Scribed by Sandre the Giant
Finnish folk metal legends Ensiferum have been around for a long time, plying their epic, sword swinging brand of metal and while they’ve gone from strength to strength in the intervening years, in 2004 their second album ‘Iron’ was very much a moment where the nascent genre itself was receiving a real set of building blocks. You’d had Korpiklaani’s debut just the year before, and Finntroll’s brilliant ‘Nattfödd’ would release mere days after this (hold on for that piece coming soon) as well as Turisas’ debut ‘Battle Metal’ in a few months time. We’d already seen what Moonsorrow had been building in the past couple of years too. 2004 was the year where particularly FINNISH folk metal exploded with popularity and quality, and Ensiferum were on the very front line.
If you listen to opening track ‘Ferrum Aeternum’, you’ll understand what Ensiferum immediately brought to the table when it came to folk metal; a sense of the epic scale, of grandiosity and of power. Their iron clad warrior mascot that adorns their artwork exudes all of those characteristics, and so does Ensiferum’s music. Finnish folk metal seems to work best as rousing battle cries, or folk ballads about myths and legends brought to a galloping life. There is no pause given about whether the songs are catchy or ‘too melodic’, there is only the hunt, the battle, the fight! This would be the last record that feature Wintersun mainman and crowdfunding enthusiast Jari Mäenpää, whose departure from the band would give us the classic ‘Wintersun’ debut later in 2004 (more on that later) and nowadays any number of memes about his love for saunas and not doing any work on new records. His final contribution is of course excellent, the guy is a great musician, but Ensiferum haven’t lost a step since he left that’s for sure. ‘Iron’ is a masterpiece of folk metal though, a real foundation for the kind of direction most of the genre would head. We started with Skyclad and Cruachan in the early 90s, but it is really only the work of the Finnish contingent that brings folk metal to a real and lasting life. ‘Iron’ is as important to that as anything else.
What more can I say about this record, other than if you are looking for a defining piece of folk metal, you can look no further. With ‘Tale of Revenge’ giving you that powerful uplifting anthem, to the galloping battle cry of ‘Slayer of Light’ and the rousing victory song ‘LAI LAI HEI’, there’s few bands that embody the true origins and passions of folk metal better than Ensiferum, and while we’re hear a lot more about some of their brethren over this year, they aren’t all as consistently great as Ensiferum.
https://www.facebook.com/Ensiferum
The Killchain 