Today, the death folk titans, Ensiferum, start their North American touring for the new album, One Man Army, which will be followed by a few dates over in Europe. Info, ticket links, and dates are further in!
Titled One Man Army, the primarily analog-recorded long player was tracked between September and November of 2014 with award-winning producer Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene, Entwine etc.) at Astia-Studios in Lappeenranta, Finland and boasts eleven heroic victory psalms.
“The composing process was slow as always,” elaborates Hinkka of the One Man Army birthing process. “We twist and turn every note, chord and part upside down so that we can be sure that the result is the best possible. We cut down the actual amount of tracks on the record and really arranged the instruments more wisely. The recording process was equally long and hard,” he continues, “but rewarding and full of incredible moments. Instruments were actually played and left as they were instead of creating tracks from hundreds of different takes, moving them to the grid and modifying things. Of course computers were used but overall we made everything as analog as possible. Listeners can experience a better sound and natural groove, something that we think most metal albums lack these days. Overall, the album sounds much more like a band playing live rather than ‘midi-metal.’ I think we’ve learned from previous sessions what we like,” he continues, “and on this album I think we finally reached the level songwriting and sound wise that we have been reaching for on our previous albums. We are extremely proud of each second of this album.”
Commended by Outburn Magazine for songs that are consistently “epic” in scope with a “reliance on catchy melodies,” ENSIFERUM‘s crushing One Man Army serves as the follow-up to 2012’s critically-lauded Unsung Heroes full-length and comes shrouded in the stunningly detailed, mythological cover craftings of renowned illustrator Gyula Havancsák (Annihilator, Tyr, Elvenking, Stratovarius etc).
“On the new album, we took many things musically to the next level so we decided also to try something new graphics-wise,” relays Hinkka. “Gyula Havancsák did a phenomenal job! For the first time it was really nice to be more involved with designing the cover and all details. Our humble gratitude to Gyula for all the patience and really amazing results. We couldn’t be more satisfied!”
As a precursor to the release, ENSIFERUM unleashed the special Suomi Warmetal EP for public consumption in December 2014. A four-track platter of bonus cover tunes featuring among them the band’s rendition of Barathrum’s “Warmetal“, initually unveiled as the covermount CD of issue #94 of Germany’s long-running Legacy Magazine. ENSIFERUM‘s One Man Army was released via Metal Blade Records worldwide on February 24th, 2015 with widespread touring to be announced throughout the months to follow.
ENSIFERUM will return to North America this Spring on a co-headlining tour with country-mates, Korpiklaani. Scheduled to commence on May 6th in Los Angeles, the band will level nearly two dozen cities with the trek coming to a close on May 29th in New York City. Additional support will be provided by Trollfest.
ENSIFERUM w/ Korpiklaani, Trollfest:
5/06/2015 House of Blues – Los Angeles, CA [tickets]
5/07/2015 Slim’s – San Francisco, CA [tickets]
5/08/2015 Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR [tickets[E1]]
5/09/2015 El Corazon – Seattle, WA [tickets]
5/10/2015 Rickshaw Theatre Vancouver, BC [tickets]
5/12/2015 Republik – Calgary, AB [tickets]
5/13/2015 Union Hall – Edmonton, AB [tickets]
5/15/2015 Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO [tickets]
5/16/2015 Bourbon Theater – Lincoln, NE [tickets]
5/17/2015 Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN [tickets]
5/18/2015 Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL [tickets]
5/19/2015 Agora Theater – Cleveland, OH [tickets]
5/20/2015 Opera House – Toronto, ON [tickets]
5/21/2015 Mavericks – Ottawa, ON [tickets]
5/22/2015 Club Soda – Montreal, QC [tickets]
5/23/2015 Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC [tickets]
5/24/2015 Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA [tickets]
5/26/2015 Mr. Small’s Theater – Pittsburgh, PA [tickets]
5/27/2015 Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore, MD [tickets]
5/28/2015 Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA [tickets]
5/29/2015 Irving Plaza – New York, NY [tickets]
2015 Summer Festivals:
8/13/2015 Rockstadt Extremefest – Rasnov, DE
6/19-21/2015 Hellfest – Clisson, FR
7/30-8/1/2015 Wacken Open Air – Wacken, DE
8/06-08/2015 Party San Open Air – Schlotheim, DE
8/08/2015 IntoThe Grave Festival – Leeuwarden, NL
8/09/2015 Bloodstock Open Air – Walton-On-Trent, GB
8/13-15/2015 Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbühl, DE
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www.ensiferum.com
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