The Metal Crypt on Facebook  The Metal Crypt's YouTube Channel
Review: Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes
Ensiferum
www.ensiferum.com
Unsung Heroes

Label: SpineFarm Records
Year released: 2012
Duration: 61:20
Tracks: 10
Genre: Viking Metal

Rating:
4/5


Review online: October 7, 2012
Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 3.45/5 (69.03%) (31 Votes)
Review

I have always kind of dismissed Ensiferum, considering them a second-rate band trying to simultaneously ride the Children of Boredom pop/melodeath trend and the Folk Metal wave. They were shiny, facile, and without depth. That was until From Afar proved that this band could be genuine, serious, and epic without relying on gimmicks or trends. The problem with writing a massive work like "Heathen Throne" or "The Longest Journey" is that it raises the bar, and everything you do afterward will be measured against that one time when you were awesome.

Unsung Heroes is solidly enjoyable, but it lacks that extra edge of the last album, and it's noticeable. It is never fun for a band to have to follow up a lauded album, and there is clearly an attempt to make a similar album without just copying it. The sound is clean, the riffs are good, but the songwriting is just not as awesome. The production is also a bit flat, without the rich layers of From Afar. It may seem small to continually compare this album to the one that came before it, but it's pretty much inescapable. So: this is not as amazing as their last album, but on the other hand it is pretty handily better than anything else they ever did, so while Ensiferum may have slipped a bit, they didn't lose ground and go back to making crap like Victory Songs.

More about Ensiferum...
Review: Ensiferum (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: From Afar (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: From Afar (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Thalassic (reviewed by Micah.Ram)
Review: Two Paths (reviewed by Bruno Medeiros)
Review: Unsung Heroes (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Victory Songs (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Winter Storm (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Interview with vocalist and keyboardist Pekka Montin on March 14, 2020 (Interviewed by Luxi Lahtinen)
Interview with guitarist and vocalist Markus Toivonen and keyboardist and vocalist Pekka Montin on September 18, 2020 (Interviewed by Luxi Lahtinen)
Click below for more reviews
Latest 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Various Books/Zines 



The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright  © 1999-2024, Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt.  All Rights Reserved.