12 years following WINTERSUN‘s “Time I”, the Finnish heavy metal quartet led by Jari Mäenpää has announced its new album, “Time II”. “Time II” will be released on August 30 via Nuclear Blast Records.
Mäenpää comments: “‘Time II’ is an epic journey from light to darkness and back to light, exploring the universe and energy, contrasting dark stormy landscapes to calm and beautiful cherry blossom tree gardens with misty, snowy mountains that will leave you breathless. It has songs with furious speed of drums, guitars, and bass and beautiful melodic slower songs with a magical exotic influence. It has massive orchestrations and choirs spiced with ancient world instruments and glimmering synths. It has Jari‘s soaring, clean singing contrasted with his aggressive style. It is a highly detailed and complex album where you will find new things with every listen.”
Our patience will finally be rewarded when “Time II” is revealed to the world next month. “It has been quite a journey,” admits Mäenpää, who has been working on his expansive “Time” project since early 2004.
“Time II” includes six epic tracks with individual stories. Yet the subjects are all linked and this red line gives it a conceptual feeling. Entering WINTERSUN‘s universe, we are brought into 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 stars as a source of life, which is also connected to time. In “One With The Shadows”, we experience the magic of an opulence of vocal harmonies, while orchestral arrangements loom up as ornamental move. Jari has a remarkable vision on the lyrics, “Now I think it is about regret. You are living in the shadows as long as you don’t turn regret into something positive to continue your life.” In “Ominous Clouds”, clouds are gathering as the interlude journeys towards the next exploring adventure “Storm”.
“This is the heaviest and darkest track on the album,” explains Jari. “It even has influences from classical music, more precisely from Vivaldi‘s ‘Four Seasons’, furious guitars and heavy drums prevail, while the tone remains chaotic.”
The last track, “Silver Leaves”, with an array of harmonious sounds, partly performed with traditional Chinese instruments like the “erhu” (similar to the violin or fiddle). Ending on a positive note the song tells the story of finding a calm place and state of mind after the storm, being satisfied with your life and enjoying nature around you, as reflected 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, credits and thanks pages) and Onni Wiljami Kinnunen (band photos pages).
WINTERSUN‘s current lineup includes MEGADETH guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari and NIGHTWISH drummer Kai Hahto.
“Time II” track listing:
01. Fields Of Snow
02. The Way Of The Fire
03. One With The Shadows
04. Ominous Clouds
05. Storm
06. Silver Leaves
WINTERSUN is:
Jari Mäenpää – vocals, guitar, computer, programming
Teemu Mäntysaari – guitar
Jukka Koskinen – bass
Kai Hahto – drums
Photo credit: Onni Wiljami Kinnunen