As previously announced, Ensiferum recently entered the Astia studio in Lappeenranta, Finland to begin work on their seventh full-length, which will be produced once again by Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene, Entwine etc.). Set to be released September 2017 via Metal Blade Records, the quintet has now issued an update about the recording process from in the studio.
Sami Hinkka (bass) comments: “Hi, folks! Greetings from the Astia studio!
For this album, we wanted to catch our live energy on a totally new level with the best possible sound. So every song was played together while recording drums. Most of the bass lines were also taken from those live takes to guarantee the maximum groove. There are songs on the album we recorded without a click so get ready for some serious rocking, people!
Since Anssi Kippo is such a studio wizard, he has synced his legendary Otari MTR-90mk2 2″ 24 -tape recording machine (recognizable, for example, from Metallica‘s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ -video) with his computer, so we will record drums, bass, rhythm guitars and lead vocals on tape, and the rest that can’t fit on the tape, we’ll record on computer. Also the mixing will be done the analogue way on tape to make sure that the sound will remain as raw, punchy and as unprocessed as possible.
The second week is almost over and we are perfectly on schedule: drums, bass lines and half of the rhythm guitars are done.
We are doing ~12 hour long days, so unfortunately this time there won’t be ‘beer of the week’ or any fooling around video diaries, but there will be plenty of time for that after the album is done and the touring starts again. 
Stay tuned for more news! Cheers!”
Before the album’s release, European fans will be able to catch Ensiferum at various festivals this summer. See below for all dates, with more shows to be announced soon!
Ensiferum tour dates:
Apr. 7 – Metal Franconia Festival – Dettelbach, Germany
Apr. 8 – Durbuy Rock Festival – Durbuy, Belgium
June 3 – Metal Open Air Plzen – Plzen, Czech Republic
June 24 – Montebello festival – Montebello, Canada
June 30 – Rockfest Barcelona – Barcelona, Spain
July 1 – Hoernerfest – Brande-Hoernerkirchen, Germany
July 2 – Battlefield festival – Milan, Italy
July 13 – Dong Open Air – Neukirchen – Vlyn, Germany
Aug. 17 – Summerbreeze festival – Dinkelsbuehl, Germany
Ensiferum has been flying the flag of epic, folk-infused death metal high and proud for two decades. Commended for being “their most polished album to-date,” by Metal Hammer, “one of folk metal’s finest acts” by Loudwire.com and “warlike and fiery” by MetalSucks.net, their latest album, One Man Army (2015), can be previewed and purchased at: metalblade.com/ensiferum
Ensiferum online:
http://www.facebook.com/Ensiferum
http://www.ensiferum.com
http://www.metalblade.com/ensiferum