Ensevirum – Winter Storm | Review in Stormbringer

For the first time in Sword Bearers' history, it took them four years to reach album number nine. When the first sign of life was released into the world with the “Winter Storm Vigilantes”, the author was immediately blown away, and despite the certainty of the upcoming specimen, felt compelled to secure a physical copy of ENSIFERUM's next work. There was considerable tension in return over whether the prior praise would be justified later.

As you can see from the package insert, the songs this time (except for “Fatherland”) were all written by Axtmann Markus Toivonen and are lyrically based on an as-yet-unpublished fantasy book by bassist Sami Hinka. Musically, the result is very straightforward, in the sense that there are no grand experiments like “Two Of Spades”, “Midsummer Magic” or let's say “Deathbringer From The Sky”. Instead, the Finns' greatest strength is in bringing their art, which has recently become a tradition, to the warrior in a crescendo that is particularly stimulating and sustained and, surprisingly, still sounds fresh and new.

The aforementioned “Winter Storm Vigilantes” is the best example of this and at the same time the strongest track on the record. A song that pops up on first contact is incredibly hot and makes you raise your sword eagerly to fight like its counterpart “Rum, Women, Victory” from previous album “Thalassic” – perhaps the basic recipe here hasn't really been changed either as the tunes aren't always the latest, but it's a statement About a spray of dirt in front of bricks, the numbers are so brilliantly and effectively arranged that they are so exciting that the result of the first listening could be nothing less than the early tunes concluding the aforementioned contract.

Together with the intro “Aurora” and the seamlessly complementary “Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife”, the first three numbers of the groove become a de facto cohesive trio, which faces a stately, epic finale in the final piece. Unfortunately, really unfortunately, the magic emanating from The Furious Guardians of the Winter Storm is not replicated to the extent that one can approach the punching intensity of its predecessor. There are no weak riffs here either, but more safe compositions that sometimes move forward in a purposeful manner at high speed and achieve a formal entertainment factor (see Sentinel's “Triumphant”) and sometimes sound less inspired and lack charm like “The Howl”.

In the overall scale, most of the numbers that initially seemed unclear turn into cultivators and can almost catch up with the great works recorded. The great bonus remains the aforementioned impression that ENSIFERUM continues to crescendo in every second song at the latest until shortly before Walhalla and documents the continuous playing pleasure and authenticity across all acts and stages. This, coupled with a great deal of epicness and a modern sound, ensures that this journey with the Vikings is also the usual fun and that anticipation for the associated theater dates grows.