ENSIFERUM — Ensiferum (review)

ENSIFERUM — Ensiferum album cover Album · 2001 · Folk Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
I first heard ENSIFERUM on an internet radio station when they played the folk metal classic “Treacherous Gods.” This band has the honor of introducing me to the fact that there was a whole subgenre called folk metal. I can't think of a more epic and folky representation of the genre than ENSIFERUM which is Latin for “sword bearing.” I still wonder if folk metal deserves to be a separate subgenre since folk instrumentation is a fairly common embellishment in different styles of metal ranging from Spinal Tap to Neurosis to lots of power metal acts such as Rhapsody, but it has been established as a legit subgenre and ENSIFERUM is one of my favorite albums from that category.

The music is as most folk metal tends to be, that is a form of traditional metal attributes such as galloping riffs, soaring solos and a wider range in the vocal styles all mixed with the scales of traditional European folk music. ENSIFERUM pulls it off well keeping a nice melodic yet energetic pace throughout the album. Songs tend to start with acoustic intros that blast into full fledged metallic fury delivering exciting and epic sagas of times when heoric battles ensued in the primeval forests of days gone by.

ENSIFERUM was founded way back in 1995 by Markus Toivonen on guitar, Sauli Savolainen on bass and Kimmo Miettinen handling drum duties but by the time they finally recorded this album they recruited Jari Mäenpää as the vocalist and secondary guitarist who has the perfect raspy voice that suits this music quite well. The album has a very lush sound because we get guest musicians adding keyboards, several vocal parts and the addition of the traditional Finnish instrument the kantele which is a zither type instrument. If you want to start your folk metal journey with an album that delivers on an epic scale then this debut album by ENSIFERUM won't disappoint.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed