ALBUM REVIEW: Ensiferum - Winter Storm

It was over seven years ago when I last reviewed an album by one of the leading lights in folk metal, Finland’s Ensiferum. That was 2017’s Two Paths, and I admit it was more enjoyable than expected with a solid rating. 

Winter Storm sees the band follow up from 2020’s Thalassic, and with a line-up that has remained static for four years. 10 tracks of classic anthemic quality, album number nine is likely to delight the band’s army of fans that have built over the near 30-years that they have been together. Written almost completely by founding guitarist Markus Toivonen, the exception being Fatherland which was penned by bassist Sami Hinkka, this album sees even more great tales that are laced through the power folk metal that the band has made their own over many years. Described as “more like a musical rather than a traditional album” by Hinkka, the interplay of harsh and clean vocals certainly gives it that feel. It’s grandiose, epic and adventurous. 

It’s singer and keyboard player Pekka Montin’s high melodic vocals that are the undoubted star of the album, his soaring cleans providing the ideal foil for Petri Lindoos’s gravel throated roars. There is also the addition of Madeleine Liljestam (Eleine) who is tasked with all vocals on Scars in My Heart, another high intensity drama filled track. With Lassi Logrén providing extra instrumentation with nyckelharpa and violin and Mikko Mustonen in charge of orchestration, it’s a heady mix that we have. 

With the basis of the album drawn from the lockdown period, which Toivonen admits may have made the songs “a little bit more epic and gloomier than before”, it’s worth finding out a little about the concept. 

Hinkka provides the detail. "Winter Storm Vigilantes and Fatherland tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man... Other characters include a Vigilante castaway, the last shaman of the North Folk and a mysterious widow. The album ends with a great battle against the Vigilantes and the unholy alliance of the castaway and the North Folk shaman, who has transcended into a spirit wolf. Who will prevail? Will this be the final battle of the book? Time will tell… I understand that all this sounds very far out (well, it is a fantasy book), but believe me, it will be truly an epic story!" 

It’s an album that certainly grows with additional plays. On first listen, I was a little underwhelmed. It’s not my go to genre and the overblown epic tracks can feel a little too flamboyant for my liking. Listen to it several times and you’ll find yourself singings along to tracks like the mighty Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife, the power metal bursts of Fatherland and the beautiful voice of Liljestam on Scars in My Heart. Two tracks act as bridges between the main songs, giving the concept more life and providing links. The first is the spoken word of Resistentia which links Scars in My Heart and the snarling yet majestic The Howl. It works well. Winter Storm contains a couple of epic tracks. The seven-minute Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife and the mighty near nine-minute From Order to Chaos, a true story telling song. 

Underneath all of this lies a phenomenally talented band, whose playing is incredible throughout. Yes, the dramatic style may not meet everyone’s tastes, but it’s difficult not to appreciate the complexity here. If you can get past your possible prejudices about the label of folk metal, then Winter Storm is an exceptional heavy metal album that deserves every success.

Winter Storm is out on 18th October via Metal Blade Records

Review by Hutch