Type in your question below and we'll check to see what answers we can find...
Loading article...
Submitting...
If you couldn't find any answers in the previous step then we need to post your question in the community and wait for someone to respond. You'll be notified when that happens.
Simply add some detail to your question and refine the title if needed, choose the relevant category, then post.
Before we can post your question we need you to quickly make an account (or sign in if you already have one).
Don't worry - it's quick and painless! Just click below, and once you're logged in we'll bring you right back here and post your question. We'll remember what you've already typed in so you won't have to do it again.
Please see below the most popular frequently asked questions.
Loading article...
Loading faqs...
Please see below the current ongoing issues which are under investigation.
Loading issue...
Loading ongoing issues...
Greetings all and Happy New Year! May it bring us lots of prosperity, opportunities and joy! And of course, lots of memories to cherish! Can you believe that we’re already a quarter of the way done with the 21st century? Hard to believe. In any case, new year, new goals, new blogs and the Bizarre One is back to deliver once again. To celebrate, I’m bringing you a new band focused entry but a unique two-for-one special deal! Prepare for trouble and make it double! Today, we will talk about one of the pioneering bands in the realms of folk metal and also one of the most unique and fascinating music projects to ever exist. Two paths stand before us, similar, familiar, yet so different and captivating. To kickstart the new era of blogs and to celebrate the mighty winter still surrounding us, let us raise our swords and horns in honour of the mighty Ensiferum and then journey forth into the unfathomably vast majestic landscapes of Wintersun!
Our journey begins with a young Finnish band formed by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Markus Toivonen and some of his like minded friends back in 1995. While initially this outfit was a pure cover band, they soon attracted a second guitarist and frontman, an enigmatic talent called Jari Mäenpää. He will be important later. Together, they christened their band Ensiferum, which means “sword-bearing” in Latin. They sought to cook up a brand new sound, mixing the heavy yet catchy foundation of the newly formed melodic death metal, while mixing in a healthy dose of folk instrumentation and danceable song structures and combining it with superbly epic lyrics about folklore, mythology, battles, Vikings and lots of mead and ale! As a result, they became some of the founding fathers of folk metal and continue to inspire countless new artists in similar vein to this day!
Ensiferum first exploded in proper with their self-titled debut released in 2001. This album showcased all the core tenets that would make them one of the most beloved bands in all of metal. Featuring tons of catchy riffage, spectacular guitar work, glorious keyboards and folk instruments and memorable lyrics that just make you want to instantly charge into battle. They essentially took the epicness and tasteful cheese of classic power metal, made it darker and grittier and gave it a heavier metal edge. An absolutely Godly formula! They would quickly follow up this mighty release with Iron in 2004, an arguably even more mighty and pumping record! This time, their swords were not just sharp, but well polished too, showcasing some more advanced musicianship, especially with some fast power metal rhythms and some Yngwie Malmsteen-esque elevated guitar work courtesy of Mäenpää, something that would become his trademark. This one-two combo of amazing albums quickly cemented Ensiferum as a powerhouse of European metal and it spread their legend far beyond that.
However, every warband has its turbulence and shortly after the release of Iron, Jari Mäenpää would unfortunately have to depart. We’ll get back to him soon. However, this proved to just be the next step into the greatest era that Ensiferum has ever seen. They recruited the mighty beast Sami Hinkka on bass and vocals, the powerful and precise Janne Parviainen on the drums and appointed the glorious Petri Lindroos as their new warchief on guitars and vocals. With the exception of a varying cast of keyboardists and folk musicians, this quarter would become the core of Ensiferum and they stand strong together to this day. Together, they would unleash the monumental Victory Songs in 2007. That was a very apt title, because this Ensiferum were truly victorious over all in their way. Epic, memorable, energetic, grandiose, there’s a lot of adjectives to use for this album and none are sufficient. With a mix of folk melodies and fantasy game-style synth lines, combined with a rock solid melodeath foundation, this album is just a perfect blend for the perfect quest. Let it be known that Ensiferum were now stronger than ever and they had entered their Golden Age!
This would culminate in the iconic From Afar released in 2009. By many accounts (including mine), this is one of the greatest folk metal albums ever made. It’s somehow even more epic and combines complexity and simplicity in a masterful way. It can be catchy and danceable at times and a saga of epic proportions from others, an all-encompassing symphony filled with the pure spirit of adventure! The way Lindroos, Hinkka and Toivonen would share vocal duties also added even more variety to the mix. The song “Heathen Throne” alone can be studied for hours in terms of all the incredibleness found within. This album is truly a masterpiece that needs to be experienced!
Naturally, it’s hard to follow up on such an achievement, so the lads decided to experiment and spread their wings even father with Unsung Heroes in 2012. While still containing the same epicness we know and love, they also experimented with some acoustic tracks and even included the Celestial Bond pair, two love songs told from the perspectives of a man and woman separated by fate! And despite the experimentation, this album also birthed arguably their most popular single! Naturally, a warrior must be brave, there is no such thing as a “comfort zone” in battle!
At this time, Ensiferum had found their groove and decided to deliver more of the mead-fueled mayhem they became synonymous with. 2015’s One Man Army and 2017’s Two Paths are the two edges of the same sword – proud, powerful and persistent. While there wasn’t so much new experimentation introduced, by this time the band’s lineup had stabilized and they found the path they wanted to take (or both of them rather) and we were all happy to join them on that ride!
After some respite, it was time to set out again, this time to conquer the wild seas! With 2020’s Thalassic, Ensiferum conjured a far more thematically focused record, with a distinct nautical theme permeating the whole album. The title itself means “of the sea” after all. With a new recipe for their epic brew that remains just as potent, Ensiferum showed that complacency is not in their dictionary and that they will continue to conquer new frontiers! Their newest member, keyboardist and singer Pekka Montin, would also add new weapons to their arsenal, expanding the already varied vocals of the band with his own operatic power metal delivery that shines like the North Star in several tracks! Effortlessly switching between epic celebratory dances and melancholic and engrossing tales, this album has something for everyone and delivers on everything we could expect from the Finnish masters!
It would be just last year that Ensiferum returned once again with another thematic album and one that is particularly fitting for the current season – the effortlessly cool Winter Storm! This time, after returning home, the warriors found their shores covered in frost and their familiar forests buried in snow, so winter would become the new theme! Still just as grandiose and powerful, these tracks will definitely keep you warm as you charge through thick snow! Pekka Montin would also be given even more opportunities to shine, with several songs being structures specifically to let him unleash his power metal prowess and elevate the music to even greater levels of awesomeness! It’s still winter though, so many tracks offer a more macabre and trudging rhythm, encapsulating a dark, yet emotional melancholy. Another year, another banger in the belt for Ensiferum! And lucky for me, this winter theme is quite a fitting transition to what comes next.
For you see, another journey spun-off from this long ago. If you remember, frontman Jari Mäenpää left the band in 2004, but I didn’t tell you why. Well, it was because he had formed a new project back then and because of scheduling issues, Jari had to choose one or the other and he chose to bet on himself and go for his own project instead. This would be the phenomenon known as Wintersun. Taking many of the same ideas from his former band such as the blend of melodic death metal intensity with power metal epicness and speed. He also focused even harder on his own blisteringly fast Yngwie Malmsteen inspired solos, added tons upon tons of symphonic elements and layered effects and pivoted the lyrics more towards a heavily winter inspired melancholy, a very dark yet magical experience, while also keeping the warrior roots close to heart. All of this culminated in the self-titled album Wintersun the same year he left Ensiferum. This is an album like no other. Mixing fast and grandiose fury with protracted lengthy compositions layering heavy atmosphere and a very immersive mood. Even elements of doom and black metal pop in now and then to add some bite to this frost. A winter wonder like we’ve never heard before, Jari had firmly embraced his own direction and crafted something unique! And to think he recorded everything except the drums himself!
Now, it came to the most notorious thing every Wintersun fan has to do – wait. For you see, Jari Mäenpää is a bit of a perfectionist and he won’t release something until it is done right. After the initial record, he envisioned an epic double album titled simply Time. With an unfathomable scale and instrumentation so complex that computers of the time couldn’t handle it, Jari worked tirelessly to make his grand vision a reality. Eventually, the project was split in two and 2012, the first half of this saga was unleashed – Time I. Well, I can tell you the wait was worth it, because this album, cranks up the epicness to degrees never seen before. Even though this album technically only has three songs on it with some instrumental interludes to connect them together, each main song is over 10 minutes long, hallmark of Wintersun going forward, and manages to be a captivating experience on the par of the works of classical composers. Somehow, the songs are both extremely long, complex and dynamic, while also using catchy riffs and legendary lyric lines to remain effortlessly memorable. This is a feat that most progressive metal tends to struggle with. This album was an undisputed masterpiece and to think that it’s only one half! Well...we had no idea what time entailed for the other half, but we’ll get to that. Be that as it may, Time I is an album that everyone needs to experience to believe!
spotify:track:3e4hga1m26s0WqeIodSIH3:small
spotify:track:6EJfuLTl01JoGXt8rtM1rd:small
spotify:track:3WpmO13nUtLDRZujMgu4ss:small
spotify:track:0QvkDPezujrAC8PhnAoAQY:small
spotify:track:2Egr3daQL5BbHHN1z75ArW:small
This time the wait wasn’t so long as in 2017, the sons of Winter awoke again and blessed us with another opus. However, this wasn’t the sequel to the previous. Instead, something different and very special to be honest. The album was titled The Forest Seasons, a four track experience where each song encapsulates one of the four seasons in the spirit of Vivaldi’s iconic compositions. We were not prepared for this, let me tell you! From the song of spring, as it morphs from dire despair into empowering hope, the monolithic grand choir in the song of summer, the black metal infused impenetrable darkness of the song of autumn to the slow, somber and graceful march of the song of winter. And through it all, each lengthy song remains incredibly diverse and exciting but instantly drills itself into your head too, once again a testament to Jari Mäenpää’s songwriting prowess. On a personal note, this is one of my favourite albums and it’s a yearly tradition for me to listen to the respective tracks when the seasons change (and a few more times in between just because it’s so good). Hopefully, you will feel compelled to experience the seasons this way now too!
spotify:track:46f36Ds9aJhDhbQsZajbih:small
spotify:track:22mbGl4jUbr7bhqWOzejjt:small
spotify:track:6NVJrvr7jKmdV04xhGG4TH:small
spotify:track:6Qb4UHym7uBDGHRU0LYNjk:small
Patience is a virtue they say and you definitely needed a bit of it as the silence after the seasonal storms was quite long. But after a lot of turbulence, back and forth struggles and years of uncertainty, it finally happened. Twelve years after the first part and 20 years, almost to the day, after Wintersun’s debut, Time II was finally complete! This blog really can’t put into perspective this length of time and I was fortunate that I only joined the quest after Forest Seasons, but rest assured, Jari the perfectionist sure took his sweet time with this. Was it worth it though? OH YES! The madman actually did it! Time II is every bit as grand and epic as the first installment and manages to grow even greater in scale and execution. Musically, the album is a flawless blend of absolutely everything mentioned until now, cranked up to 11. A notable new inclusion is the heavy Japanese influence, evident also from the album cover. I guess touring with my boys from Whispered has rubbed off on Jari. This is the longest Wintersun album to date too and has many more tracks than previous outputs. Words cannot properly capture Time II, it is just pure magic. In my humble opinion, this will go down as one of the best albums of all time, especially if taken together with its younger sibling. It sure took a while to make, but now that it’s out, all of that is irrelevant as anyone coming into it will never have to worry about that again. Hopefully I can send some people on their way to experiencing this mystical masterpiece with this blog right here.
And such, we finish this epic dual quest. I really wanted to talk about both bands but I just couldn’t figure out how to structure it to my own standards. Then I realized that this double deal can work great and I’m really happy with how it turned out. The fact that both bands dropped an album in 2024 also showed that the time was right. Ensiferum are one of the most consistently amazing bands out there and I have been deeply fascinated with them for almost 2 decades now. The type of power I feel in my veins when listening to them can seldom be compared to anything. Well, except Wintersun, who have been a seminal discovery for me too. I already told you about my tradition with The Forest Seasons but beyond that, they have vastly expanded by horizons for music and allowed me to appreciate so many different things. They were also the band that really kickstarted my path of discovery when it comes to 10+ songs. I probably never would’ve been able to get into progressive metal without them. So hopefully now, you’ve gained some newfound appreciation for them too. Happy New Year once again and let us all conquer time together! See you again soon!