Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Time is an illusion; it is only the passing of day into night that allows meaning to be understood, 20 years can pass quite simply in the blink of an eye, it is more to do with the Mayfly like effect that we live our lives in that you can be young aspiring sweating teenager one minute and the next knocking at the door of 40, the best of your life revealed only by how you view your actions.
It is in the actions of Finnish Metal Powerhouse band Ensiferum that makes Time shrink back, that makes Time feel abused and beaten, for in Two Decades Of Greatest Sword Hits, the first compilation release of the iconic band, 20 years is more a blink in the eye of good times, of excellent endeavour and an attitude that many would find difficult to knock; it is in that appreciation for a good rousing song that many will always find Ensiferum such an endearing band to play with.
The sound of the battle being joined, of the clash of silver and metal being heard high in the sky, of the illusion being shattered, for Time doesn’t care how you waste its generously stolen minutes and hours but it certainly revels in the reflected glory when someone or something truly makes the most of it.
The battle may be joined, the conflict shrouded in plunging, arcing steel against the protection afforded by a the mixed shield of Metal and heroism, yet in songs such as Heathen Horde, In My Sword I Trust, Twighlight Tavern, Treacherous Gods, Two Of Spades and the epic Victory Song, 20 years is summed up perfectly, two decades of music toast freedom of expression and victory is secured by being recognised as the father’s of a period of time in which Scandinavian Metal is truly acknowledged as arguably the finest of the current age.
Time may be an illusion but for those who walk proud in its storm, who face the monsters head on with valour in their hearts, Time is but a fleeting glimpse at what can be achieved and Two Decades Of Greatest Sword Hits is proof that class out lives and outweighs any thought of negativity; that the clash of sword will leave a scar on the flesh long after the blood has run.
Ian D. Hall