ENSIFERUM (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with ENSIFERUM?
We are pretty busy with upcoming European tour and of course the new album means a lots of promotion and interviews but this is what we love to do so we can’t complain.
– You have just released your latest album, «Unsung Heroes». How has its feedback been so far? And are you guys satisfied with the result obtained?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.Of course it’s impossible to please everyone and that’s not even our goal. We want to compose most of all to ourselves and keep our music as honest as possible. Unsung Heroes is the best album we have made so far and we are really pleased and proud of it.
– Getting a bit deeper into this new opus I would like you to start telling us how did you come up with its title and what’s the main inspiration behind it.
It’s always hard to find the title for an album but actually Unsung Heroes was one of the first ideas for the the title. We thought of few others also but Unsung Heroes just felt like right one and in the end it was an obvious choice. History and present time are full of unsung heroes and this album is our tribute to all of them.
– After giving «Unsung Heroes» some spins I could say it’s an album that enhances a lot more both your Metal side as well as your Folk side and all those epic orchestrations. Was this how you envisioned the album?
Yes, that’s how we wanted this album to be. We used a lots of time to arrangements and wanted to have more organic and raw sound for this album so we cut down lots of tracks compared to From Afar album and that’s why the album has more dynamics and every elment can be heard more clearly.
– I guess this could be changelling for your listeners. Do you think this is something positive? And has it also been a challenge for you to create it?
Unsung Heroes is definitely more challenging album than our preivious albums but on the other hand I’m sure that it will an album that people can return years later.
It was challenging album to compose and arrange but also we had loads of fun doing it and the whole process brought the band members closer to each other.
– I’ve mentioned the epic orchestrations, and if you don’t mind I would like you to elaborate a bit on how did you work on the arrangements.
We had ideas for each parts and told them to Mikko Mustonen who made the orchestrations (also for From Afar album) and he added some of his magic and we end up having incredible orcehstrations and choir arrangements. It’s a privelege to work with so professional gentleman.
– This being said, I think this new record is a big step forward for ENSIFERUM. Is this evolution something important for you both on a personal and musical level? As moreover this albums gives the impression you were sure about what direciton did you want to take and how to get there.
Evolution as a band, composers and as musicians is crushial for us. We want to challenge ourselves and try new things. There is absolutely no point to keep repeating yourself album after album. The next album will be again a step ahead. We already have few raw songs for it and it’s going to great to continue working with those.
– Proof of your Folk side and your big orchestrations is the lengthy «Passion, Proof, Power». How was like composing one of your most complete and dynamic tunes so far? Moreover if I’m not mistaken it features a huge variety of instruments.
PPP wasn’t ment to be such a monster, it just kept growing and growing when we worked it. It was fun song to compose and it’s really different song compared to «traditional long metal songs» with so many parts and changing atmospheres but every note is really thought through so it’s not just a song where we used all leftover riffs. It’s quite ambitious song and it’s also really challenging song for listeners.
– Seasoned Hiili Hiilesmaa took production duties at Petrax Studios, and I personally believe he got a really organic sound, even with a live feeling. Did you know how did you want the production to be like? And how was the production process like?
We knew exactly what kind of sound we want for this album and we had meetings with Hiili even before we started to record demos so he knew what we want and he was really in to our ideas so it was really easy to work with him. Plus he was there from pre production until mixing the album so he knew each note of the album and what instrument/element was ment to be the priority in each part/song.
– Once again, the artwork was crafted by Kristian Wåhlin. How did you work on it and what did you wanted to express with the art?
Working with Mr. Wåhlin is really easy. Like always we sent him some of our ideas and few months later he comes up with the most beautiful cover he has ever painted. The cover is full of details and metaphoras and it turned out to be even better than we hoped for.
– You have already done a video for «In my Sword I Trust» but, do you plan doing any other video off this CD?
Not at this point because we are really busy with upcoming tours.
– If I’m not wrong, the limited edition comes with a bonus track and a bonus DVD featuring GIPSY KINGS’ «Bamboleo». How did you com up with the idea of doing this very funny cover?
We have talked about making a cover of that song for years and finally we had enough crazy ideas to make it.
– All this about «Unsung Heroes» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Emotional, Epic, Challenging.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans? I see 2012 it’s gonna be a busy year as you have a tour starting out really soon which will also stop by in Spain, and even next year you will be playing again at the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise. What are your expectations for all this activity?
We are really looking forward to do a proper headlining tour with our own stage props and full lenght set. The future looks bright for Ensiferum, we plan to tour on every continent with Unsung Heroes and we also have few raw song for the next album so we will be busy. But this is what we love to do and we are really priveleged to be full time musicians, so huge thank you to our loyal fans around the world!
– That has been everything from my side, thank you once more for your time. If you want to add some final words; last lines are all yours.
Enjoy the new album and hope to see you all on tour! Folk on!
