“Winter Storm is the most serious Ensiferum album so far” – interview with Ensiferum

Finnish folk metal favorites Ensiferum released their brand new and long-awaited new record “Winter Storm” last friday. The record is the ninth full-length studio album by Ensiferum, and features Pekka Montin for the second time on keyboards. Ensiferum also released their own limited edition “Winter Storm” chili sauce, and they will embark on a tour this December.

Chaoszine had the change to sit down with singer Petri Lindroos and keyboardist Pekka Montin for a little chat regarding “Winter Storm”. You can read the interview below.

How was your summer?

Petri: Our summer was very okay. We were fairly busy during it. Well, not too busy, but I would say the summer was very nice for us. The weather was good, and we did not have too many thunderstorms fucking up any festival shows. So, all in all, fairly good.

Pekka: Yeah, pretty basic. Music, music, music.

How did the recording process of your new Winter Storm album go?

Petri: Fairly easily as well. We were prepared quite well for the recording. We had no bigger issues with the process as a whole. There have been so many studio sessions right now that it’s kind of hard to compare what went well and what didn’t. Because it’s so normal for us these days. But overall it was a success. We didn’t even go that badly over time. So, no extra days needed this time.

Pekka: Yeah, and Janne Joutsenniemi is a super good producer, so that always helps a lot.

How does the material of the new album sound like?

Petri: Metal [laughs].

Pekka: We’re… How do I describe it? I would say it’s pretty much the most serious Ensiferum album so far.

Petri: Yes, I can agree with that one. We’re back to a bit more longer songs with a lot more epicness in it, of course. Since Thalassic, we tried to cut off all the so-called unnecessary parts away, make the songs shorter and tighter. That one worked out really well, but now we’re back to the longer route.

What would you say was the most challenging part of recording the new album?

Petri: Everything. As always.

Pekka: To put it all together so that it works. We had some really long days.

How would you compare the new album to your previous work, Thalassic?

Petri: Well, like we just mentioned before, we’re back to the longer songs. I think this will take maybe just a little bit more for the fans to get into it, since longer songs have a lot more parts in them. But otherwise, I think it’s very recognizable as an Ensiferum album. When you hear it, you know what band it is.

Pekka: Yeah, and to me, well, Thalassic was my first Ensiferum album. Now when I think about it, it’s always like… Thalassic is more romantic in some kind of way. And Winter Storm is much colder, you know, much serious, much colder. Much more metal, I would say.

You got to tour a lot around the world since you released your previous album. How would you say the audience has received you outside of Finland?

Petri: Very well! We have done a couple of tours, played some festivals with that album, but so far we have only gotten away to Europe. Hopefully next year we can start going a little bit further away from the main European audiences and see what’s what then.

You also released your own beer and hot sauce recently. Is there another field you would like to conquer?

Petri: We have not thought about that one yet [laughs]. These ideas were always coming from outside of the band. Of course we are into doing all of these things, but since we got the word rum in Ensiferum, maybe a rum would be a cool idea.

Pekka: Yeah, and the beer tastes really, really good.

What would you say is the secret of Ensiferum’s long age as a band?

Petri: That’s a really, really good question.

Pekka: I would like to say that we have a really good leader, Markus. He’s a really good leader because he’s the founder of this band and the main composer. And because I’m still the new guy for like five years now, I would say that all the guys are really easy going, so it’s easy to work with everybody. I would say that’s pretty much the main thing.

Petri: Also, the music is like… It’s always very recognizable Ensiferum, but still we do our best every single time to evolve from album to another. So that we’re not just repeating the same formula of the songs and whatever. Like we have said on interviews before, only the sky is the limit, but we go over that too, every time.

What cant he fans expect from your upcoming huge tour?

Petri: Paganfest is returning after a so-called break of 10 years. And that’s gonna be a hell of a hassle, I would say. The Alestorm boys leading that one, you know, these guys are just nothing but fun to be around. Very much looking forward to it. Also getting back with Týr and the other bands that are on it. We’ve done tours with all of them, except for Alestorm, so this is our first time with them. But that’s gonna be a very cool tour. Very much looking forward to that one.

Pekka: Also lots of old songs as well as new songs.