Ensiferum (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: , n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

band from

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal".

History

Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002)

''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 Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002. History Spinefarm Records began as a mailorder distribution company, founded by Riku Pääkkönen. The c ...

. 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. In 2000, the band went into the studio to work on their first album, ''

Ensiferum 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". History Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002) ''Ensiferum'' was foun ...

'', which was released in July 2001. In the same year, Meiju Enho joined them as a keyboard player.

''Iron'', line-up changes, ''Dragonheads'' and ''10th Anniversary Live'' (2003−2006)

In early 2004, after the work was completed on the second album, ''

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

'', Mäenpää was fired from the band due to conflicts between scheduled studio work on his side project

Wintersun Wintersun is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Helsinki originally formed as the side project of Jari Mäenpää, then-vocalist and guitarist of folk metal band Ensiferum. In 2003, Mäenpää began pulling together songs that he had bee ...

and touring with Ensiferum. For the tour with

Finntroll Finntroll is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. They combine elements of black metal and death metal with a type of Finnish folk music called humppa. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" ...

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 The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

). 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 Amorphis is a Finnish progressive metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive meta ...

cover and a short rendition of the

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

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 Nosturi ( Finnish for " crane") was a culture and music hall and a nightclub in the Punavuori district of Helsinki, Finland. It was owned by the Association of Live Music (''Elävän musiikin yhdistys'', ELMU). The hall was located at the se ...

, Helsinki, on 31 December 2005.

''Victory Songs'' and Meiju's departure (2006−2009)

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 Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

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. Ensiferum headlined the Paganfest tour in Europe and North America in 2008. Others playing the tour included

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the . In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off ...

and

Eluveitie Eluveitie ( ; )Chrigel Glanzmann: "Eluveitie is a name in Gaulish language, which is an ancient Celtic language. Since it's not a living language anymore, nobody really knows how it's pronounced like. All we have today of this language is scient ...

, with

Moonsorrow Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from th ...

and

Korpiklaani Korpiklaani (Finnish language, Finnish for ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani st ...

also joining them on the European part of the tour, and Turisas in North America. They also supported

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

on the opening night of their United Abominations – Tour of Duty European tour. Ensiferum also supported

Amon Amarth Amon Amarth () are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden, Tumba, formed in 1992. The band take its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking myt ...

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 Necrophagist ( ) was a German technical death metal band founded and fronted by guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suiçmez. The band used baroque music-influenced compositions paired with extreme metal drumming. The name originates from the Gre ...

, Darkest Hour, Suffocation, Blackguard, Dying Fetus, Beneath the Massacre, Origin, and

Winds of Plague Winds of Plague is an American deathcore band from Upland, California. Formed in 2002, the band is known for being the first of several deathcore bands to incorporate symphonic elements into their music. The band's name is derived from a sect ...

. 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.

''From Afar'' and ''Unsung Heroes'' (2009−2012)

Ensiferum released their fourth studio album, '' From Afar'', on 9 September 2009 with

. The album was produced by

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...

producer

Tero Kinnunen Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Ne ...

and '' Victory Songs'' producer Janne Joutsenniemi, and it was mixed by producer Hiili Hiilesmaa. The limited edition of the album includes a cover of Swedish

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

group

Nordman Nordman is a Sweden, Swedish duo founded in 1993, that mixes folk music with rock and pop. This genre is called etnorock or folk rock in Swedish. The group consists of Håkan Hemlin, as singer and frontman, and Mats Wester, who plays the nyckelh ...

with guest vocalist Heri Joensen of Faroese band

. Following the release, the group embarked on a European tour with Estonian

band Metsatöll and Finnish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

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 Ex Deo is a Canadian death metal band formed in Montreal, Quebec in 2008. The band is a side project of Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono, and is based on the history of the Roman Empire. History Ex Deo was formed in 2008 as an artistic proj ...

(on selected dates) and Blackguard. Ensiferum were also confirmed to play

Bloodstock Open Air Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005. Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 at the Derby Assembly Rooms and ...

at Catton Hall, UK 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 Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, ...

Machinae Supremacy Machinae Supremacy is a Swedish/Finnish band that combines modern heavy metal, power metal and alternative rock with chiptunes. Self-defined as "SID metal", many of their songs use a SidStation that features the SID chip of the Commodore 64. ...

supporting them for segments of their tour in the US and Canada. The tour took place within a four-month period of time and spanned 23 countries. The band's fifth studio album, '' Unsung Heroes'', was released on 24 August 2012, their final album for Spinefarm Records. The next year, Ensiferum signed with

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

after thirteen years with their previous label. After release of the album, Ensiferum embarked on a tour of Europe and South America.

New label, ''One Man Army'' and ''Two Paths'' (2013−2019)

Ensiferum's sixth album, '' One Man Army'', was released on 20 February 2015. The album was recorded at Astia Studio with producer

Anssi Kippo Anssi Kippo (born 5 September 1976) is a Finnish record producer and sound engineer, known for his work in the Finnish Heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s ...

. 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

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 Analog recording is a category of techniques used for the recording of analog signals. This enables later playback of the recorded analog audio. Analog audio recording began with mechanical systems such as the phonautograph and phonograph. La ...

and neglecting to use a

click track A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a Film, moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where optical marks were made on the film to indicate precise ...

for certain songs. ''Two Paths'' was released on 15 September 2017. Skog left the band in December 2017.

''Thalassic'' and ''Winter Storm'' (2020−present)

On January 7, 2020, the band announced that they had begun recording a follow-up record to ''Two Paths'', at Studio Petrax in

Hollola Hollola () is a municipality of Finland, located in the western part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality is unilingually Finnish and has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

, 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. The single "Rum, Women, Victory" was released on May 6, followed by a music video of the second single "Andromeda" on June 17. The band's eighth studio album, '' Thalassic'', was released on 10 July 2020. The band's ninth studio album, ''

Winter Storm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

'', was released on 18 October 2024.

Musical style

The band has been described as

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

and

Viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse religion, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consi ...

Band members

File:Ensiferum Rockharz 2018 12.jpg, Markus Toivonen File:Ensiferum Rockharz 2018 14.jpg, Petri Lindroos File:Ensiferum Rockharz 2018 13.jpg, Sami Hinkka File:Janne Parviainen (crop for gallery).jpg, Janne Parviainen File:Pekka Montin - Ensiferum - Wacken Open Air (cropped).jpg, Pekka Montin

Current members

* Markus Toivonen – guitars, backing vocals (1995–present), clean vocals (2004–2020) * Petri Lindroos – harsh vocals, guitars (2004–present) *

Sami Hinkka Sami Hinkka (born 27 April 1978 in Finland) is a heavy metal bass player, presently with Ensiferum. He joined his current band in 2004 as a replacement for Jukka-Pekka Miettinen after playing for some years in the melodic death/doom metal band ...

– bass, clean and harsh vocals (2004–present) *

Janne Parviainen Janne Parviainen (born 1973) is a Finnish Heavy metal music, heavy metal drummer who plays in the bands Sinergy, Barathrum and Ensiferum. He is a former member of Waltari and Zwanziger. Parviainen joined Barathrum in 2000 and Sinergy and Ensif ...

– drums (2005–present) * Pekka Montin – keyboards, clean vocals (2020–present)

Former members

* Sauli Savolainen – bass (1995–1998) * Kimmo Miettinen – drums (1995–1998) * Jari Mäenpää – lead vocals, guitars (1996–2004) * Oliver Fokin – drums (1998–2005) * Jukka-Pekka Miettinen – bass (1998–2004) * Meiju Enho – keyboards (2001–2007) * Emmi Silvennoinen – keyboards, backing vocals (2007–2016) * Netta Skog – electric accordion, female vocals (2016–2017)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2001) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Victory Songs'' (2007) * '' From Afar'' (2009) * '' Unsung Heroes'' (2012) * '' One Man Army'' (2015) * '' Two Paths'' (2017) * '' Thalassic'' (2020) * ''

'' (2024)

Compilation albums

* ''1997–1999'' (2005) * ''Two Decades of Greatest Sword Hits'' (2016)

EPs

* '' Dragonheads'' (2006) * ''Suomi Warmetal'' (2014)

Live DVD

* '' 10th Anniversary Live'' (2006) * ''Ensiferum Acoustic Live @ On the Rocks, Helsinki, Finland 28.10.2016'' (DVD included in the ''Two Paths'' limited edition) (2017)

Videos

* "Ahti" (2007) * "From Afar" (2009) * "Twilight Tavern" (2009) * "One More Magic Potion" (2010) * "In My Sword I Trust" (2012) * "One Man Army" (2015) * "Way of the Warrior" (2017) * "For Those About to Fight for Metal" (2019) * "Rum, Women, Victory" (2020) * "Andromeda" (2020) * "Run from the Crushing Tide" (2021) * "Winter Storm Vigilantes" (2024)

Singles

* "Tale of Revenge" (2004) * "One More Magic Potion" (2007) * "From Afar" (2009) * "Stone Cold Metal" (2010) * "Burning Leaves" (2012) * "In My Sword I Trust" (2012) * "One Man Army" (2015) * "Way of The Warrior" (2017) * "For Those About to Fight for Metal" (2019) * "Rum, Women, Victory" (2020) * "Andromeda" (2020) * "Winter Storm Vigilantes" (2024) * "Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife" (2024)

Demos

* ''Demo (1997)'' *# "Frost" *# "Old Man (Väinämöinen)" *# "Knighthood" * ''Demo II (1998)'' *# "Dreamer's Prelude" *# "Little Dreamer (Väinämöinen part II)" *# "Warrior's Quest" *# "White Storm" * ''Demo III: Hero in a Dream'' (1999) *# "Intro" *# "Hero in a Dream" *# "Eternal Wait" *# "Battle Song" *# "Guardians of Fate"

Cover songs

Recorded cover songs

* "Into Hiding" (by

from '' Tales from the Thousand Lakes'') − Found on ''Dragonheads'', ''10th Anniversary Live'' as a live version and ''Victory Songs'' Special Edition * "Battery" (by

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

from ''

Master of Puppets ''Master of Puppets'' is the third studio album by the American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmu ...

'') − Found on "Tale of Revenge" single and ''Iron'' digipak * " Lady in Black" (by Uriah Heep from ''

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

'') − Found on "One More Magic Potion" single and ''Victory Songs'' digipak and Japanese version * " Breaking the Law" (by

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

from '' British Steel'') − Found on the digipak version of their eponymous album. Song was covered again in 2010 and released as a bonus track of "Stone Cold Metal" digital single. * "

Vandraren "Vandraren" (The Wanderer) is a song with music composed by Mats Wester and lyrics written by Py Bäckman. The song was recorded by Swedish duo Nordman as the opening track of their self-titled debut studio album, ''Nordman'' (1994). Becoming a ma ...

" (by

) – Found on the limited edition version of '' From Afar'' * "Wrathchild" (by

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

) − Released as a bonus track of "Burning Leaves" digital single * " Bamboleo" (by

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings (originally Los Reyes) are a musical group founded in 1979 in Arles, France. The band, whose members have Catalans, Catalan heritage, play a blend of Catalan rumba, flamenco, Salsa music, salsa, and Pop music, pop. They perform mos ...

) − Released as a bonus track on "Unsung Heroes"

Covers only played live

* "Battle Hymn" (by Manowar) * "

Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist ...

" (by

) * "Fight Fire with Fire" (by Metallica) * "Näitä polkuja tallaan" (by Matti ja Teppo) * "Olen suomalainen" (by Kari Tapio) * " Rentun Ruusu" (by Irwin Goodman) * " Run to the Hills" (by

) * "

The Trooper "The Trooper" is a song by the English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'' (1983). It was one of only a few Iron Maiden songs to ac ...

" (by

) * " Tsingis Khan" (by Frederik) * "

Sweet Child o' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, '' Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 cha ...

" (by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

)

References

External links

*
The official Ensiferum webshop

Ensiferum
at

{{Authority control Finnish heavy metal musical groups Finnish melodic death metal musical groups Finnish folk metal musical groups Viking metal musical groups Musical groups from Helsinki Musical groups established in 1995 Finnish musical quintets Spinefarm Records artists Metal Blade Records artists