12 years after WINTERSUN’s Time I, the Finnish heavy metal quartet led by Jari Mäenpää releases their new album Time II today via Nuclear Blast Records.
Jari Mäenpää comments: “Time II is an epic journey from light to dark and back to light, an exploration of the universe and energy that contrasts dark, stormy landscapes with serene and beautiful cherry blossom tree gardens and mist-covered, snowy mountains that will leave you breathless. It features songs with the furious speed of drums, guitars and bass, as well as beautiful, melodic, slower songs with a magical, exotic influence. There are massive orchestrations and choirs, spiced with old world instruments and glittering synths. It has Jari’s soaring, clear vocals that contrast with his aggressive style. It is a highly detailed and complex album that will have you discovering new things with every listen.”
Time II contains six epic tracks with individual stories. Yet the themes are all connected, giving the whole a conceptual feel. Entering WINTERSUN‘s universe, we are put in the right mood, with the eastern influenced, atmospheric intro ‘Fields Of Snow’. The first real WINTERSUN track is the metallic brilliance of ‘The Way Of The Fire’, with fire representing the energy of the stars as a source of life, which is also connected to time.
In ‘One With The Shadows’ we experience the magic of an abundance of vocal harmonies, while orchestral arrangements emerge as ornamental movement. Jari has a remarkable vision for the lyrics, “Now I think it’s about regret. You live in the shadows as long as you don’t turn the regret into something positive to move on with your life.” In ‘Ominous Clouds’, clouds gather as the interlude sets up the next exploratory adventure journey, ‘Storm’.
This is the heaviest and darkest track on the album,” explains Jari . “It even has influences from classical music, more specifically from Vivaldi‘s Four Seasons. Angry guitars and heavy drums dominate while the tone remains chaotic.” The last track, “Silver Leaves”, features a variety of harmonious sounds, partly played with traditional Chinese instruments such as the ‘erhu’ (similar to the violin). The song ends on a positive note, telling the story of finding a calm place and state of mind after the storm, being content with your life and enjoying the nature around you, which is symbolized by the cherry tree garden on the cover. The artwork was created by Cameron Gray, while the booklet was designed by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák (lyrics, acknowledgements & credits) and Onni Wiljami Kinnunen (band photo pages).
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.