Victory Songs ( Rus. Victory Songs ) is the third studio album of the Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum , released on April 20, 2007 by Spinefarm Records in Finland. He became the band’s first album to be released in the United States, as well as the first album in which Petri Lindroos took part. [1] After the release of the album, keyboardist Mayu Enkho announced her resignation from the group.
| Victory songs | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Studio album Ensiferum | |||||||
| Date of issue |  April 20, 2007 | ||||||
| Recorded by | November-December 2006 | ||||||
| Genres | Folk metal Viking metal | ||||||
| Duration | 49:56 (main edition) | ||||||
| Producer | Janne joutsenniemi | ||||||
| Language of songs | English | ||||||
| Labels | Spinefarm records | ||||||
| Timeline Ensiferum | |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
The single “One More Magic Potion” from the album took the first line of the Finnish charts. [2]
Content
- 1 Record
- 2 Musical characteristic
- 3 Subject of songs
- 4 Cover and album title
- 5 Reviews and Criticism
- 6 Edition History
- 7 Clips
- 8 List of Songs
- 9 Worked on the album
- 9.1 Group members
- 9.2 Guest musicians
- 9.3 Production
- 10 Chart Positions and Certifications
- 10.1 Album Singles
- 11 Notes
Record
The album was recorded between November and December 2006 at Sonic Pump Studios. Keyboards were recorded at Beat Domination Studios. Additional vocals were recorded at Crazy Crane Studios. Mastering was traditionally performed by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios. [3]
Musical characteristic
According to About.com , the album is a combination of Viking and folk metal with a touch of black , thrash , and even power components. [1] However, Allmusic believes that Victory Songs is a mixture of death metal and folk metal, with many other influences: from power metal, thrash metal, punk and progressive rock , to European folk . [four]
Theme of songs
The song "Blood is the Price of Glory" expresses respect for all warriors and an aversion to deserters. "Deathbringer from the Sky" tells of the flight of a fire-breathing monster (presumably a dragon ), seeking to destroy people. "Ahti" - a song about the veneration of the God of the sea by the northerners. “One More Magic Potion” is the story of how lost warriors after a fight find shelter in a wooden house in the forest, but the witch living there poisons them with a hallucinogenic potion. "Wanderer" is a story about a lone wanderer (presumably about Odin ). Raised by the Sword is another ode to warriors. “The New Dawn” is a call to battle. “Victory Song” is a song about an attempt to invade the invaders, plunder and convert to new faith, but the defenders win the victory.
Cover and album title
The cover was again written by Kristian Wåhlin. This time, the sword-bearing warrior is depicted riding a horse.
Reviews and criticism
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Russian-language editions | |
| Fantasy world | 7/10 [5] |
| Foreign language editions | |
| About.com | [one] |
| Allmusic | [four] |
| Chronicles of chaos | 6/10 [6] |
| Metal hammer | 5/7 [7] |
| Metal storm | 9.5 / 10 [8] |
| Metal.de | 9/10 [9] |
| Metal1.info | 9.5 / 10 [10] |
| Rockhard | 8/10 [11] |
| Soundi | [12] |
| Sputnikmusic | 4/5 [13] |
| U-zine | 6.5 / 10 [14] |
The album received many reviews from various sources, including Maelstrom , [15] Metalnews , [16] Metal Ship , [17] The-pit.de , [18] ZwareMetalen.com , [19] Live Metal , [20] My Revelations , [21] Metallized , [22] El Portal del METAL , [23] TrueMetal.it , [24] Eklektik , [25] Metal-Temple , [26] Vampster , [27] The Metal Crypt , [28] Metal Review , [29] Lastrites , [30] The Metal Observer , [31] [32] [33] Metal Forge , [34] Musikreviews.de , [35] Sea of Tranquility , [36] Metalfan.nl , [37] Stormbringer .at , [38] Deadtide.com , [39] HeavyMusic.ru . [40] The source Metal Storm assigned the album 9.5 points out of 10 (the songs “Ahti”, “One More Magic Potion”, “Wanderer” and “Victory Song” are especially noted). [8] Sputnikmusic claims that Victory Songs is one of the best metal albums of 2007 (Wanderer and Victory Song are especially noted). [13]
The opposite view has Chronicles of Chaos , who claims that the album is too grandiose, and his songs are long and beautiful in themselves, very similar to each other. A positive point, according to Webzine, is the use of traditional tools, which adds a little variety. [6] The world of science fiction criticizes the album for failing to offer anything new compared to previous releases. [5] The album is also criticized for the insufficiently interesting themes of the songs. [10] Chronicles of Chaos writes that you need to have a certain tolerance for such commonly used words as “sword”, “war” and “blood”. [6]
Edition History
In 2007, the main version of the album was released on the labels Spinefarm Records (Finland), Candlelight Records (USA), Drakkar Records (Germany), Fono (Russia). In addition, in Japan (Spinefarm Records) the album was released with the bonus track “Lady In Black”, and in Finland (Spinefarm Records) and Germany (Drakkar Records) it was available in DualDisc format (a double-sided disc on one side of which a CD, to another DVD). The album was also released on two records in the UK ( Back On Black ).
In 2008, a variant of the album with a bonus disc containing tracks from the Dragonheads mini-album was distributed in Germany (Drakkar Records) and Great Britain (Spinefarm Records). The album was also reprinted in the USA (2009) and Argentina (2012).
Clips
| External video files | |
|---|---|
| Video clips | |
| Ahti (2007) | |
| One More Magic Potion (2010) | |
A clip was released for the song “Ahti” from the album through a page on MySpace . The concept of the video was proposed by the director. Returning home, the protagonist discovers him devastated, people dead, and his wife raped. He rushes in pursuit of the robbers. And a little boy wanders through the forest - it must be the son of a hero who escaped from the robbers. At the end, the hero overtakes them, enters into battle with them, however, good does not triumph. The hero dies. Musicians (Marcus, Jonne and Sami) are involved in the video as corpses lying on the ground. [41]
There is also an animation for "One More Magic Potion", corresponding to the plot of the song.
List of Songs
| Main edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | The words | Music | Duration | |||||
| one. | Ad Victoriam | Toivonen, Hinkka, Enkho | 3:10 | ||||||
| 2. | "Blood is the Price of Glory" | Hinkka | Toivonen, Jukka-Pekka Miettinen | 5:17 | |||||
| 3. | " Deathbringer from the Sky " | Hinkka | Toivonen, Hinkka | 5:10 | |||||
| four. | "Ahti" | Hinkka | Toivonen | 3:55 | |||||
| 5. | "One More Magic Potion" | Hinkka | Toivonen | 5:22 | |||||
| 6. | "Wanderer" | Hinkka | Toivonen | 6:32 a.m. | |||||
| 7. | "Raised by the Sword" | Enkho | Toivonen, Enkho | 6:10 a.m. | |||||
| 8. | "The New Dawn" | Lindroos | Toivonen, Lindroos | 3:42 | |||||
| 9. | Victory Song | Hinkka | Toivonen, Hinkka, Miettinen | 10:38 | |||||
| Japanese Edition (2007) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Duration | |||||||
| 10. | “Lady in Black” - cover for a song by Uriah Heep | 9:59 a.m. | |||||||
| Publications in Finland and Germany (2007, DualDisc) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Duration | |||||||
| 10. | “Lady in Black” - cover for a song by Uriah Heep (bonus track on the first side) | ||||||||
| eleven. | “Ensiferum Photoshoot Featurette” - video on the second side of the disc | ||||||||
| 12. | "The" Iron "Tour Featurette" - video on the second side of the disc | ||||||||
| Publications in Germany and the UK (2008, 2xCD) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Duration | |||||||
| 10. | Dragonheads - track with Dragonheads | 5:22 | |||||||
| eleven. | "Warrior's Quest" - track with Dragonheads | 4:53 | |||||||
| 12. | "White Storm" - track with Dragonheads | 4:55 | |||||||
| 13. | "Into Hiding" - cover for a song by Amorphis | 3:51 | |||||||
| fourteen. | “Lady in Black” - cover for a song by Uriah Heep | 4:34 | |||||||
| fifteen. | “Battery” - a cover of a song by Metallica | 5:15 | |||||||
Worked on the album.
Group members
- Petri Lindroos - guitar, extreme vocals, banjo
- Marcus Toivonen - guitar, clean and backing vocals, acoustic and 12-string guitars, banjo, tungur , choir
- Mayu Enkho - keyboards
- Sami Hinkka - bass, clean and backing vocals, choir
- Janne Parviainen - drums, boyran
Guest Musicians
- Aleksi "Man o'war" Parviainen - backing vocals and additional lead vocals
- Euge Valovirta - acoustic guitar
- Timo Väänänen - Kantele
- Lassi Logrén - Nickelharp
- Kaisa Saari - Tin Whistle & Recorder
- Vesa Vigman - mandolin , bouzouki , saz
- Petri Prauda - Bagpipes
- Johanna Vakkuri - flute
- DP - growling
- Markus Österlund - choir
- Mikko Salovaara - choir
Production
- Babalon Graphics, Helgorth - booklet
- Kristian Wählin - cover
- Ritual - group logo
- Jere Hietala - Photos
- Mika Jussila - mastering
- Nino Laurenne - Sound Engineer
- Janne Joutsenniemi - producer
Chart Positions and Certifications
| Chart (2007) | Higher position |
|---|---|
| Finland Albums Chart ( ÄKT / IFPI Finland ) [42] | 6 |
| Germany [43] | 37 |
Singles from the album
| Single | Chart (2007) | Higher position |
|---|---|---|
| One More Magic Potion | Finland Albums Chart ( ÄKT / IFPI Finland ) [2] | one |
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Chad Bowar. Review about.com. Date of treatment June 20, 2010. Archived February 3, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 finnishcharts.com - Ensiferum - One More Magic Potion
- ↑ [http://web.archive.org/web/20140812203516/http://omdb.info/version/6389/ensiferum/victory-songs/limited-edition/cd-dvd/2007 Archived August 12, 2014 at Wayback Machine Musikdatenbank - Ensiferum - Victory Songs | Spinefarm Records / Drakkar Entertainment: CD + DVD (2007) [Limited Edition]]
- ↑ 1 2 Alex Henderson. Review allmusic.com. Date of treatment June 20, 2010. Archived March 30, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Dmitry Zlotnitsky. Review . mirf.ru (11/19/07). Date of treatment August 11, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Nikola Shahpazov. Review chroniclesofchaos.com (05/25/2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Gunnar Sauermann. Review (German) . metal-hammer.de (01. Mai 2007). Date of treatment August 10, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 Baz Anderson. Review metalstorm.net (04/23/2007). Date of treatment June 20, 2010. Archived March 30, 2012.
- ↑ Stendahl. Review (German) . metal.de (04/12/2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 Stefan Popp. Review (German) . metal1.info (6. April 2013). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Bruder Cle. Review (German) . rockhard.de. Date of treatment October 17, 2015.
- ↑ ANTTI MATTILA. Review (fin.) . soundi.fi (02/2007). Date of treatment February 22, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Mike Stagno. Review sputnikmusic.com (April 20, 2007). Date of treatment June 20, 2010. Archived March 30, 2012.
- ↑ Gothenburg. Review (Fr.) . hornsup.fr. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Jeremy Beals. Review maelstromzine.com. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Nicolas Freund. Review (German) . metalnews.de (04/19/2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Le Traître. Review (Fr.) . metalship.org (13 août 2009). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Danny Hoff. Review (German) . the-pit.de (04/27/2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Justin Erkens. Review (nid.) . zwaremetalen.com. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Ryan Mavity. Review live-metal.net. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Thorsten Dietrich. Review (German) . myrevelations.de. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Review (Italian) . metallized.it. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Leather Rebel. Review (Spanish) . elportaldelmetal.com (11/11/2009). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Federico Vicari. Review (ital.) . truemetal.it (3 Ottobre 2008). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ dah-neir. Review (Fr.) . eklektik-rock.com. Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Yiannis Dafopoulos. Review metal-temple.com (03 March 2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Philipp Rauf. Review (German) . vampster.com (04/23/2007). Date of treatment August 10, 2014.
- ↑ Sargon the Terrible. Review metalcrypt.com (April 8, 2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Thomas, Erik Review . metalreview.com (4/16/2007). Date of treatment August 10, 2014. Archived July 27, 2012.
- ↑ Erik Thomas. Review yourlastrites.com (4/2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014.
- ↑ Alexander Melzer. Review metal-observer.com (March 24, 2007). Date of treatment June 30, 2014. Archived March 28, 2014.
- ↑ Jonathan Smith. Review metal-observer.com (December 8, 2008). Date of treatment June 30, 2014. Archived March 28, 2014.
- ↑ Ralf Henn. Review metal-observer.com (January 20, 2008). Date of treatment June 30, 2014. Archived March 28, 2014.
- ↑ Michael O'Brien. Review themetalforge.com (05/15/2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ Andreas Schiffmann. Review (German) . musikreviews.de (02/01/2008). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ Pete Pardo. Review seaoftranquility.org (December 4th 2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ Rik. Review (nid.) . metalfan.nl (3 mei 2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ deimon. Review (German) . stormbringer.at (04/20/2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ ADAM.L. Review ( inaccessible link) . deadtide.com. Date of treatment February 15, 2017. Archived February 16, 2017.
- ↑ Demether. Review . heavymusic.ru (07.24.2007). Date of appeal February 15, 2017.
- ↑ HeadBanger.ru - Interviews - Ensiferum - Price of Glory
- ↑ finnishcharts.com - Ensiferum - Victory Songs
- ↑ Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de unopened (link not available) . Date of treatment August 10, 2014. Archived on August 12, 2014.