Old v New

gaz

gaz

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Oct 15, 2002
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I don't want to turn this into another Jari v Petri thread, but discuss the old (Ensiferum, Iron) verses the newer material (Victory Songs and From Afar).

IMO From Afar is the best thing Ensiferum have ever done, previously the debut album was my favourite. It has the depth, the epicness, and the wow factor. Plus the production and orchestration that is second to none.

So what are you faves and more importantly, why?
 
Both. Considering my 3 most listened to bands are Ensiferum, Norther and Wintersun it should come as no surprise :p Each album has it's different atmosphere and feeling. I can't name a favourite album cause I love them all.
 
Ensiferum and From Afar are my favorite ones. They are really different, but great in their own way. I surely miss the solos tho...
 
Hi, my favorite songs are hero in a dream and treacherous gods but my favorite album is From Afar because the first album is great by the themes and music, but the quality and the sound are a bit raw or rustic. Iron is better but in themes is like a repetition even if some songs are unique, in my opinion is only an itermediate step, a transition phase just like Victory Songs (good in themes but lower in quality). From Afar is perfect: the sound quality is very good ad the lyrics are epic!
p.s. this is just my thought translated into english maybe it makes no sense XD
 
In order for me:

From Afar
Victory Songs
Iron
Ensiferum


Very marginal between VS and Iron, though
 
I like them both for different reasons. On the the debut and Iron the songwriting on some of the songs is so amazing...it is pure genius!! This continues in a different way with Victory songs and From Afar and what is added are the orchestrations and more epic feeling.
What I miss from the old are Jari's solos and the way he adds in variations on things and little details where you hear something different everytime. I cannot really put the albums in order of favorites because it depends on my mood and what I want to hear.
 
I like both old and new style. I think my favourite album by them has always been the first one but "From Afar" is just magical too. I must really admit I miss Jari in Ensiferum though, his vocals and guitar playing is just perfection with the music. I'm glad that we got Wintersun :)
 
DraugUlfr said:
I like them both for different reasons. On the the debut and Iron the songwriting on some of the songs is so amazing...it is pure genius!! This continues in a different way with Victory songs and From Afar and what is added are the orchestrations and more epic feeling.
What I miss from the old are Jari's solos and the way he adds in variations on things and little details where you hear something different everytime. I cannot really put the albums in order of favorites because it depends on my mood and what I want to hear.
Click to expand...

+1
 
I love all of them. As DraugUlfr said previously, it depends most of it on my mood.
Yet, my favourite might be Victory Songs. It's with this one I discovered Ensiferum, and after hearing them all, it's the one I think that is right between pure rough metal that was before in Ensiferum and Iron, and orchestrations that can be found in From Afar.
It's really funny anyway when we listen to every album, to see the evolution of Ensiferum's music. From almost pure metal, to From Afar with it's choir and orchestra. And yet, the music stays the same. It's always that crazy-badass spirit that is within each albums.
I've seen several posts on the net where From Afar was said to be something completely new and sometimes not very much appreciated because of its "melodic/orchestral" side. I don't understand why they didn't realize it was the "same" thing, same spirit, that could be found in the previous album. Stone Cold Metal and Iron really looks like each other, but in S.C.M, they just went full crazy with the banjo (which is by the way one of the most awesome moment of the album). And The Longest Journey is the same awesome/incredibly epic ending song like Victory song. Only this time, it was about another theme.
In the end, I just think that the musical differencies that can be detected between Ensiferum and From Afar (to take the most striking example) were there at first. They just got better and better ressources to exploit them through the previous years. It's why I'm really impatient to listen to Unsung Heroes.
 
As a relatively recent Ensiferum fan (I "discovered" them in summer 2011 or so), I'll share my perspective. I'd been a fan of Wintersun's first album since 2008 or so, and it wasn't till I'd listened to From Afar about 25 times that I learned about the Wintersun/Ensiferum connection. So to me, From Afar and Victory Songs are what I think of when I think of Ensiferum. When I listen to the earlier Ensiferum albums, I think I'm listening to Wintersun! That probably sounds like a weird thought to long-time Ensiferum fans.

That said, I prefer the more recent Ensiferum albums because I prefer the vocals, the production, and the quality of the keyboard arrangements and sounds.
 
I am fairly new to Ensiferums music, at the moment I only have the Limited Edition 2 disc set of Victory Songs. Which I think is a magnificent album with great production and excellent compositions, how do the albums vary from the older material and newer music Is it in the writing of the music or production techniques used? :)
 
Hoar FrosT said:
I am fairly new to Ensiferums music, at the moment I only have the Limited Edition 2 disc set of Victory Songs. Which I think is a magnificent album with great production and excellent compositions, how do the albums vary from the older material and newer music Is it in the writing of the music or production techniques used? :)
Click to expand...

It was simpler and kinda straight forward (especially 1st album) before imo. There are alot of Jari (old singer/guitarist) fanboys whom don't understand that he left 8 years ago and it's time to move on
 
Moe5512 said:
It was simpler and kinda straight forward (especially 1st album) before imo. There are alot of Jari (old singer/guitarist) fanboys whom don't understand that he left 8 years ago and it's time to move on
Click to expand...

I think that's a fair assessment. The last 2 albums have certainly had more elements of progressiveness in them. PPP on Unsung Heroes is definitely a stretching of the boundaries for the band, and I hope is indicative of more things to come.
 
I thought I preferd old Ensiferum untill I listend to From Afar repetedly recently to prepare for Unsung Heroes. Its now my Fav album of all time. Im still a bit dissapointed with Unsung Heroes and it doesnt seem to be growing on me.
 
Viking-Frazer said:
I thought I preferd old Ensiferum untill I listend to From Afar repetedly recently to prepare for Unsung Heroes. Its now my Fav album of all time. Im still a bit dissapointed with Unsung Heroes and it doesnt seem to be growing on me.
Click to expand...

how dare you ;)
 
Yeah similar thing happened to me lately as well, bought Unsung Heroes and listened it few times, really liked it and reminded me of old times. Then listened From Afar again, which I didn't like a lot before but then thought it's great. I mean what the hell is this :D
But anyway, first album remains my all time favourite ;)
 
I like both the old stuff and the new.
My favorite is probably the Dragon Heads EP.

So....

Dragon Heads
Victory Songs
Iron
Unsung Heroes
Ensiferum
From Afar

Putting them in order makes it seems like I don't like From Afar.. but I do. Love them all. It is just preference in order I guess.

The 1st 4 tracks of Unsung Heroes are fantastic, after that the album falls off for me, although it is still very good.
Iron is simply a classic. Some of the best Ensiferum songs on this one. My biggest problem with it is the recording. It is a distorted mess.
Dragon Heads / Victory Songs is heavy metal at it's best.
 
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