From Afar
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From Afar is the fourth studio album by the Finnish folk / Viking metal band Ensiferum . It was released on September 16, 2009 by Spinefarm Records in Finland and on September 11, 2009 by Drakkar Entertainment in Germany. The special edition of the album contains the bonus track Vandraren , which is a cover version of the Swedish folk-rock band Nordman . Two singles were released for the album, From Afar together with Into Hiding on August 24, 2009 and Stone Cold Metal on August 9, 2010.
Emergence
The work on From Afar began during the songwriting to Victory Songs . "When we recorded VICTORY SONGS, there were still some melodies and riffs left that we weren't satisfied with at the time," said bassist Sami Hinkka, explaining this fact. “[We] put them aside for now and decided to continue working on them at a later point in time.” The fragmentary songs were then published in the summer of 2008 and in the fall, during the joint tour with Amon Amarth in the USA and Canada completed. In addition, Hinkka and Toivonen withdrew to the Nightliner on numerous tour evenings to compose in peace. The decision to cover the song Vandraren by the Swedish band Nordman was made by Hinkka and Toivonen on this tour. One evening they were sitting together in the back lounge of the Nightliner and the song came onto Toivonen's iPod by chance, whereupon the two musicians enthusiastically decided to cover the song for From Afar.
Before the actual recordings, which took place from May to April 2009 in the Petrax and E-Major studios in Finland, the band already recorded a few demo versions of the songs in February. The final recordings were produced by Nightwish producer Tero Kinnunen and Janne Joutsenniemi . Since the band was very satisfied with Joutsenniemi's production of Victory songs , he was originally supposed to produce From Afar on his own again. Since he was very busy in the desired period, he could not accept the band without reservation, so that the band had to look for other producers and Tero Kinnunen from the E-Major studios was chosen. In the end, Joutsenniemi found time to work on the album, so that the guitar tracks were recorded with him and drums, bass, keyboard and part of the vocals with Kinnunen in the E major studios. Working with two producers turned out to be very positive for the band, as they got more feedback on their recordings and also had more time, and didn't have to record everything in one go within a few weeks. The album was mixed in June 2009 by HIM producer Hiili Hiilesmaa in the Coalhole Studio in Hämeenlinna and mastered in the same month by Svante Forsbäck in the Chartmakers Studio in Helsinki .
style
music
In addition to the typical instruments of a metal band such as electric guitar , electric bass and drums , Ensiferum also uses numerous folk instruments on this album. The style of the previous albums, especially Victory Songs , which was dominated by power metal-like compositions with epic choirs and folky melodies, has moved into the background on From Afar . Instead of Power Metal influences, in addition to the still orchestral and folk melodies, progressive metal influences are increasingly found in the songs. A unique selling point are the melodies reminiscent of the Wild West in the middle of Stone Cold Metal . In this part, Ensiferum mainly uses pipes (with the mouth), acoustic guitar, bass, piano and banjo as instruments. According to Björn Backes from Powermetal.de, the fact that the band began with From Afar to move away from the typical "[h] eroic compositions", polyphonic choirs and folk melodies means that not every song "immediately ignites "; the band is "still in the learning phase in their extended profession", which can be felt when listening to the album.
Texts
With the exception of the songs "Tumman Virran Taa" and "Vandraren", the lyrics are in English and the vocals are, except for a few places, screaming . In terms of content, the songs deal with medieval themes, Nordic myths and from the Kalevala , stories and everyday events derived from them. They were written exclusively by Sami Hinkka. The guide for all texts presents the subject of death and life after death.
Artwork
The cover, designed by Kristian Wåhlin , shows the typical Ensiferum warrior who stands in an icy fjord and finds a pile of bones including skulls while being watched by two ravens. The booklet was designed by Babalon Graphics and "Helgorth". The band photos made for this were taken by photographer Jere Hietala.
Guest musician
- Heri Joensen ( Týr ) - vocals with Vandraren
- Mikko P. Mustonen - flute
- Lassi Logren - Nyckelharpa
- Timo Väänänen - Kantele
- Tobias Tåg - flute , tin whistle , recorder
- Olli Varis - mandolin , mandola
- Jenni Turku - recorder
- Olli Ahvenlahti - piano
- Jukka-Pekka Miettinen - background vocals
- Kaisa Saari - female solo vocals and background vocals
- Tea Dickman - female backing vocals
- Inka Eguzoroh - female background vocals
Track list
The arrangements were worked out by Ensiferum; the orchestration was divided by Mikko P. Mustönen.
- By the Dividing Stream (M: Toivonen) - 3:50
- From Afar (M: Toivonen / Hinkka, T: Hinkka / trad.) - 4:52
- Twilight Tavern (M: Toivonen / Hinkka, T: Hinkka) - 5:39
- Heathen Throne (M: Toivonen, T: Hinkka) - 11:09
- Elusive Reaches (M: Lindroos / Toivonen, T: Hinkka / Lindroos) - 3:26
- Stone Cold Metal (M: Toivonen / Hinkka, T: Hinkka) - 7:26
- Smoking Ruins (M: Toivonen, T: Hinkka) - 6:40
- Tumman Virran Taa (M, T: Hinkka) - 0:53
- The Longest Journey (Heathen Throne Part II) (M: Toivonen / Hinkka, T: Hinkka / trad) - 12:49
- Vandraren (Nordman cover; M. Wester / P. Bächmann / H.Bäckmann; bonus title of the special edition) - 3:41
Versions
From Afar is / was in four versions:
- "Normal" CD
- Limited Digipack CD
- Limited CD with Ensiferum belt
This version is only available for EMP - Limited CD with hand-made round shield
This version was also only available exclusively for EMP and had to be pre-ordered.
review
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Since Ensiferum is taking a different path musically with From Afar than on the three previous albums, this aspect was taken into account in many reviews. The conclusion is mostly positive, albeit with restrictions, which mostly relate to this stylistic change.
Marc Halupczok from German Metal Hammer rated the album relatively good with 5 out of 7 points and wrote his review positive but cautious:
“The new silver turner from Ensiferum is relatively epic and complex. […] The bottom line is FROM AFAR […] the logical continuation of its predecessors VICTORY SONGS and IRON. Fans who prefer the much tougher debut ENSIFERUM in particular should risk a bug because of the compositional class of the new work. "
metal.de rated the album with 8 out of 10 points and wrote about the album:
“Overall, the new album doesn't have the better, but still strong songs. And every Ensiferum fan will get their money's worth with the new album. Including cowboys. "
Also metalglory.de praised the album, rated it 8.5 out of 10 points, but did not elaborate on the musical change one:
“The fourth Ensiferum work offers exactly what a fan or folk metaller expects: good compositions, fun, melodies and a lot of metal! If you like the first three works, you will also like this one. Clear purchase recommendation for genre fans! "
But the album was not only praised in Germany, metalstorm.net rated From Afar with 9 out of 10 points and wrote:
“Although a few of the songs from the album do slip below the radar and the long songs are simply not as good as 'Victory Song', Ensiferum are once again showing the light for other bands to follow within this style. Ensiferum are a band that cannot disappoint. "
“Although some songs are a bit weak, especially the long ones are not nearly as good as Victory Song [from the album Victory Songs ], Ensiferum once again shows that it is pioneering in this genre. Ensiferum is simply a band that cannot disappoint. "
Music video
Music videos were also shot for the songs From Afar and Twilight Tavern .
Individual evidence
- ^ Ensiferum discography on Drakkar.de
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simone Bösch: Ensiferum - Back from afar . In: Metal Hammer , October 2009 edition, Axel Springer Mediahouse München GmbH, Munich 2009, p. 80
- ↑ a b c d e f Ensiferum: Helvetios (supplement) , editorial information, p. 15 f.
- ↑ Toby: Ensiferum (Finland) “From Afar” CD .
- ^ A b Björn Backes: Ensiferum - From Afar .
- ↑ From Afar at finnishcharts.com
- ↑ Chart tracking ( memento of the original from August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at musicline.de
- ↑ From Afar at swisscharts.com
- ↑ From Afar at austriancharts.at
- ^ Marc Halupczok : Review- Ensiferum - From Afar . In: Metal Hammer , October 2009 edition, p. 107
- ↑ Eckart: ENSIFERUM - From Afar. metal.de, September 11, 2009, accessed on March 23, 2010 .
- ↑ Toby: ENSIFERUM - From Afar. metalglory.de, September 9, 2009, accessed on March 23, 2010 .
- ↑ Baz Anderson: ENSIFERUM - From Afar. metalstorm.ee, September 8, 2009, accessed March 23, 2010 .
- ↑ ENSIFERUM - From Afar .
- ↑ ENSIFERUM - Twilight Tavern (Live footage, Nosturi, Helsinki) .
