Metal Reviews

Holy explosive toilet bowls its been aaaaaaaaages since I last posted here.


Anyway, the new Ensiferum has leaked. And its quite good. Though I can now clearly see why Jari left and what 'musical differences' he had.

It seems the rest of the band wanted to go more 'folky-vikingy,' towards bands like Equilibrium, Moonsorrow, and perhaps XIV Dark Centuries. Not that theres anything wrong with that.

Jari, however, has always added that wild, fantasy side to the music. Old Ensiferum wasn't just about vikings and battles and stuff; it also had that dreamy fantasy edge that Jari brought over to Wintersun.


Back to the topic, the new album, Victory Songs, is quite good, if you like the bands above. It still has some lingering 'old Ensiferum' spirit and sound though, and thats a definite plus.

Less fantasy = more love from me.

hmm that change is more conceptual and lyrical.

musically, they're less heavy now, and much more mid-paced

It's good but it didnt amaze me like the s/t did the first time i listened to it.

How does Iron compare to other Ensiferum stuff?

Ensiferum > Iron > Demo > Victory Songs > Dragonheads

I prefer Iron to Ensiferum.

is there demo that good?

I'm not sure if he means the compliation disc of their three demos tapes. Most of those songs ended up being rerecorded anyway.

What so are there no faster songs on the new album in the vein of Battle song, into battle ect?Thats kinda annoying, itl obviously still be good but i thort the thrash/speed element of ensiferum kept them apart from other viking bands.

BOO!!!



Double BOO!!!

And just so that you know, I do like Ensiferum.

I listened the album few times by now and i have to disagree with Praetor. Victory Songs is probably the fastest album they've released. Even One More Magic Potion and the title track, although they start slow and folky, really picks up in tempo. The only really mid-paced song is Wanderer: it's epic, it's folkish, it's cleanly sung and it rocks. So far it beats Iron easily but Ensiferum is untouchable.

Im listening to it right now. Its much better than I expected it to be, but it still cant touch the old stuff.