Blog 2 - Music Review

Ensiferum is a Finnish band which self-labels its genre "Heroic Folk Metal". Their first and self-named album illustrates perfectly as to why they claim that genre. The band mixes harsh and clean vocals fluidly throughout nearly every song, talking of ancient warriors and battles and telling a loose story as you progress through the tracks. Intense, upbeat guitar lines draw you in to each battle-song, inspiring a feeling truly unique to this band. "Battle Song" is a suprisingly good example of this: as the intro to the comes to an end, there is a harsh metal yell. The harsh vocalist sings the part of a storyteller, while clean vocals call out the part of the soldiers.

There are also more slow, clean songs which tell of those waiting at home, or the return, such as "Eternal Wait", which tells of an old soldier looking for respite in a world full of pain. Each song is unique, stand-alone, and offers something that none of the other songs do. This album is alone, for me, in that I added every single song to my playlist, although Ensiferum's second album "Iron" comes close.

I have never heard a band that is so soul-stirring in this manner. It reaches into the depths of your heart, not for sorrow, anger, or love, but simply to remember battles long forgotten. I am not a fan of harsh vocals, nor do I listen to that much metal. This band stirs something within me, and I would suggest to anyone that they should at least give it a try.