Judging from the sold out sign, a packed venue and a full guest list of press; this Finnish Metal event was clearly a crucial date in any metal head's diary and one certainly not to be missed. The event that this report will speak about is when Finnish Melodic Folk Metal warriors ENSIFERUM invaded and conquered London's 02 Academy, Islington. With equally powerful allies in the form of INSOMNIUM and OMNIUM GATHERUM; it's safe to say this tour had a solid package as ENSIFERUM bassist Sami Hinkka confirmed in an interview conducted before the show.

It was one of the earlier starts to a show with the doors opening at six; arriving at around five to conduct the interview I noticed people queuing already to ensure they secured the ideal spot to watch their idols performing their only UK show on the tour. After conducting the interview and a quick bite to eat I came back to notice the queue had expanded in those few minutes I was gone. With the venue filling up much earlier than expected I was adamant in thinking that this was one of the most anticipated events on the Metal calendar.

As the first band OMNIUM GATHERUM made their way to the stage; the cheers and chants already began to fill the venue so to say they had the crowds under their thumbs from the word go would be a huge understatement. After that night they certainly have a new fan within me; their sweeping melodies, excellent musicianship and charismatic stage presence won the crowds over. Guitarist Markus Vanhala even entered my top guitarists list that night; his blistering riffs and solos were just outstanding. They were the top choice to kick off this grand evening of heroic Folk Metal.
 

With INSOMNIUM's stage time looming the space was getting a lot tighter and cosier so if you wanted to head to loo and back to your space again? Forget it that wasn't happening, the silver lining being it showed me the Metal community and spirit is still alive and kicking. INSONIUM provided a slightly darker tone to our heroic atmosphere; they were another band who had the crowds eating out of the palms of their hands. With guitarist Markus Vanhala making another appearance with his riffs and solos then INSOMNIUM had nothing to worry about. There was certainly something shadowy yet magical about the music as after each song I had a sensational feeling within me and judging from the crowd's more than welcoming reception I believe they did do.
 

I could feel all sorts of excitement and anticipation filling the venue as the appearance headliners ENSIFERUM was just around the corner. As fans walked to and from the stage to do whatever they needed to do before they appeared there was a great feeling that something grand was to be bestowed upon us.

As soon as the lights went down and the opening instrumental "March Of War" was heard on the system I knew the battle at the 02 Academy, Islington was underway and I could already tell it was going to be an epic one. The Finnish warriors didn't mess around when they started to perform in full battle attire including the war paint; as they performed "Axe Of Judgement" and "Heathen Horde" to a packed venue of adoring followers that welcomed it in a Folk Metal fashion I would say they were well under way.
 

Their set encompassed many great qualities. These included a strong stage presence, talented musicianship and infectious energy from the word go; this energy was so powerful that we even had fans at the back of the venue dancing, head banging and fist pumping. The setlist contained an eclectic selection of material including sort of disco anthem and personal favourite track "Two Of Spades" that saw hundreds of metal heads having a good song and dance to the epic sounding "Victory Song" this show had everything to suit everyone's pallet.
 

Being that this was my first experience of a full Folk Metal show I must say I noticed quite a few things; the crowd are very receptive and active, it seems a Folk Metal show is the only kind of show where having a dance whilst head banging is visible and I don't think you will see an accordion solo at any other kind of show.
 

So to sum it all up I highly enjoyed this evening of Finnish Metal; with each band showing undying passion to give their fans the best show possible, melodies that make the most tedious of tasks sound like you're on an epic quest and with enough swishing, glossy hair in the room to make a Metal version of a shampoo advert it only reinforced my love for Finnish Metal, particularly on the Folky end of the spectrum.

With their latest album "One Man Army" upon the glowing horizon and currently on tour with INSOMNIUM and OMNIUM GATHERUM, a well earned victory for Finnish Folk Metal warriors ENSIFERUM could be won before the year is over. So on their only UK date, I managed to have a chat with bass player Sami Hinkka about their tour, their new album and the differences between Metal scenes in both Finland and UK.

Hello there Sami, how are you today?

I'm very well thank you and how are you?

Very well thanks, so excuse me for stating the obvious you are touring to promote One Man Army; how is it going so far?

It's going really well; today was sold out in advance. The whole tour so far has been going really well. A lot of places have sold out and in one city we had to upgrade to a bigger venue.

Where was that just out of interest?

That was in Budapest; we have a really strong package for the tour and everybody's happy.

Of course; I was also wondering how three of the best bands from Finland came together for one tour.

We wanted a really strong and interesting package because the way we see it is if you have three bands of one particular genre on tour I mean yes it draws people in but no new people will find you.

I really like it when you build a show up like a festival where you may end up listening to a band that you might have never heard before and end up buying their album. That's what we wanted from this tour; for people who hadn't heard of the other two bands to discover something new, it applies to us too. I mean there maybe people who have come to see Insomnium or Ominim Gatherum so it's a win win situation for everyone.

Like I've said before this tour is to promote One Man Army your new album; couple of pointers on the songs, who provided the vocals in "Cry For The Earth Bounds"?

Netta Skog; she used to play the accordion for Turisas and is our substitute for Emmi our keyboard player on this tour so it all clicked perfectly. She is an amazing musician and I love her on stage, she also featured on the last song Neito Pohjolan.

I was also interested in the structure of Two Of Spades; one minute I was listening to heavy distortion the next I'm dancing along to this disco beat. What was the influence behind this idea?

I can't remember the exact moment that happened but I do remember fooling around and we have a policy that everything has to be tried at least once no matter how crazy the idea is. Janne [Parviainen] and I jam every now and then; we fool around with reggae beats, whatever comes to mind. I assume it started from something like that; but the song evolved and the lyrics got ready, then Finnish Alpha Male King Frederick said "Yes, I'll provide guest vocals" for you and that was that.

I really love the disco part actually as part of the whole song; as it's not just a weird bridge but it actually fits in with the whole song.

Is it on your tour's setlist?

Yes it is.

I can imagine it going down well with the crowds.

This is actually the first tour we've had where we've received such a strong reception to new material; usually it takes a tour and few festivals to get people to learn the lyrics and sing along but Two Of Spades is proving to be a great live song already.

Looking at the reviews it looks like it's been received well with critics?

Yes, the latest review we read was really overwhelming and we hit quite high positions in the charts across many different countries. In Finland we're number one, particularly with this kind of music it's crazy. It's been in the top 50 for four weeks now.

Being in Ensiferum for a long time, toured all over the world do you notice any similarities and differences in the UK and Finnish Metal scenes?

The biggest difference being that no-one likes it in Finland; that's really corny to say since I've just told you our album made it to number one in the Finnish charts. Like crowd wise when we play shows; we can play a really great show in Helsinki and London.

I've noticed over the last ten years; the crowds haven't been very big but it's usually about the quality. In life it's all about quality, not quantity. Nowadays I feel like the next generation is getting there; they're just turning eighteen having their first drink at the bar and it's a new buzz for them. I also think Finnish people are incredibly modest about their upbringing and they are really proud of many things.

Particularly when the next generation grew up with Children Of Bodom, Nightwish you know big Finnish bands so for them it's not so weird to go to those shows for instance when I was a kid, there wasn't so many. Maybe Amorphis.

Just to round up what can we expect from the tour?

Judging from the other shows on tour expect a lot of sweat as most of them are sold out and the fact we have a strong Melodic package expect different dynamics. If it consisted of five bands with fiddles and accordions I mean it can be a lot of fun but people will eventually get bored so it's good to have different dynamics.

Once we were played a show where including there were about twelve to fifteen bands; most of them were Technical Death Metal, a lot of guys in tattoos and a lot of growling. So when we first appear on the stage in kilts and war paint people are confused but they remembered us.

That is the main challenge of touring is to gather together a strong interesting package.

Well thank you Sami for talking to Metal Temple today and best of luck with the show tonight.

Thank you it's a been a pleasure.