Well, I clearly wasn’t the only one who enjoyed Ensiferum’s slight change in approach with 2020’s excellent “Thalassic”. It topped Finland’s album chart, reached number 3 in Germany’s, and went top ten in Switzerland, Canada and even the USA. So, with two huge world tours behind them since the pandemic you could forgive the band for the lengthy wait before unleashing their follow-up “Winter Storm”. Granted, we can only forgive them as long as it isn’t a bag of crap…
But my weak attempt to inject a bit of jeopardy into the review is of course misguided, as this is Ensiferum and everyone knows they don’t do bag of crap. Quite the reverse in fact, as Ensiferum keep growing, evolving and maturing with every release, whilst still retaining a level of quality that befits a band of their pedigree. It’s no surprise that the same line-up responsible for “Thalassic” shines once more on “Winter Storm”, with the band having dried themselves off from its predecessor’s nautical flavour and themed this one around a fantasy concept conceived by bass player Sami Hinkka.
“Thalassic”, with its slightly more Power Metal tinged delivery certainly worked well for the band and that direction continues here, if anything a little more focused and smoother in its execution as the band settles further into working with the varied clean vocals of the impressive Pekka Montin. His interplay with Petri Lindroos works perfectly once again to give the light and shade that worked so well on the previous release, but with an even greater urgency to nudge the song around towards a memorable vocal hook or anthemic chorus – of which there are a wonderful plethora to choose from throughout the album.
The fabulous variation in vocal styles almost overshadows the intelligent musical compositions on first listen, but as always with Ensiferum, further listens seem to expand the album’s depths further and further. It’s an album delivered with energy, power, conviction, anger and melody in equal measures, showcasing the band perfectly as the Metal force they are. The unselfish songwriting highlights the members who need to stand out when the song demands it, and, for further example (because it’s what suits the song) Eleine’s Madeleine Liljestam doesn’t only lend a guest vocal to ‘Scars In My Heart’ – she sings the whole damn song, and she isn’t even in the band! Ensiferum have found a winning formula, that has elevated them higher than their already lofty status and “Winter Storm” is the slick, compelling and engrossing natural continuation of that formula.
(8.5/10 Andy Barker)
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