Ensiferum

The band appears in 1995. Originally, Markus Toivonen was a guitarist in an amateur band called Dark Reflections and played covers of songs by bands like Megadeth and Pantera. Little by little, he felt that this band did not satisfy him, and he turned toward folk music and melodic death, influenced by bands like Dark Tranquillity and Amorphis. One day, Markus asked his drummer Kimmo Miettinen if playing "epic folk death metal" alongside him would interest him: Kimmo accepted. They contacted their friend, bassist Sauli Savolainen, who agreed to join them. All that remained was to find a name for this band. One day, Markus stopped by Sauli's place, grabbed a Latin dictionary, opened it at random and came across the word ensiferum. This word fascinated him immediately and its meaning (literally "sword-bearer") confirmed his desire to make it the band's name.