Album: Victory Songs
Artist: Ensiferum
Year: 2007
Score: 94/100
“Another Great
Release from Ensiferum”
Ensiferum have always been my favorite folk metal band, ever
since hearing their debut (which was my first full folk metal album and one of
my favorite metal albums in general).
They have never released a bad album and are one of the most consistent
modern metal acts. “Victory Songs” is certainly not an exception to their trend
of greatness. It’s furious and
everything an Ensiferum fan should want.
The album is a huge improvement over the EP (“Dragonheads”) that came
before it, and that wasn’t a bad release in any sense of the word. I’m not sure that I enjoy it as much as their
other full lengths, but “Victory Songs” doesn’t disappoint in any way. It’s essential for an Ensiferum fan.
The instruments are more reminiscent of straightforward
melodic death metal on “Victory Songs” than they are on the debut or on “Iron”. This is not a bad thing by any means, but
they’ve lost a little bit of their uniqueness.
Something that has improved, however, is the acoustic/folk guitar
work. On earlier releases, their clean
guitars weren’t very memorable. This is
vastly improved on “Victory Songs”.
Maybe it’s because they incorporate it a lot more here, or maybe they’ve
just gotten better with age. Either way
it’s a noticeable improvement. The
guitar riffs are a lot better than on “Dragonheads”; they are much more
memorable and better written. There are
also tons of great guitar solos to be found on the release, some of the best
they’ve done. Overall, I’m very
impressed with the guitars on this album.
Petri’s vocals sound great, as well. He is an absolute beast on this album, a huge
improvement from the EP which was his first release with the band. The dual harsh vocals on “Ahti” really stand
out, as the bassist is a good harsh vocalist himself. He and Petri mix very well together, I’m glad
that they made a song like this. The
clean vocals are definitely better than on “Dragonheads”, perhaps because
they’re used more sparingly here.
They’re still not at the level of Jari’s vocals, but I enjoy them a lot
more than on “Dragonheads”. These clean
vocalizations sound very good mixed in with the harsh vocals.
The bass work is really good, too. I love the little bass/guitar bit during
“Deathbringer from the Sky”. It’s
audible enough, but not super loud in every song. Since this is a folk metal album, I’m
especially glad that the bass pokes its head out from time to time… so many
folk metal band forget the bass in favor of keyboards or traditional
instruments. The drums are respectable,
but don’t exactly stand out to me in particular. They’re moderately technical, and I recall a
few interesting parts on the album. The keyboards
provide the melodies and backdrops needed, but they aren’t too flashy. I’m not always one for super prominent keys,
so this is a good thing. Overall, the
instrumental work is great though not as technical as on their previous
full-lengths. Also notable is the great
production. It’s not too polished
sounding, which is great (especially for a modern album). The instrumentation is very audible. The vocals and guitars, in particular, sound
very good.
The songs are also generally much faster than what was shown
on the EP, though some of them keep the relaxed vibe showcased there. This is something that I really respect about
“Victory Songs”; none of the songs sound the same. They are linked together by that folk metal
catchiness that Ensiferum have always been good at. There’s also no messing around on this album
(which I love, of course). The songs
race out of the starting gates, and know just what they’re doing. They aren’t muddled in boring riffs or generic
intros. It’s a very well written album.
Now we should definitely talk about the individual songs
themselves. The intro, “Ad Victoriam”,
works really well with the true opener “Blood is the Price of Glory”. It is an excellent song, and one of the most
furious on the release. “Deathbringer from
the Sky” is one of the more popular songs, and for good reason. I’ve already mentioned the cool part with the
bass guitar, but that’s the best part of the whole song. The chorus is really good, with a combination
of clean and harsh vocalizations. “Ahti”
features a harsh vocal duet. I like it a
lot, and it stands as one of the most unique tracks on the album. “Wanderer” is another unique song. Most of the singing is clean, and there is a
lot of acoustic/clean guitar work. “One
More Magic Potion” is another great one; the lyrics are absolutely
ridiculous. Nevertheless, it’s a great
song. I love the folky intro. “Victory Song” is the grand epic of the
release, and it’s a good one for sure.
The two songs I didn’t mention, “Raised by the Sword” and “The New
Dawn”, are both excellent as well. None
of the songs are even close to being bad.
Overall, “Victory Songs” is an excellent release in the folk
metal genre. For a newcomer to
Ensiferum, I would recommend their debut or “Iron” over this one. They’re both better releases to me, but I’ve
seen several people who prefer this album.
Therefore, it’s not really a bad place to start. Instrumentally, it’s more of a traditional
melodic death metal album than their earlier work (excluding the EP). The clean
guitar work is absolutely incredible, much better than on any of their older
albums. Folk metal fans will probably
really enjoy this one. It’s a great
album, and one of the best in the genre.
I’ve given it a great score of 94/100.
It’s not really as good as the full-lengths that came before, but it’s
still great. I’d probably rank “Victory
Songs” about equally to “From Afar” (the album that came afterwards). I hope they continue their trend of
greatness, and I’m anticipating their next album (crossing my fingers that it
comes out this year!).
Best songs: “Blood is
the Price of Glory”, “Deathbringer from the Sky”, “Ahti”, “One More Magic
Potion”, and “Victory Song”. The others
are good, too.
There aren’t any real negatives.
Thanks for reading, don’t forget to comment!
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