Ensiferum – Petri Lindroos

Finnish heroic folk metallers, ENSIFERUM will embark on a journey to Australian shores this March to spread the glorious word of their new album, ‘Unsung Heroes’.

Metal Obsession.net had a quick chat with ENSIFERUM lead vocalist, Petri Lindroos. We talked about the new album, plus the upcoming tour of Australia with national support from BANE OF ISILDUR.

Metal Obsession: Great work on ‘Unsung Heroes’, mate. What an amazing album!

Petri Lindroos: Well, thank you very much! I’m glad you like the album.

MO: The recording process of ‘Unsung Heroes’ seemed rather quick.  Is it safe to say the writing process was much the same?

PL: It was actually the complete opposite. The record took about 2 months to record which included mixing as well. But the writing process took about…ahhh…almost 3 years. I’d say the lyrics come around pretty quickly once all the songs are down. However, the musical writing process seems to take forever with Ensiferum [laughs].

MO: I read recently the album was recorded at various studios in Finland. Why so many studios?

PL: Our producer, Hiili Hiilesmaa influenced us to try something new with this album. He had his Sound Supreme Recording Studio in Hämeenlinna which is actually quite a small studio.

The first studio we used was Petrax Studios in Hollola. We did most of the drums there and then we moved to another studio to concentrate on guitars, then back to Hiilesmaa’s studio to finish off the rest of the album. There was a bit of bouncing around with this album.

We actually have not recorded an album like that before. Moving from one place to another to complete an album, but it was quite cool. Everything went totally fine and we all enjoyed it. Well, we survived to tell the tale [laughs].

MO: This must have been a frustrating process for you all?

PL: It actually wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t say it was frustrating, but it did take a lot of effort. We haven’t found any faster way to work through an album. I wouldn’t say the process of working in more than one studio is frustrating at all.

MO: Did you ever feel pressured to create something as good, if not better than, ‘From Afar’?

PL: Well, we all didn’t want to do a ‘From Afar’ part II, you know? Definitely not! Based on the songs from ‘Unsung Heroes’, I think the songs are very different to that of ‘From Afar’. I guess there was some kind of pressure that did exist when we were writing the new album. But we tried to not let it get to us and take control over what we were writing. If we did let it take over us, we wouldn’t be able to create something we enjoy and the music would come out completely different.

I hope people enjoy what we have created on ‘Unsung Heroes’.

MO: There seems to be a lot of positive reviews towards the album in Australia. I take it this is a sign of good things to come when Ensiferum tour Australia in March?

PL: Yeah! It was like 3 years ago the last time we toured Australia. We all had an amazing time down there. That trip was just amazing. We all had an amazing time in Australia. Everyone is very much looking forward to coming back very shortly.

To tell you the truth, the weather kind of sucks over here. During the last day I’ve been interviewed by a lot of Australian media and one guy said the only thing which is cold in Australia is the beer. So, I’m going to hold him to that one [laughs].

MO: I’m sure there will be a lot of people wanting you to stay an extra couple of days to take you to the pub.

PL: [laughs] We wouldn’t mind that. Not at all!

MO: Your time in Australia seems very short. Is there a chance you will stay a bit longer to check out more of the country?

PL: Well, Markus, Emmi and I are flying in to Australia a couple of days early before the first show. So we will have a few days to ourselves before the tour starts.

MO: Has a setlist been discussed for Australia yet?

PL: Since we’re the headlining band this time. We will have the opportunity to play a lot more music this time. Expect to hear a bit of everything with songs from the new album as well. I don’t think fans will be disappointed with the setlist we have planned for the Australian tour.

MO: Any famous last words, Petri?

PL: Thanks for the interview. I hope everyone can make it to our upcoming shows in Australia. Come along, enjoy the music and we will all have some beers afterwards!

Make sure to catch ENSIFERUM on their upcoming Australian tour this March. Tickets are current available via www.metalmassacre.com.au

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