| ~ Рецензии на Альбомы - Iron ~ |
«Железо»(«Iron») - альбом ставший вторым для героических-фолкофых металлёров из Финляндии. Для его записи группа летом 2003 года едет в Данию, в студию Sweet Silence. Владелец студии некто иной как, Флемминг Расмуссен – продюсер, который работал с Metallica при записи "Master of Puppets" и "Ride the Lightning", это и стало решающим фактором при выборе студии. В Ensiferum продолжается тасование состава. JariMaenpaa, участвуя в записи “Iron-a” имеет статус приглашённого (сессионного) вокалиста (плюс гитара), он целиком себя отдают сольному проекту Wintersunи паралельно участвует в группе ArthemesiA, а с «Меченосцами» - завязал. На место сессионного клавишника Trollhornа (Finntroll), приходит MeijuEnho, которая в последствии становится постоянным участником группы. Что дали клавиши ? – бесспорно атмосферность и эпичность, но в то же время альбом стал менее викинговым, чем дебютный.
А теперь перейдём собственно к творению горячих финских парней. Арт-уорк выполнен почтив в том же стиле, что и предыдущий. Всё тот же знакомый ранее рыцарь, со своим конём, стоящий у поля на котором сошлись два войска в смертельной схватке.
Начинаем слушать. Нас приветствует - Ferrum Aeternum , вступительная композиция, это инструментальная меланхолическо-фолковая мелодия, которая убаюкивает слушателя, в голове почему-то проносятся финские племена, разбившие лагерь в лесных зарослях. Второй трэк разрывая всё на своём пути, ураганным потоком летит с наших колонок, заставляю содрогнуться всё в округе – «Iron» - заглавная вещь. Далее мы слышим более Power-ную композиции в большей степени с чистым вокалом – «Sword Chant». Четвёртый трэк – «Mourning Heart (Interlude)» здесь нужен, что бы ловко перейти в пятый, тем самым создавая впечатление неразделимой композиции. Этой композицией стала «Сага мести» или «Tale of Revenge», которая начинается как баллада, плавно ускоряется и выходит на пик совсем в конце, как мне показалось припев на вечную тему – любофф. Под номером шесть красуется грустная и спокойная баллада – «Lost In Despair», наверно для отдыха перед грозой. Неимоверная по скорости и энергии седьмая композиция – «Slayer Of Light», немного примитивный, но довольно жёсткий проиграш в духе Power Heavy.Ну и как же без битвы, зачем все эти средневековые доспехи и оружие ? – а вот зачем – на восьмой композиции мы «вступаем в битву» - «Into Battle» и вновь в стельку пьяные викинги заводят свои хоралы. Девятый трэк - это сугубо финское творение, с текстами на национальном языке, и не только, с припевом понятным только викингам, побывавшим в битве и выжившем в ней, которые на пьяную голову выдают простые слова – «Lai Lai Hei !!!». Завершает релиз фолково-инструментальная композиция – «Tears», исполненная на синтезаторе и акустической гитаре с чуть слышными барабанами, которую спела чарующим голосом Meiju Enho. Но если у вас оригинальная версия, то вам прилагается бонус, кавэр на Metallic-у - “Battery” , представления, надеюсь, не требует.
Итак, слушать, слушать и ещё раз слушать, советую всем без исключения, а на сколько часто и насколько долго Фэрумы будут вас интересовать своим творчеством, каждый решит уже после первого прослушивания точка.
Written by: TheMasterOfTheDead in 02.06.2005
"Куй железо – пока горячо" – гласит народная мудрость. Но не прислушались к совету древних финские меченосцы, и выковали свое железо, такой блестящий кругляшёк (в смысле второй диск "Iron"), лишь спустя три года после выходя дебюта. К чему была такая задержка абсолютно не понятно. Ничего кардинально нового группа слушателю не предложила, словом неимоверно развилась в никуда. Как и предыдущее творение Ensiferum, сей опус можно смело именовать – Power Viking metal. Галлопирующие ударные, прифольклоренные мелодии, хор в стельку пьяных викингов и отчаянно гавкающий вокал вперемешку с паверно-спидоносными завываниями. Отчаянный микс из Финских Троллей и Детишек Бодуна. Кроме того, весьма радуют лирические проигрыши в виде акустической гитары и клавишных партий.
В целом не самый плохой альбом в рамках жанра, но вот если сравнивать с новыми звездами battle metal'a – Turisas, то Ensiferum определенно упустили пальму первенства. Материал "Iron" на первый взгляд очень хорош, но практически не отличается разнообразием и после нескольких прослушиваний окончательно приедается. Собственно этот факт очень заметен на концерте, когда группа один за другим выдает свои боевики и начинает казаться что играют ребята одну бесконечную песню. Барабанщик так вообще всю дорогу не слазит с одного ритма. Такая музыка определенно не предназначена для частого и вдумчивого прослушивания, хотя под настроение в особенности с пивом самое оно :)
Ну и чтобы жизнь нам медом не казалась музыканты завершили свой альбом слезливой балладой с очаровательным женским вокалом и великолепной мелодией – "Tears".
Резенция взята с : Metal Library
Written by: Ganconer in 09.04.2005
Ну что, камрады, этот год начался удачно в плане выпуска очень добротных и шедевральных работ от общеизвестных команд различных направлений... Исключением Ensiferum не стал, и это очень приятно.
Лично для меня Ensiferum стал внезапным приобретением и случайным открытием (т.е. наоборот). И только успев полюбить дебютный полноформатник группы, я узнал, что в ее составе засветился такой чел как Trollhorn, что в принципе вполне объяснимо – Финляндия страна маленькая, а группы в ней плодятся похлеще, чем вши или те же китайцы ;) Честно скажу – после выхода в этом году сингла "Tale Of Revenge", короткого (кроме титульного трека еще кавер Metallica "Battery"), но весьма бойкого и оптимистичного, стал копаться в сети в поисках второго релиза Ensiferum. К сожалению, пришлось дождаться официального выхода альбома в свет. Сложно сказать, можно было ли прыгнуть выше своей головы, или нет, но после такого мощного дебюта, на котором (я уверен) ребята выложились целиком и полностью, я не ожидал чего-то сверхъестественного. И не зря.
Альбом начинается с меланхолической фолковой мелодии, которая убаюкивает слушателя... но нас не проведешь, мы точно знаем, что это затишье перед бурей, и коварные планы горячих финских парней предугадываем на "ура". Начало второй композиции – и возгласы "я так и знал" сотрясают стены – мощнейший энергетический заряд в форме epic viking/folk вырывается из наушников. "Iron" прослушивается на одном дыхании, и без зазрения совести остается почивать в CD-changer'e еще некоторое время. С каждым разом вслушиваешься внимательнее, словно приобщаясь к игре "найдите 10 отличий" начинаешь сопоставлять два альбома. Не расписывая каждый альбом под хохлому, сразу подытожу. Итак...
Первое и самое главное – Ensiferum держит марку, оставляя за собой право на модификации изделия без извещения конечного пользователя :) Иными словами, если Вам по вкусу был одноименный дебют, смело берём руки в ноги и несемся за новеньким альбомом. Второе – что касается отличительных моментов. На "Iron" заметны тенденции к "атмосфериванию" и "обэпичиванию" ;) Т.е. благодаря отличной работе соло-гитариста и клавишника "Iron" выглядит более атмосферным и эпичным. Доля фолка также возросла. Но, как известно еще из школьного курса, есть законы сохранения, ибо если что-то где-то прибавилось, то что-то где-то должно и убавиться. Так и есть. Альбом выглядит менее "викинговым" чем предыдущий. Музыка Ensiferum местами дает очень серьезный крен в power (явный тому пример трек "Sword Chant"), что не может не внушать опасения. Если так пойдет и дальше, то на третьем альбоме мы будем иметь эпик павер с примесью викинг-металла... чур меня, чур :) Но не будем торопить события. На сегодняшний день мы имеем то, что имеем, а именно отлично сбалансированный и спродюсированный, эпический и атмосферный викинг металл с невнятной примесью павера. Отлично подходит для релаксационных и рекреационных целей. Также можно подавать к пиву. Йоооооооо!
Резенция взята с : Metal Library
Written by: Meandor in 09.04.2005
This is a great album. With that out of the way, I have to say it doesn't measure up to their self-titled. Why do I have to say this? Oden demands it. You see, our beloved Norse god had a huge role in their first record. He put the final touches on an outstandingly epic and emotional masterpiece.
During the production of Iron, however, Oden was chilling out on a beach in Bermuda.
1. Ferrum Aeternum - Not a bad intro at all. Just as good if not better than the intro to their s/t.
2. Iron - Hmm. It's cool. It's really cool. Bombastic thrashy high-energy guitar riffing. It's fast, melodic, catchy, and very viking. In fact, there's not much wrong with this song. Way to go, Ensiferum.
3. Sword Chant - Nice song that builds into another charismatic vikingthrashfest. The vocals are...different. You either love em or hate em is what I've experienced when asking people about this track.
4. Mourning Heart (interlude) - It's an interlude. Not much to say. It's kinda melancholy, a decent atmosphere-setter. That is, if you don't press the skip button.
5. Tale of Revenge - Happy. It's a happy bouncy song. The vocals are not. I myself am in love with Jari's vocal abilities. He's very coarse, but at the same time he never seems out of place with Ensiferum's melodic sound. His clean vocals are also godly. So, if you're a fan of Jari, this song rocks. As far as the instruments go...meh.
6. Lost In Despair - The beginning sounds vaguely familiar to the intro of their self-titled. Same... beeping noise. After 30 seconds it breaks into a standard slowed down balladish Ensiferum song. Slows down again, starts again. Repeat. The lyrics are awesome, the vocals kick arse. The rest of the song is good. Like I said in the topic, the guitars have a very power metal feel to them. Which, imo, does not belong on an Ensiferum cd.
7. Slayer of Light - Ah, the controversial "thrasher" of the album. It's simple, straightforward, and it's not a happy song. That automatically places it above Tale of Revenge on my scale. Vocals are much more "br00tal" on this track, which goes hand-in-hand with the thrash element. Overall, nothing innovative, nothing extraordinary, but a decent addition.
8. Into Battle - This is more like it. Gone are the power-inspired riffs. Into Battle reminds me of the last two tracks on their s/t: Battle Song and Goblins' Dance. It has that heavier touch. The vocals are amazing, as usual. Lyrics are also great.
"Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE'LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell! "
I think a metal fist is in order. m/
9. LAI LAI HEI - Longest song on the album. Slow at times, but I like it more than the first few tracks. It sounds more folky and epic, less power/thrash metal. Has some cool soloing at the end, and if you can honestly not sing along to the chorus then you have more self-control than I.
10. Tears - A ballad! With beautiful female vocals! This is a wonderful song. Tear-inspiring, to say the least. A fitting closer to the sophomore album of one of the most unique bands in this field of music.
Buy? Oh yes. Just don't expect your breath to be taken away. I seriously hope Jari leaving the band won't change their sound too much.
Written by: OrlanduMCI in 07.11.2005
Ensiferum released their second album 3 years after their debut. Luckily, the quality is still here. Their first album was really a bomb. It was nearly perfect. Well, Iron isn't as good, but it comes pretty fucking close. The cast is the same and so is the music. Well, there are maybe some more acoustic and not as much of the relentless riffage, but it's more or less like the self titled.
The vocals are even better here. The harsh ones are even more understandable (they still manage to stay brutal and interesting) and the clean ones have a better tone to them. Guitar work is good. As said, there are some more acoustics, which isn't a bad thing. Riffs are totally out there. There is some more double bass used on this, but it isn't overused, which is cool. Bass is audible, but it doesn't play an important role. There are also some keys on the album and they work fine.
As on the first album, the highlights are again the first songs. Ferrum Aeternum is great. Some nice galloping (no, it's not thrash :P) and a great atmosphere maker. It also works great as a live intro! (yeah, bite me, I've seen Ensiferum live ;)). Iron is a great song. The best on the album. It's the closest you get to the first album on this record. Fast as fuck, catchy and overall crazy. It also has great lyrics and it's a great headbanger. Sword Chant is just pure fun. A true epic with some ''happy'' melodies.
Other songs are also on the level of the album. Into Battle is furious, Lai Lai Hei succeeds to stay interesting for it's entire 7:17 and Slayer Of Light even has some thrash riffs in it.
Iron is a great album and it's definitely worth buying. It brings some fresh ideas and it's a great follower to Ensiferum.
Written by: KayTeeBee in 30.11.2004
I really liked the first Ensiferum album, with its great melodies, great vocals and lyrics, so I decided to pick this up. This one is a bit different compared to their other release, I mean more acoustic parts, and less electric guitar riffage. This doesn't mean it's not good, though.
The album's first song, "Ferrum Aeternum", is an acoustic song. No vocals, just melodies on top of a acoustic rhythm guitar. This track is good, but nothing impressive, it leaves me wanting some guitar riffs. Now the second song, "Iron", starts with an electric guitar riff, a great one. It sounds a bit too cliched, but it's ok. It reminded me of the last Ensiferum album. They should change things up a bit, since this is starting to sound "old". On the third song, "Sword Chant", things start getting more and more interesting. This song has a generic structure, everything sounds really simple and straightforward, but it's just good. Great heavy riff in the verse, great melody in the chorus, and very memorable(I'm still singing the chorus).
Right after that song we have "Mourning Heart", an interlude. Grr.. this wasn't the time for an interlude. It's the album's 4th track, and at this point all I wanted was electric guitar riffing, not some acoustic stuff. Sure, this is a great emotional track, but we just want some fucking metal right now. Ahh.. there we go, "Tale Of Revenge" is next. This song is a bit slower, but it's still very melodic. Nothing new at all once again, but it's good to see another song that more electric guitar oriented. The same applied to "Lost in Despair", another song that's on the slower side, however this one feels a bit more epic, and the vocals aren't screamed.
"Slayer Of Light", #7, is a song that sucks you right in. It's a fast and brutal song, with agressive vocals, and that's what exactly what I needed. Next up is "Into the Battle", my favourite song off this album. By far the most memorable song, with a mix of brutal verses and melodic chorus, and the riff at 0:54 is probably my favourite viking metal riff of all time. This song in particular raised the final rating of my review up 4 points. The part that stand out the most in this song (other than the riff i mentioned before), is the solo. Wow. Fast and melodic, just when we think this song can't get any better, we get an harmonic guitar that kicks in. Only this I didn't like was the fact that it was a bit too short. The two other songs on the album are nothing too impressive though. The same old melodies which start to get boring. However, in "Tears", a girl is singing, and it adds a lot of variety to the song.
Overall, this is a good album, with its ups and lows, and too many acoustic parts. However, I recommend this album to those who liked
their first album. Have fun and enjoy!
Written by: Cyclone in 03.10.2004
How an absurdly cool band like Ensiferum managed to slip under my radar for so long is just unfathomable. They play Viking metal with all the power and fury you could possibly imagine, and at times it’s almost as if the Norse Gods themselves lent a hand here and there to further push some of these tracks as far up on my quality scale as they could go. At least, as high as the damn thing will register, anyway. To further add to their “kvlt cred” these guys use some traditional Nordic instruments to push their music to the next level, beyond simple heavy metal, and into the realm of art. This is their second disc, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. This is a band that is both simultaneously ahead of and far behind their time, and hard as it is to believe, both are positive statements about the band’s talent and sound.
Ensiferum play a bombastic blend of Viking and symphonic metal, topped with mostly black metal shrieking of the mid/lower register variety. There are also some clean vocals, epic choirs, and of course, lots and lots of folk riffing and instrumentals. If you’ve heard the new Wuthering Heights disc you will have a good idea of what to expect in the folk influence department, as both bands use similar riff patterns to powerful effect.
The disc starts with a folk instrumental done mostly in kantele, the national instrument of Finland, and used a great deal on this record to push the folk influences to the forefront. I don’t normally like instrumentals or intros, but in this case I’ll make an exception, as this track sets the tone for what is to come brilliantly. Title track “Iron” charges forward immediately after, and I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard this track my jaw was on the floor and I was saying, “What, the fuck, is this, and how did I miss it for this long?!” The perfect blend of folk and heavy metal, this song has no equal as far as Viking metal goes; nothing else on this album or any other Viking metal album I’ve ever heard can touch this song. It is a three minute fifty-three second exercise in complete genre domination. The epic choirs, the fast and beautiful folk riffing, and most of all, the guitar solo around the 3-minute mark that just blows my mind every time I hear it: Such virtuosity, intensity, and power, I definitely see glimpses of Albert Maroto! (ex-Dark Moor shredmaster) After this “Sword Chant” follows things up nicely with another blast of power and charisma, and while not quite as good as the title track, it is one hell of a great song. We get another instrumental interlude after this, then another epic track that reminds me a little bit of something off Tyr’s latest masterpiece, Eric the Red. “Tale of Revenge” is a fantastic song, not quite as fast and bombastic as the title cut, but outstanding just the same. “Lost in Despair” follows that out with yet another helping of stunning power, this time in the form of a clean vocal verse/chorus buildup, this time almost spot on for a Tyr soundalike track. It is a fantastic song, and probably the second or third best one on the disc behind the title track and maybe “Sword Chant”. 3 out of the final 4 tracks are great like the first 6, and since there is only one really poor song on the entire album (I’ll get to it in a minute) I can’t but help give this disc a perfect score. Originality, power, and most of all, simply killer songwriting that transcends simple genre categorization, indeed Iron has it all.
Unfortunately, there is one slight but noticeable downside to the album: The track “Slayer of Light”, which is my only real complaint about the album as a whole, as it is a weak and boring track that doesn’t represent the band’s vision and power at all. It’s not enough to drag the disc down by any means, but it is a very slight disappointment as I was hoping to not find any weak tracks on such a stellar disc. Ah well, it is a minor complaint.
Iron is the first album I’ve ever heard where growl vocals do not detract one iota from the music. In fact, with the way they are done on this disc, they are a huge positive, and I can’t imagine them done any other way. This is one killer of a release from a band I’d never heard of before and it doesn’t matter if you are a fan of Viking metal or not: If you like epic or folk metal or just want something different and powerful, you must get Iron at any cost. Absolutely brilliant!
Written by: Requiem99 in 26.08.2004
Let's start off with a fact: Ensiferum is really a unique band and I haven't heard of anything similar. The self-titled debut was in many places praised highly and for me it's probably one of the Top 20 metal records ever. Three years have now passed since the release of the debut and I must say that the wait has been worth it.
Iron starts with a nice folky and very Finnish intro, which gets a nice cowboy-feeling in the end though. Off to the title song, which is by the way in my opinion maybe the best song on the record. The verse goes on with a cool galloping drum rhythm and overally the song sounds a lot like the first Ensiferum-record but you can hear the development amongst the band. Iron has also a nice interlude before the solo and the final chorus.
Next up is maybe the weakest song of them all, Sword Chant. Not to say that it would be anyway bad though, but I just don't fancy the power metal influences that dominate parts of the song. A well-constructed song, but as I said, not exactly to my taste. The acoustic interlude in very cool though.
After Sword Chant the album slows down for a minute, as Mourning Heart is heard. A very nice and melancholic interlude, which kicks off to the single-track, Tale of Revenge. Tale of Revenge has all the elements of Ensiferum nicely combined into one song. What can I say, a very good track, just a little bit too much repetitive. Tale of Revenge also has a nice interlude, this time played with kantele.
After Tale of Revenge we get a really melancholic song, Lost in Despair, which is, as far as I know, the oldest song on the album. You can really hear that the song has matured for some years and it is really well polished with great vocal performance by Jari Maenpaa. Then comes Slayer of Light, which in contrary to Lost in Despair, was only done a few weeks before the band entered the studio. A raw and a tad thrashish song with a great guitar melody heard throughout the song. A good song but unfortunately it just lacks a little something.
Next up we get two very good songs, first Into Battle, which is a typical Ensiferum-song in a good sense. The song has many great and different parts and also a very nice guitar solo. Then starts LAI LAI HEI with an acoustic melody which goes off to the same parts played with distorted guitars and then again the same acoustic parts. BUT, then we get something really nice, the first ever Finnish lines by Ensiferum. It really warms my heart as I'm a Finn myself. The song then actually starts again with a totally different part, but in the end we get to hear the same part one last time. The album ends with a ballad, Tears, which has guest female vocals sung by Kaisa Saari. Truly a worthy ending for the album with really emotional singing.
Overall, the album is really good and so far one of the best albums of 2004. Still, the album lacks just some magic which made the self-titled debut so excellent. I can't say what it is though. The album also lacks clear "hit-tracks", but I don't see that as a problem, but more as a strength as the songs are really equal in quality and you just don't have a few good songs and the rest would be fillers.
Written by: Aelor in 01.06.2004
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