 |
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|---|---|
| Origin | Helsinki , Finland |
| Genre(s) | Viking metal Folk metal |
| Years active | 1995 - present |
| Label(s) | Spinefarm |
| Associated acts |
Wintersun Arthemesia Cadacross Norther |
| Website | http://www.ensiferum.com/ |
| Members | |
| Petri Lindroos Markus Toivonen Sami Hinkka Janne Parviainen Emmi Silvennoinen |
|
| Former members | |
| Kimmo Miettinen Jukka-Pekka Miettinen Sauli Savolainen Jari Mäenpää Oliver Fokin Meiju Enho Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali |
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Ensiferum (Latin ensĭfĕrum (neuter adjective) meaning "sword bearing") is a Viking / Folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. The band label themselves as "Heroic Folk Metal".
Contents |
Musical Characteristics
- Screaming vocals often mixed with clean vocals for choruses and bridges;
- Metal melodies played on lead guitar or keyboard overlaying heavier traditional heavy metal backing rhythms such as the classic gallop rhythm;
- 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 epic "Kalevala" and the Norse sagas.
Band history
Formation, first demo and Ensiferum (1995 - 2002)
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 neuter gender adjective ensiferum, which means "sword-bearing". 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 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.
Iron, Jari's departure, Dragonheads and 10th Anniversary Live (2003 - 2006)
In 2003, after the work was completed on the second album, Iron, Jari left the band to concentrate more on his project Wintersun. 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 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 December 31 2005.
Victory Songs, Meiju's departure & the future (2004 - Present)
The recording of the third studio album, called Victory Songs, took place between November 2006 and early 2007, and was released on April 20, 2007. A single titled One More Magic Potion (after the track of the same name) was released on February 7th. Following the album 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 [1]. A replacement for her has not yet been named, and the band is currently using Emmi Silvennoinen of Exsecratus as a touring fill-in. According to the bands myspace they will be headlining Pagan Fest and a US tour in 2008. Others to play will be Tyr and Turisas. Moonsorrow and Korpiklaani will join them on the European part of the tour.
Band members
Current line-up
- Petri Lindroos – harsh vocals, guitars
- Markus Toivonen – guitars, clean & backing vocals
- Sami Hinkka – bass, clean & backing vocals
- Janne Parviainen – drums
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)
- Meiju Enho – keyboards
Session members
- Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali – session keyboards on Ensiferum (Finntroll, Moonsorrow, ex-Korpiklaani)
Touring members
- Emmi Silvennoinen – keyboards (2007) (Exsecratus)
Discography
Albums
- Ensiferum (2001)
- Iron (2004)
- 1997-1999 (Ltd. edition re-release of first three demos, 2005)
- Victory Songs (2007)
EPs
- Dragonheads (2006)
Singles
- "Tale of Revenge" (2004)
- "One More Magic Potion" (2007)
Demos
- Demo (1997)
- Demo II (1999)
- Hero in a Dream (1999)
DVDs
- 10th Anniversary Live (2006)
External links
- Ensiferum Official website
- Ensiferum at MySpace
- Ensiferum at Spinefarm Records
- Interview with Ensiferum
| Ensiferum |
|---|
| Petri Lindroos | Markus Toivonen | Sami Hinkka | Janne Parviainen |
| Former Members: Kimmo Miettinen | Jukka-Pekka Miettinen | Sauli Savolainen | Jari Mäenpää | Oliver Fokin | Meiju Enho |
| Discography |
| Albums: Ensiferum | Iron | Victory Songs |
| EPs: Dragonheads |
| Compilation Albums: 1997-1999 |
| Singles: Tale of Revenge | One More Magic Potion |
| DVDs: 10th Anniversary Live |
