Rebel Extravaganza

Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

Ensiferum

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ensiferum – Winter Storm

That ENSIFERUM was on a downward slide between 2009 classic From Afar and ‘20s Thalassic still kind of hurts, given how reliable the band was for its first four albums. I’ve kept up peripherally with them since, always at least given each new release a spin, but have come away feeling disappointed, and never went back to see if there was anything I might’ve missed, because there was so much more to hear and give time to, even within the folk metal sub-subgenre. Intro ‘Aurora’ sounds like the loading screen for the flash game Crush The Castle, and ‘Winter Storm […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ensiferum – Thalassic

It’s been a while since I shipped out with ENSIFERUM, the Euro folk metal veterans. A lot has changed in that time. Folk metal has gone from a relative novelty to a well-worn genre with hordes of bands jostling each other for attention. I remembered the band being more “warrior-like” and stern than the fun and happy melodies that pop up on Thalassic – too happy and fun for this grumpy Cornish Viking to digest. I like my folk metal with a bit more grit than this. Everything on Thalassic has been polished to a blinding sheen and many of […]