The lyrics of ‘Winter Storm’ are part of an unpublished fantasy book written by bass player Sami Hinkka. We can even share some lines from the story, but that’s for later. We begin this epic story with intro ‘Aurora’ which – as I stated before – is an epic beauty. Then we dive into the story with ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ which has all the ingredients of an Ensiferum song. With Markus screaming the song together but also Pekka Montin is back, and he found his place within this epic journey and of course within Ensiferum itself. ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ is one part of the story. Sami stated: ‘There was already magic in this world. But the Vigilants have gained knowledge to utilize certain rare elements which reached an completely new level. 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 their hunger to more power made them ruthless and greedy.’ The tale of the ‘Winter Storm Vigilantes’ explained by Sami.

 But the story continues with ‘Long Cold Winter Of Sorrow And Strife.’ Using some epic classical parts together with an epic riff is the beginning of this journey. Within this anthem, you will see yourself wandering into a blizzard winter storm. Markus said this album would be more epic, and he was right. We are continuing this story with ‘Fatherland’ that tells the tale of another faction that fights against the vigilantes. Which you hear in this song that they will fight to the last man to fight for their fatherland. Ending this song with a beautiful piece of orchestration and of course a battle yell.

The beautiful song ‘Scars In My Heart’ has been sung by Madeleine Liljestam from the band Eleine. It’s a song about someone who goes out to fight and all that is left are memories. Madeleine does a great job by playing the grieving wife.

After the beautiful grieving part we get an interlude called ‘Resistentia’ with the tunes that introduce ‘The Howl’ a big contribution of the clean singing voice of Pekka Montin which always moves a song to another higher level. Then it’s time for my personal favorite and longest song of this album. With a length of almost 9 minutes, this is an epic masterpiece. ‘From Order To Choas’ doesn’t bore for a second. With in the background a violin playing by Lassi Logrén. And yes also Pekka plays a part in this epic song. Then we have another short interlude called ‘Leniret Coram Tempestate’ which means silence before the storm to burst out into the last song of this journey called ‘Victorious.’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. Remember the ultimate sing along of the ‘Thalassic’ album called ‘Rum Women Victory?’ This has that same vibe.

Ensiferum is a big name in the metal community and with this album they just will grow bigger. I gave their previous album ‘Thalassic’ the highest score possible and I want to give them a higher score for this magical epic journey called ‘Winter Storm.’ In January they play live in Belgium and I will be there. Cheers.

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