Victory Songs

Ensiferum | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Candlelight
• ASIN: B000NIIUYM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,533 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #96 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Finland

Track Listings

1. Ad Victoriam

2. Blood Is the Price of Glory

3. Deathbringer from the Sky

4. Ahti

5. One More Magic Potion

6. Wanderer

7. Raised by the Sword

8. The New Dawn

9. Victory Song

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great stuff, November 25, 2007

By 

J. L. Brown "lightning blade" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victory Songs (Audio CD)

Well I would have to say that I didn't know if I would like the band without Jari in it. It seems like a lot of people are saying that, but anyway, I would have to say that I actually like this CD more than Iron. This CD gets me more pumped up than Iron does, and I think there is a lot more catchy songs in these Victory Songs. I loved the songs Iron, Sword Chant, Into the Battle, and the intro on the CD Iron. This one I love the intro again, Deathbringer from the sky, ahti, one more magic potion, wanderer and raised by the sword. I mean I could listen to these songs over and over for hours. I really like both CD's, but I think this one is catchier and more intense

I have read a review posted about Victory Songs that I didn't really agree with at all. It was said in the review that Victory Songs didn't have as much of the folk in it as the CD's with Jari. If you read the lyrics they both talk about battles, but Victory songs seem to have more the finnish folklore in it! I mean, Ahti is a Finnish mythological God, that seems pretty folk to me. . . Victory songs has lyrics about battles, dragons, wiches/trolls/spirits, and gods. Perhaps Jari did a better job of mixing it up with his chanting and clean/harsh vocals like in sword chant and lai lai hei, and they had female vocals in Tears, which was pretty cool, but that is just a part of the folk aspect. Perhaps I'm not understanding what Jari writes in how it relates to folklore. . . I don't know, but I understand it better in Victory Songs if that is the case.

I also love how there is less singing in this CD than in Iron, not to dis Jari's singing. I like Jari's vocals in Wintersun a ton, but I like the vocalist for Victory Songs slightly better because it sounds like it fits the music better to me. Especially in Ahti when the singer has his deep scream, that was fricken awesome! Sometimes Jari's vocals completely took me out of the music that I was engrossed in, instead of adding to the dimension I was thinking in. If you understand my meaning, kinda like reading a book that your really into then having someone ask you a question, completely takes you out of the book. yeah, maybe a bad illustration, whatever.

On a downside however, this CD is way less technical in the guitars. and I mean WAY less technical. There isn't as many beat changes, crazy beautiful shredding, etc. This saddens me greatly, but the keyboards made up for it a thousand fold. I don't remember hearing much of any keyboards in Iron other than the intro that was catchy or interesting, so thats a great plus to Victory Songs. I would have to say the intro's to both CD's are fantastic.

Well anyway, great band, really gets you pumped up and completely engulfs your imagination while still being intense and beautiful, not many bands can do that for me, not even Amon Amarth. I say get all their stuff, cause it all sounds different to me, especially with the guitarist/singer change.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epic!!!, January 21, 2010

By 

K. Lee - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victory Songs (Audio CD)

Victory Songs by Ensiferum is one of my five favorite albums of all time, and it is the CD that lured me into the Folk/Viking metal genre. This CD is, in my opinion, a masterpiece with superb guitar, fantastic folk instrumentation, and masterfully written and sung lyrics.

The introduction to this album, Ad Victorium, is epic. Beginning softly with the crashing of waves and the pounding of hooves, it progresses into an almost orchestral piece that steadily becomes faster and more involving.

The second track, Blood Is The Price Of Glory, is a sudden change into a hard-paced song with lyrics regarding honor and battle. This track has excellent, growling vocals and a very catchy chorus. The guitar part is amazing (I'm running out of adjectives).

The third track opens with a high scream that makes me think of Judas Priest, rapid drumming, and skillful guitaring. My only qualm with this song is that I have a slightly hard time understanding all of the lyrics, which isn't a problem with most of the other songs on this album for me.

The fourth track, Ahti, opens much like Ad Victoriam (i.e crashing waves) but quickly becomes hard and furious. This song is about the point I became absolutely hooked into the album on my first listen-through. The song is about a Finnish god of the sea, and I love the mythology of it.

The fifth song, One More Magic Potion, has a wonderful folk-instrument introduction with acoustic strings and what sounds like a flute. (I think it is a flute.) The folk instrumentation continues throughout the song, a nice touch. The song is about a witch/troll thingie. This is an odd note, but I think that this song is the only time I have ever heard the word "weird" actually used in a song.

The sixth track, the Wanderer, is my favorite Ensiferum song of all time and one of my top 5 songs of all time. Opening with a flute and acoustics, a chorus is added shortly after with a tolling bell. Then the song has a hard, simple, and very catchy guitar part that leads to the superb clean vocals of the song. This is one of two tracks on this album with entirely clean vocals. The chorus of the Wanderer is very, very catchy, sung by what I think is the entire band.

The seventh song, Raised By The Sword, continues the tradition of a nice folk-metal instrumentation preceding a sudden shift into a hard and fast guitar part. This is a good song, perhaps with one of the strongest folk sounds throughout. The song has some parts sung by multiple band-members, a touch I always enjoy.

The eighth track, the New Dawn, is perhaps the only song on here that blends together in my head. It's perhaps my least favorite song on here, though I can't particularly say why.

The ninth track, Victory Song, is simply, astoundingly good. At ten minutes and some-odd seconds, it is also simply, astoundingly good. It intros with a long folk instrumentation with a galloping acoustic rhytm and tribal drums. The folk continues for approx. two minutes before entering into the metal part. With a good mix of harsh and clean vocals, this song has a very catchy chorus and vivid lyrics. I can literally see what's going on in the song's story while listening to it. There is a segment in some Scandinavian language as well, which is a pretty nifty touch.

The tenth track, Lady In Black, is also entirely clean vocals. With a very catchy overlying rhythm, the song's chorus is a choral ahh-ahh-ahhh-ahhh that I think sounds pretty good. The ahh'ing continues for about a full minute or so after the end of the song, then there is a long silence. After a few minutes of quiet, the entire band pitches in to sing the choruses of the Wanderer and Victory Songs accapella.

Overall, this is a fantastic album. In my opinion, it is superior to Iron, which is usually touted as Ensiferum's greatest CD. It was certainly good enough to hook me on an entire genre which is now my favorite form of music. (Viking metal.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My all-time favorite metal band, April 2, 2008

By 

J. Young (Alabama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victory Songs (Audio CD)

An acquaintance mentioned Ensiferum to me and I gave them a listen - their "Victory Songs" CD has become #1 on my rotation. Really an amazing CD - a completely different style of metal than I've ever heard, with music composed and performed by a seriously talented group of musicians. I've never been into metal very much (well, was into Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Queen... I'm too old to have understood Metallica, Motorhead, Megadeath...). But Ensiferum's music is quite different - more musical than any (recent vintage) metal band I've ever listened to. I think Ensiferum refers to their brand of music as folk/viking melodic metal; any of epic viking melodic folk battle metal work for me. In short, I think of Ensiferum as producing musical metal.

"Victory Songs" features some of the best crafted songs I've heard in a long time - actually, a really long time. I like the musicality of the group, but also that the band incorporates a lot of dynamic range. It is refreshing, for me, to hear metal musicians who don't play as fast or as furious as possible 100% of the time, instead showing their chops at the appropriate time during each song. My favorite track on the CD is "Victory Song" (track nine); it contains just about every musical feature you could ever wish for in one song. At ten minutes in length, if Ensiferum breaks into the U.S. in a big way I can see "Victory Song" becoming the "Green Grass and High Tides" (Outlaws) or "Highway Song" (Blackfoot) of metal. I'm not into the harsh vocal thing, but Petri (lead singer) actually carries a tune while doing them. Not my taste, but he does harsh for me better than anyone I've ever heard. The other guitarist and bass player do a great job with clean vocals.

Ensiferum's drummer (Janne Parviainen) is amazing, and Sami Hinkka (six-string bass player) is pretty darn good too. I wouldn't say they are as good as Keith Moon and John Entwisle, but they are each in the same ballpark - and very very few musicians are even in the same zip code as those two. I've never seen anyone other than Geddy Lee (Rush) follow note for note a lead guitarist (check him out on "Working Man" on the "Rush in Rio" DVD) - Sami can absolutely do the same thing. Additionally, both guitarists can smoke, when the song calls for it.

When you first get this CD, listen to the first track on your good stereo (preferably with subwoofer) as they use the kettle drum to great (but not overbearing) effect.

I've played this CD for a high school buddy who normally listens to softer music like the Eagles (and has been in the music business all his adult life), some 40ish friends who play in a country band, and their children in their late teens (who "know" metal). Every one of them loves this band, every one is surprised at the musicality and musicianship of Ensiferum. If you have ever liked any kind of metal, and unless you just hate the harsh vocals (not incorporated on every song), there is a good chance you will fall madly in love with Ensiferum. (Since there are no clips here on Amazon, check out the four songs on their myspace page; search for officialensiferum. And be amazed.)

Get on the bandwagon early and give this CD a try. (And check out Ensiferum's first U.S. tour ever, late April and most of May 2008.)