Interviews

Hi there, Alex from "The Metal Observer" here, how are things in the ENSIFERUM camp?

 

Very well, actually. We’re in an awesome live gig condition and the summer looks exciting and fun.

 

"Iron" is out, so with some distance to the song writing and recording process, how do you like it now?

 

I’m very satisfied. The only difference comparing to the first album is that now I can say more clearly which songs are my favourite ones. Also the sound is very different…that we have been discussing a lot among the band and maybe we’d choose rather the sound of the first album for the new sound is kind of experimental…The story goes that Spinefarm suggested us the Sweet Silence studios and we absolutely wanted to try that out. The result is interesting…Flemming sure has put his fingerprint on it.

 

You have incorporated a lot more Power Metal-like influences and elements on "Iron" was this a conscious step or pure evolution as a band? And if so, what has led to this?

 

You think so? We have been said that there is much less Power Metal influences on “Iron” than it was on “Ensiferum” album…But sure we have a lot of heroic war lyrics, if you mean that by Power Metal. We ourselves don’t consider the album being Power Metal at all! We just make songs about killing everybody…

 

Any particular reason, why you reduced the Folk elements a bit in return?

 

Hey, this gets interesting…I think Folk elements have absolutely increased on “Iron”…after all, we had “Tarujen Saari” playing the Kantele, folk whistles and folk drums for us all through the album and finally the last song “Tears” is totally acoustic with Kaisa Saari singing it. Also “The Sword Chant” contains strong folkish melodies and then there is “Lai Lai Hei” that is pure Folk Metal with Kalevala influences…Yes, I think we concentrate very much on folk music on “Iron”.

 

"LAI LAI HEI" for the first time also contains Finnish vocals. Is this an element that you might further on coming albums?

 

I think it’s more like a spice. These few Finnish lines work very well in “Lai Lai Hei” and Jari said that he felt they just belong to the song somehow. But for example singing a whole song or whole album in Finnish is quite far away and I don’t think we go to that. For me the Finnish part is very important, it brings the Finnish folk feeling strongly to the song and at the same time reminds everybody of our roots…

 

Your debut had received more or less rave reviews all over the place (also from yours truly), how big was the pressure for you to come up with a follow-up that could live up to this?

 

The pressure was huge. Especially Markus was really very critical about himself and his new songs, and Spinefarm also demanded us to make one hell of a record if we wanted to take the challenge to go to Sweet Silence studios. Of course, we made a hell of a record! But I must say that sometimes the pressures affected the atmosphere very negatively.

 

So how did you approach the song writing?

 

Markus usually sits on the sofa watching TV and plays the guitar and sings at the same time. So every now and then he finds a good melody and starts working it further. So the riffs and melodies just kind of come by training and playing.

 

Usually people categorise ENSIFERUM as "Viking Metal" how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with stuff like that?

 

Well, we don’t have anything special against it, but we ourselves rather call it “Heroic Folk Metal”!

 

The release date for "Iron" was delayed many times. What led to this and how do you feel as a band, when you see the date getting pushed and pushed ever more?

 

We felt pissed off. We had done such a hard work and then the release keeps delaying. The worst part was that we couldn’t get the album out in Europe before our tour, so we couldn’t include too much new songs in the gigs or bring the album to our European fans though it already was available in Finland. There were many reasons why the release took so long. First of all, we didn’t have all the songs ready when we first should have gone to studio. Then, at the studio Jari got sick and couldn’t do all the vocals in time. Then the mixing took very much more than we had expected…so count all these together! It’s such a relief to have the album finally out now.

 

The guy on the cover of both albums is, I guess, the Ensiferum, the "Sword Bearer". Will he become a standard for album covers of ENSIFERUM?

 

I believe he will follow all the way!

 

Did you also get any reactions from outside of Europe for either of the albums so far?

 

Yes, pretty much actually. So far we have received fan mail from USA, South America and Japan.

 

In your own words, where do you see the major differences and evolution from "Ensiferum" to "Iron"?

 

“Iron” is somewhat more complicated. The music contains new ‘colours’ and ideas. Couple of songs seem to be musically almost like whole stories, for example “Into Battle” and “Lai Lai Hei”, and that’s why they’re so long. I think they work f***ing well. Also the tempo varies more in the new album and it has stronger contrasts, take “Slayer Of Light” and “Lost in Despair” for example.

 

What kind of an experience had it been to record the album with the famous Flemming Rasmussen?

 

The guy was awesome. It seems Danish and Finnish people get very well along…Of course the tight schedule forced us to work very hard and Flemming himself was very strict about the drums for example. But he kept cool even if somebody lost his/her nerves…Well, the guy is a professional and you could see it. The Sweet Silence Studio was quite luxurious and we enjoyed more to hang around there than in our filthy and crammed flat in the centre of Copenhagen.

 

Now I know that you had been buried in questions about Jari’s split from ENSIFERUM, so I won't go into that anymore, but are there any news on a replacement for him?

 

We haven’t found a guy to replace him, though there have been at least many guitarist candidates. But if things just work out, we might continue with Petri from NORTHER. He seems to fit to the band surprisingly well.

 

Which criteria does a potential candidate have to fulfil? I mean, vocally he has some damn big foot steps to fill…

 

The vocals are the biggest challenge. But he has to be a hell of a guitarist too! Jari was almost grown together with his guitar so all the solos so far are played according to that…

 

How would you yourself describe ENSIFERUM in one sentence?

 

It’s one damned group of freaks that can’t live without music and who have decided to try this crazy idea out…We are maniacs!

 

During the recording sessions, I am sure that there've been some funny/weird stories, could you share one of each with us and our readers? I read that it has been really difficult sessions for you…

 

Well, Markus used to play his guitar with a tennis sock wrapped around the guitar’s neck to avoid the extra rubbish sounds. Once he kept trying to play some killer riff in “Slayer Of Light” but he didn’t get it right. Then Flemming suggested to change the sock to a clean one so it would maybe help. Generally the studio trip was like “Spinal Tap II”. We had unbelievable misfortunes, for example somebody broke in to the car in which we had our guitar speakers and so on.

 

Are you guys also active in any side bands and projects?

 

JP plays in ARTHEMESIA, Markus in SOULSTREAM and Oliver has one of his own projects going on. I have been offered a few projects but so far I have been turning them down because I’m absolutely too busy already with ENSIFERUM, school and work.

 

What is your personal favourite song of ENSIFERUM?

 

I must name at least three: “Windrider”, “Iron” and “Lai Lai Hei”.

 

What made you start to play music and form a band in first place?

 

Markus who founded ENSIFERUM started to play guitar when he was 11 years old. When he later heard AMORPHIS and DARK TRANQUILLITY he wanted to form a band which would play melodic Folk Metal.

 

What would you do, if you weren't able to compose music?

 

I asked Markus about this and he said he’d probably jerk off.

 

How have ENSIFERUM changed for you personal, if you compare them to the "normal" demo band and the band that now has released two albums already?

 

Well, every band has its own story. In our case the first album was a huge success so the second album was a huge challenge. Some other bands make couple of albums before they get any wind under their wings. I believe this has to do with our style of music, and the fact that quite a few bands have combined Finnish and other Folk music and Metal like us. We have an original sound. But in the end everything is also dependent on pure luck and in the other hand, very hard work.

 

If you could choose a line-up for a live show, which two bands would you pick and why?

 

I’d definitely want to see KING DIAMOND and BAL-SAGOTH but they’d never fit into the same show! What can you say? They kick ass like hell…

 

What had been the goals for ENSIFERUM back then when you started out, which of them have you achieved and how have they changed?

 

Our goal is to conquer the world of course. Well, surely our first goal was to get a record deal, then make an album, then another, and now we want to do gigs both in Finland and in Europe. Why not go somewhere else too? The problem is that when you get too popular you’re no longer underground…but if you’re underground you’ll never get enough money to make a living. Musicians’ eternal paradox…But I think we just live on, do our stuff and see what will happen.

 

Does the name ENSIFERUM have any particular meaning to you or is it "just a name"?

 

It’s a symbol to our music, ‘sword bearer’, as is the sword in all the pictures.

 

How do you define success? Only in terms of sales or is there a different definition of success for you as a band?

 

I think each of us has an own definition for success, but commonly we might sometimes compare ourselves to other Finnish Metal bands in sales figures of show fees just for fun... we don’t have any kind of aggressive competition attitude. That still doesn’t mean we weren’t ambitious.

 

Which album in musical history would you wish was yours and why?

 

I wish we had done all the ELÄKELÄISET albums.

 

Finland has an amazing scene with tons of great bands. So here a triple question: Why is it that there are so many? Which ones do you regard as best? And which new and coming bands would you recommend to our listeners to keep an eye/ear open for?

 

Come on, try to live one whole year in Finland. Just experience one Finnish winter with all the darkness, coldness and exhausted people around you…after living here a whole lifetime we have got so angry that we make just brilliant Metal music! We are a bitter and bored nation…Talking about best Finnish Metal bands there is of course AMORPHIS which is a very important band to ENSIFERUM. Personally I’d name …AND OCEANS, AJATTARA and FINNTROLL. AJATTARA just got out its second album, everybody should definitely hear that out. There you can hear true Finnish anger. And those who love IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY should check out THE WAKE.

 

You have been around for quite some while now in the Finnish scene, how is your perception of Metal and its acceptance in Finland?

 

Metal is quite popular in Finland, there is always Metal bands in Finnish charts and then there are all the Rock/Metal festivals, Tuska being the biggest one. Somehow it fits to our culture. And now after HIM and NIGHTWISH I think that Metal has gained even more respect also from directions that before have taken Metal as rubbish.

 

Do you think that there still is a real underground, as there had been many years back?

 

I think underground still exists in Metal scene though it has got all the time more popular, and if it dies someday, some other scene will create it again. In human history there has always been underground cultures, Metal scene is not the first or the last.

 

How important do you think is the internet nowadays to promote an up and coming band?

 

Very important. After having heard a good song or seen a great gig somewhere people go straight to internet to see if the band has a homepage. That’s nowadays the easiest way to find information and to the band the easiest way to promote itself.

 

What do you love to hate in the music industry?

 

Music industry is very introvert. Also there is all the time a stupid war of different opinions going on…Which doesn’t lead anywhere. It would be very healthy to every musician also to have a normal life or friends outside the music scene.

 

If time travel was possible, which historical period would you like to visit and why? What would you miss the most from our time?

 

I think Middle Age is the favourite period of ENSIFERUM. But if somebody would transport us to that time I believe that every one of us would quite soon be dead condemned for witchcraft or something. But thinking in general, hygiene would sure be the thing I’d miss…

 

If your music was an emotion, what would it be?

 

Madness, rage and party party!

 

Just as a side question - what do you think about "The Metal Observer"?

 

Rulezz!

 

To finish the interview, my traditional last question, what is your favourite question about ENSIFERUM that you have never been asked yet, but would finally like to answer?

 

I have this strange feeling that the question has something to do with our parties after the gigs AND that question must definitely stay without answer. But THIS was absolutely the most stupid one we’ve ever heard.