| Ensiferum | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Helsinki, Finland |
| Years Active: | 1995–present |
| Current Members: | Markus Toivonen Petri Lindroos Sami Hinkka Janne Parviainen Pekka Montin |
| Past Members: | Sauli Savolainen Kimmo Miettinen Jari Mäenpää Oliver Fokin Jukka-Pekka Miettinen Meiju Enho Emmi Silvennoinen Netta Skog |
Ensiferum (Latin:, n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal".[1]
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, Savolainen and Miettinen left the band and were replaced by Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (Kimmo Miettinen'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, and was successful in obtaining a record deal with Spinefarm Records. The logo that appears on all the band's releases was designed for the third demo by Tuomas Tahvanainen, who also designed the logos for the earlier demos.[2] In 2000, the band went into the studio to work on their first album, Ensiferum, which was released in July 2001. In the same year, Meiju Enho joined them as a keyboard-player.
In early 2004, after the work was completed on the second album, Iron, Mäenpää was fired from the band due to conflicts between scheduled studio work on his side project Wintersun and touring with Ensiferum.[3] For the tour with Finntroll starting in April, Petri Lindroos from Norther replaced Mäenpää on guitar and as singer, and became a member of the band after the tour. In December 2004, Jukka-Pekka Miettinen left the band and was replaced by Sami Hinkka (Rapture). Fokin 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, which 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, which was recorded in Nosturi, Helsinki, on 31 December 2005.
The recording of the third studio album, called Victory Songs, took place between November 2006 and early 2007, and was released on 20 April 2007. A single titled "One More Magic Potion" (after the track of the same name) was released on 7 February. Following the album's release, the band released through the producer's MySpace page, a music video for the song "Ahti," which included all band members featured as extras. The video was released after the album release due to video filming problems.
On 10 September 2007, it was announced that keyboardist Meiju Enho would leave the band. This was posted in a bulletin on their MySpace page and later confirmed on their website. The band used Emmi Silvennoinen of Exsecratus as a touring fill-in. Silvennoinen later became a permanent member of the band during the recording of the From Afar album.[4]
Ensiferum headlined the Paganfest tour in Europe and North America in 2008.[5] Others playing the tour included Týr and Eluveitie, with Moonsorrow and Korpiklaani also joining them on the European part of the tour, and Turisas in North America. They also supported Megadeth on the opening night of their United Abominations – Tour of Duty European tour. Ensiferum also supported Amon Amarth on their North American Twilight of the Thunder God tour.
Shortly before their Russian tour in 2008, Lindroos fell "seriously ill" and was unable to participate. The band hired ex-bassist Jukka-Pekka Miettinen to assume Lindroos' guitar duties, while bassist Sami Hinkka took over his lead vocal duties for the tour.
In the first half of 2009, Ensiferum performed at a string of festivals including Frostrock in Belgium, Finnish Metal Expo and Tuska Open Air in Finland, Winterfire, Rocktower, Legacy and Rock am Härtsfeldsee in Germany, Summer Nights in Austria, and Z7 Metal Dayz in Switzerland. In June and July they toured North America as part of the Summer Slaughter Tour with Necrophagist, Darkest Hour, Suffocation, Blackguard, Dying Fetus, Beneath the Massacre, Origin, and Winds of Plague.[6] In August they performed at the Global East Rock Festival in Ukraine, Ankkarock and Jurassic Rock in Finland, and Let's Open Air in Turkey.
Ensiferum released their fourth studio album, From Afar, on 9 September 2009 with Spinefarm Records. The album was produced by Nightwish producer Tero Kinnunen and Victory Songs producer Janne Joutsenniemi, and it was mixed by producer Hiili Hiilesmaa.[7] The limited edition of the album includes a cover of Swedish folk rock group Nordman with guest vocalist Heri Joensen of Faroese band Týr.[8] [9] Following the release, the group embarked on a European tour with Estonian folk metal band Metsatöll and Finnish melodic death metal band Tracedawn. In October they performed at Hellflame Festival – The South Side of Hell and Devil's Revenge festival in Germany, and Tattoo the Mind in France. Ensiferum performed on the second day of the inaugural Screamfest Festival in Sydney, Australia, on New Years Day 2010. In November/December they toured North America with Ex Deo (on selected dates), and Blackguard.
Ensiferum were also confirmed to play Bloodstock Open Air at Catton Hall, United Kingdom in 2010. In October 2010, Ensiferum embarked on their first ever South African tour. This tour consisted of four shows in two cities, and they were accompanied by numerous local metal bands including Riddare av Koden, Empery and All Forlorn. The final show, at The Black Dahlia in Johannesburg, was filmed to potentially appear on their next live DVD. In early 2011 Ensiferum embarked on The Ugly World Tour 2011 with labelmates Children of Bodom, Amon Amarth, Machinae Supremacy supporting them for segments of their tour in the US and Canada. The tour took place within a 4-month period of time and spanned 23 countries.
The band's fifth studio album, Unsung Heroes, was released on 24 August 2012. It's also their final album for Spinefarm Records. The next year, Ensiferum signed with Metal Blade Records after thirteen years with their previous label.[10] After release of the album, Ensiferum embarked on a tour of Europe and South America.
Ensiferum's sixth album, One Man Army, was released on 20 February 2015. The album was recorded at Astia Studio with producer Anssi Kippo. A music video for the title track "One Man Army" was released prior to the album's release. In March of that year, Ensiferum announced on their Facebook page that keyboardist Emmi Silvennoinen would not be able to make the European and North American "One Man Army Tour" due to personal commitments at home. Former Turisas accordion player Netta Skog filled her role for the tour. Skog had performed clean vocals on the One Man Army songs "Cry for the Earth Bounds" and "Neito Pohjolan". Heri Joensen of Týr makes an appearance on the track "Heathen Horde", quoting stanza 16 of Hávamál in Old Icelandic.
On 31 March 2016 it was announced that Emmi Silvennoinen would take a leave of absence from the band because of personal issues. Netta Skog was confirmed as her permanent replacement. With Skog in the line-up, the band entered the studio to record their seventh studio album, Two Paths. Anssi Kippo, who had produced One Man Army, was again chosen to produce the album. The band focused on a more "organic" sound for Two Paths, using analog recording and neglecting to use a click track for certain songs.[11] Two Paths was released on 15 September 2017.
Skog left the band in December 2017.[12]
On January 7, 2020, the band announced that they had begun recording a follow-up record to Two Paths, at Studio Petrax in Hollola, Finland. This release coincides with the band's 25th anniversary. On February 27, the band confirmed Pekka Montin as their new keyboard player and clean vocalist.[13]
The single "Rum, Women, Victory" was released on May 6,[14] followed by a music video of the second single "Andromeda" on June 17.[15] The band's eighth album, Thalassic, was released on 10 July 2020.
On 14 June 2024, it was announced the band would release their ninth studio album, Winter Storm, on 18 October.[16]
The band has been described as folk metal,[17] [18] [19] melodic death metal,[20] power metal and Viking metal.[21]