitar-player. In 1997 The first demo containing three songs was released.
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 1999 two more demos were released. In 2000 they contracted with Spinefarm and 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 2003, after the work on the second album, Iron, was done, Jari left the band to be able to concentrate more on his project Wintersun. For the tour with Finntroll Petri Lindroos from Norther replaced Jari at 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 new Ensiferum line-up entered the studio later that year to record an EP to be called Dragonheads. It was released in February 2006. As well as the title track it also contained two reworked demo songs, an Amorphis cover and a short rendition of the Kalevala melody as well as a medley of three traditional Finnish songs.
In June 2006 Ensiferum released their live DVD, 10th Anniversary Live. It was recorded in Nosturi, Helsinki, on December 31, 2005.
The recording of the third studio album is scheduled to begin in November of this year and the release date is set for February 21 of next year. It will be called Victory Songs. A single, titled "One More Magic Potion", is scheduled to be released on February 7.
[edit] Current members
- Petri Lindroos - Harsh Vocals, Guitars
- Markus Toivonen - Guitars, Clean & Backing Vocals
- Sami Hinkka - Bass, Clean & Backing Vocals
- Meiju Enho - Keyboards
- Janne Parviainen - Drums
[edit] Former members
- Kimmo Miettinen - Drums (ex-Arthemesia, Cadacross)
- Jukka-Pekka Miettinen - Bass (Arthemesia, ex-Cadacross)
- Sauli Savolainen - Bass
- Jari Mäenpää - Vocals & Guitars (ex-Arthemesia, Wintersun)
- Oliver Fokin - Drums (ex-Arthemesia, ex-Wintersun)
- Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali - session keyboards on Ensiferum (Finntroll, Moonsorrow, ex-Korpiklaani)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Ensiferum (2001)
- Iron (2004)
- 1997-1999 (Ltd. edition re-Release of first three demos, 2005)
- Victory Songs (2007)
[edit] EPs
- Dragonheads (2006)
[edit] Singles
- Tale of Revenge (2004)
- One More Magic Potion (2007)
[edit] Demos
- Demo (1997)
- Demo II (1999)
- Hero in a Dream (1999)
[edit] DVDs
- 10th Anniversary Live (2006)
