Ensiferum announce new album ‘Winter Storm’
ENSIFERUM have announced a new album!
Titled Winter Storm, the upcoming album from the Finnish folk metal band is the follow-up to 2020’s Thalassic, and is scheduled to be released in October this year, via Metal Blade Records.
The upcoming album was produced by Janne Joutsenniemi, mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren, and includes guest appearances by Lassi Logrén on nyckelharpa and violin and Mikko Mustonen on orchestration as well as ELEINE’s Madeleine Liljestam who provides all vocals on Scars In My Heart.
“The way I see it, this album is more like a ‘musical’ than a traditional album,” says bassist Sami Hinkka. “The lyrics of Winter Storm are based on part of my unpublished fantasy book. One day it will be out… I don’t want to reveal the plot or details too much but Winter Storm Vigilantes and Fatherland tell of two factions in this long tale. The Vigilantes have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements, and even though there was already magic in this world, with this new epiphany they have reached a completely new level. This element seems to interact with living things in a way that even the wisest men don’t completely understand. And through generations of trial and error, they have refined a skill to expose their horses to the element and managed to break the law of gravity, making their steeds fly. But they became ruthless and greedy on their quest to gain more of this element. A small tribe in the north keep on fighting for their land, which the Vigilantes plan to take over. These North Folks will literally fight until the last man…
Other characters include a Vigilante castaway, the last shaman of the North Folk, and a mysterious widow. The album ends with a great battle against the Vigilantes and the unholy alliance of the castaway and the North Folk shaman, who has transcended into a spirit wolf. Who will prevail? Will this be the final battle of the book? Time will tell… I understand that all this sounds very far out – well, it is a fantasy book – but believe me, it will be truly an epic story!”
Alongside the announcement of the new album, ENSIFERUM have released a new music video for a new song lifted from the upcoming album; Winter Storm Vigilantes.
Speaking about the new song, Hinkka says, “Markus [Toivonen, guitars] had quite grandeur visions of the song and it turned out to be even more heroic than we expected. It was an obvious choice to open the new album. This epic song serves as one faction of the big story. The song pushes forward with the might of a thousand horses and will surely be a great song in the future setlist.”
Watch the official music video for Winter Storm Vigilantes here:
Also, you can view both the track list and artwork for the upcoming new album below:
Track List:
1. Aurora
2. Winter Storm Vigilantes
3. Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife
4. Fatherland
5. Scars In My Heart (Feat. Madeleine Liljestam)
6. Resistentia
7. The Howl
8. From Order To Chaos
9. Leniret Coram Tempestate
10. Victorious
11. Six Ribbons (JON ENGLISH cover) *
12. Lambada (KAOMA cover) *
* Special Edition Bonus Track
Winter Storm is set for release on October 18th via Metal Blade Records. Pre-orders are available now and can be purchased here.
For more information on ENSIFERUM like their official page on Facebook.
