''Unsung Heroes'' is the fifth studio album by 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

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 ...

. It was released on 27 August 2012 through

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 ...

Recording and production

In February 2012, the band entered the studio and started recordings for the then untitled album. The band also announced on their

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page they would keep their fans up to date on thei
Mobile Twilight Tavern
and with a weekly studio diary on Spinefarm's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. The album would also include guest appearances by members of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter and the Finnish singer and actor

Vesa-Matti Loiri Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004. Loiri made a strong i ...

. In late March, the band was in the final stages of the recordings for the album and completed recordings in early April. In May, the band revealed the title for the album, ''Unsung Heroes'' and announced its release date, 27 August 2012. The album would also be released through Spinefarm Records. Then in late June the band unveiled the album cover artwork, again designed by Kristian Wahlin. On 9 July they posted on their Facebook page a

video with ''Burning Leaves'', one of their new songs on the album. On 17 July the band posted a link with the making of their new video clip for ''In My Sword I Trust'', also a new song to be featured on the album. The video was shot in

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

by Grupa 13 who were also recruited for the recent video clips of other notable bands like

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 ...

and

Behemoth Behemoth (; , ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful ...

. The actual video was uploaded on 8 August on Spinefarm's YouTube channel, which reached over a hundred thousand views within the first week.

Track listing

Personnel

Ensiferum *

Petri Lindroos Petri Lindroos (born 10 January 1980) is a Finnish heavy metal musician. He has been the lead vocalist/ harsh vocalist and a guitarist for Ensiferum since 2004. In 2023, he joined Warmen in the same role. He was also a founding member of Nor ...

- harsh vocals, guitar, backing vocals *

Markus Toivonen Markus Toivonen (born 1979) is a Finnish guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and a founding member of the folk metal band Ensiferum. He founded the band in 1995 and is the sole original member left. His role in the band is guitarist and primary s ...

- guitar, acoustic guitars, dulcimer, bouzouki, clean vocals, backing vocals *

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 guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals (harsh/clean) *

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, backing vocals *Emmi Silvennoinen - keyboards, hammond, grand piano, pump organ, backing vocals Guest musicians *

- speech on "Pohjola" *Laura Dziadulewicz - vocals on "Celestial Bond" *Ulla Bürger - soprano vocals on "Passion, Proof, Power" *Lassi Lógren -

nyckelharpa ''Nyckelharpa'' (, roughly "keyed fiddle" in Swedish language, Swedish, , plural: ) is a "keyed" Bowed string instrument, bowed chordophone, primarily originating from Sweden in its modern form, but with its historical roots scattered across med ...

Timo Väänänen Two Witches is a gothic rock band from Finland, formed in 1987. As with several other late 1980s bands (like Nosferatu (band), Nosferatu), Two Witches started basing the main part of their appearances and lyrics on vampiric imagery. The group wa ...

kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with the Estonian kannel, the Latvian kokles, t ...

*Pasi Puolakka -

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, descant & sopranino Recorders *Kasper Mårtenson - moog * Volk-Man, Ady & Fuchs ( Die Apokalyptischen Reiter) - additional voices on "Passion, Proof, Power" *

Heidi Parviainen Heidi Parviainen (born 8 March 1979) is a Finnish singer. A classically trained lyric soprano, she is the lead vocalist of symphonic metal band Dark Sarah and previously fronted Amberian Dawn. Career Agonia and Iconofear (1995–2006) Parvi ...

(

Dark Sarah Dark Sarah is a Finnish symphonic metal band formed by Heidi Parviainen after her departure from Amberian Dawn in 2012. Their style has been described as "cinematic metal". History Formation and creation of ''Behind the Black Veil'' (2012� ...

, ex-

Amberian Dawn Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. As of 2023, Amberian Dawn has released nine studio albums, four singles and twelve music videos. History Atheme One (2006–2008) Several ...

) - choir vocals ;Crew *

Kristian Wåhlin Kristian Wåhlin (born 4 December 1971) is a Swedish musician, singer, graphic designer and album cover artist for many bands in the extreme metal scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym Necrolord. Biography Wåhlin's interes ...

- album artwork *

Hiili Hiilesmaa Kai "Hiili" Hiilesmaa (born December 1966) is a Finnish record producer and musician. He is the vocalist of the rock band The Skreppers, former drummer of the doom metal band KYPCK and former keyboardist of the rock band Daniel Lioneye. He has ...

- production, engineering and mixing

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Ensiferum albums Spinefarm Records albums