Ensiferum – Unsung Heroes (2012)

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The Finish masters of Folk Metal return with another hard-hitting dosage of brilliant music that while to as good as “From Afar” it is still pretty damn entertaining. Pummeling through ten tracks, “Unsung Heroes” has very similar vibe to the band’s earlier releases: “Ensiferum” and “Iron”, but with a much more capable vocalist in Petri Lindroos. The thing we love about Ensiferum is that the band does not dwell on trying to fit millions of instruments into 4 minute tracks, but they rather focus on crafting epic melodies with the basic guitar, bass guitar, and drums combination.

Creating the perfect epic ambiance, “Symbols” opens the release in a manner that we imagine some epic medieval stuff happening like on Game of Thrones. ”In My Sword I Trust” is your quintessential ‘battle song’ with epic arrangements, powerful guitars, and very commanding vocals. Keeping up with excellent melodic guitars and very present Folk-elements, “Unsung Heroes” keeps the mood and morale quite high. This is why we prefer Ensiferum to bands like Eluivetie and Turisas, the band knows exactly how to keep the momentum going, deliver epic songs, and fuse Folk elements without overpowering the guitars and the general direction of the music.

For fans wanting more ‘straightforward’ Folk stuff, “Burning Leaves” and “Celestial Bond” live up to those expectations. The last song also has that excellent ballad feeling with lush female vocals and excellent acoustic guitars. The heavy-hitting “Retribution Shall Be Mine” really shakes things up with great intensity and blasting guitars. With “Star Queen” and “Last Breath” go back to more Folk-ish territories allowing the band to nicely set the mood for the 17 minute onslaught brought forth by the epic “Passion Proof Power”. In this epic track, the band slowly builds momentum for a very satisfactory climaxing moment filled with excellent guitar sections and brilliant drumming that gives off a bit of a Progressive vibe at some points, truly remarkable and interesting to listen to.

If you are a fan of Ensiferum, this release will not disappoint you in one bit. As we mentioned before, the bar was set too high with “From Afar” but they come very close to equaling it with “Unsung Heroes”. If you are looking for some epic Folk Metal that will have you headbanging, and wielding your swords around, this is one release you can’t miss.

Band: Ensiferum Album: New Era
Label: Spinefarm Records

Release: September 18th, 2012

Oficial Site myspace

Genre: Folk Metal

Country: Finland

Rating: 89/100
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