12/17/2014 10:39
Ensiferum
Ensiferum's new album 'One Man Army' coming out in February
Finland’s favourite folk metal collective and recent Metal Blade Records signees, Ensiferum, will unleash their sixth studio album this Winter. Titled 'One Man Army', the predominantly analog-recorded offering was tracked between September and November of this year with award-winning producer Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene, Entwine etc.) at Astia-studio in Lappeenranta, Finland.
Elaborates Ensiferum bassist/vocalist Sami Hinkka of the sessions, "Recording process was long, hard, rewarding and full of incredible moments. Instruments were actually played and left as they were instead of creating tracks from hundreds of different takes, moving them to the grid and modifying things. Of course computers were used but overall we made everything as analog as possible. Listeners can experience a better sound and natural groove, something that we think most metal albums lack these days. Overall, the album sounds much more like a band playing live rather than "midi-metal"."
Commended by Outburn Magazine for songs that are consistently "epic scope" with a "reliance on catchy melodies," Ensiferum's 'One Man Army' serves as the follow-up to 2012's lauded 'Unsung Heroes' full-length and boasts the stunningly detailed, mythological cover craftings of renowned illustrator Gyula Havancsák (Annihilator, Týr, Elvenking, Stratovarius etc).
"On the new album, we took many things musically to the next level so we decided also to try something new graphics-wise," relays Hinkka. "Gyula Havancsák who did phenomenal job! For the first time it was really nice to be more involved with designing the cover and all details. Our humble gratitude to Gyula for all the patience and really amazing results. We couldn't be more satisfied!"
As a precursor to the release, today Ensiferum is pleased to unleash the fittingly-titled 'Warmetal' for public consumption. Composed by Demonos Sova of Finnish black metal unit, Barathrum, the track is currently available on the covermount CD of the current issue of Germany's "Legacy - The Voice From The Dark Side" and is streaming in all its battle-ready glory at http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum.
Ensiferum's One Man Army will be released via Metal Blade Records on February 24th, 2015. Further details, including track listing and additional teaser hymns to be unveiled in the coming weeks. In the meantime, 70,000 Tons of Metal voyagers will be able to catch Ensiferum live next month before they kick off a massive European trek, wielding their swords alongside Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum. See confirmed dates below.
Ensiferum live:
1/22-1/26/2015 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise - Miami, FL
2/27/2015 Pakkahuone – Tampere, FI
2/28/2015 Rytmikorjaamo – Seianajoki, FI
3/06/2015 Lutakko – Jyvaskyla, FI
3/07/2015 Nosturi – Helsinki, FI
w/ Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum:
3/11/2015 Zeche – Bochum, DE
3/12/2015 Rockfabrik – Ludwigsburg, DE
3/13/2015 Backstage – München, DE
3/14/2015 Masters of Rock Café – Zlin, CZ
3/15/2015 Club 202 – Budapest, HU
3/16/2015 Szene – Wien, AT
3/18/2015 Live Club – Milan, IT
3/19/2015 Les Docks – Lausanne, CH
3/20/2015 La Laiterie – Strasbourg, FR
3/21/2015 Z7 – Pratteln, CH
3/22/2015 Ninkasi Kao – Lyon, FR
3/23/2015 Le Bataclan – Paris, FR
3/24/2015 O2 Academy Islington- London, UK
3/25/2015 Patronaat – Haarlem, NL
3/26/2015 Hedon – Zwolle, NL
3/27/2015 Biebob – Vosselaar, BE
3/28/2015 Tivoli – Bremen, DE
3/29/2015 Grünspan – Hamburg, DE
3/30/2015 Vega – Copenhagen, DK
3/31/2015 Göta Källare – Stockholm, SE
4/01/2015 Sticky Fingers – Gothenburg, SE
4/02/2015 Inferno Metal Festival – Oslo, NO*
*without Insomnium/Omnium Gatherum
Other Ensiferum shows:
01/22-01/26/15 US - Miami - 70,000 Tons Of Metal
06/20/15 – 06/21/15 F Clisson – HELLFEST
07/30/15 - 01/08/15 DE – Wacken – WACKEN OPEN AIR
08/07/15 – 08/09/15 DE – Schlotheim – PARTYSAN OPEN AIR
08/07/15 – 08/09/15 UK – Walton On Trent – BLOODTOCK OPEN AIR
08/13/15 – 08/15/15 RO – Rasnov – ROCKSTADT EXTREME
13/08 -15/08/15 DE - Dinkelsbühl – SUMMER BREEZE FESTIVAL
http://www.facebook.com/Ensiferum
http://www.ensiferum.com
http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum
(source: Ensiferum)
(Older news about the topic:)
Ensiferum has completed work on their upcoming new album, 'One Man Army'. The band spent the last few weeks at Astia Studio in Lappeenranta in Finland with producer Anssi Kippo. The album is scheduled for release on February 24 in North America, and February 23/20 in UK/Europe. New music, art, track listing, and video clips from the studio will be online within the next few weeks. Next week, Ensiferum will be filming a brand new music video with Grupa #13 in Poland. Grupa #13 is the production house behind some of the most spectacular music videos in metal, including videos from Behemoth, Amon Amarth, and more.
Vocalist/guitarist Petri Lindroos comments, "We worked hard and long days one after another while Kippo kicked our asses to make us do the very best, and you can hear that in this album. It's a killer album with killer sound. I'm very proud to a part of this masterpiece!" Bassist Sami Hinkka adds: "Hi folks! We are extremely proud to announce that the album is 100% done! The recording session was incredible experience for us. We can't express our gratitude enough for Mr. Anssi Kippo, who never lost his nerves, was full of crazy ideas and worked like a madman for weeks! The shortest working day was 12 hours and the average was around 16 hours! After all "blood, sweat and tears" it feels great to tell you that the result for years of hard composing and weeks of intense recordings is without a doubt the best Ensiferum album song- and soundwise. Material is pretty diverse and each song tells a tale of it's own instead of being a crappy copy of previous song so no fillers included. Next week we go record the new music video, but that's another story... Stay tuned!"
Ensiferum will be on tour this autumn and already has shows and festival appearances confirmed for next year. The band plans to return to North America in May 2015.
(source: Ensiferum)