12 years after the «Time I” of Wintersunthe Finnish heavy metal quartet led by Jari Maenpaa announces his new album, «Time II«. The album will be released on August 30th through Nuclear Blast Records.
Jari Maenpaa comments:
«’Time II‘ is an epic journey from light to darkness and back to light, exploring the universe and energy, contrasting dark stormy landscapes with calm and beautiful cherry blossom gardens with misty snowy mountains that will take your breath away. It has songs with furious speed of drums, guitars and bass and beautiful slower melodic songs with a magical exotic influence. It has huge orchestrations and choirs seasoned with ancient world instruments and shimmering synths. The clean and soaring singing of Jari contrasts with his aggressive style. It is a very detailed and complex album in which you will find new things with each listen.
Booking “Time II» here:
Tracklisting:
«Fields Of Snow»
«The Way Of The Fire»
«One With The Shadows»
«Ominous Clouds»
«Storm»
«Silver Leaves»
Finally, our patience will be rewarded when the album “Time II» of the Finns Wintersun be revealed to the world on August 30th by Nuclear Blast“It’s been quite a journey,” the brain admits. Jari Maenpaawho has been working on his expansive project “Time» since early 2004.
«Time II» includes six epic themes with individual stories. However, all the themes are related to each other and this red line gives it a conceptual feel. Entering the universe of Wintersunwe find ourselves in the right environment with the atmospheric intro of oriental influence «Fields Of Snow«. The first topic really Wintersun 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 opulence of vocal harmonies, while the orchestral arrangements appear as ornamental movements.
Jari has a remarkable vision of the letter:
«Now I think it’s about regret. You live in the shadows as long as you don’t turn regret into something positive to continue your life.» In «Ominous Clouds«, the clouds gather as the interlude journeys towards the next exploration adventure, «Storm«.
“It’s the heaviest and darkest song on the album,” he explains. Jari. «It even has influences from classical music, more specifically from Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’, with furious guitars and heavy drums predominating, while the tone remains chaotic.»
The last topic, «Silver Leaves«, with a display of harmonious sounds, is performed in part with traditional Chinese instruments such as the ‘erhu’ (similar to the violin or fiddle). The song, which ends on a positive note, tells the story of finding a calm place and mood after the storm, being satisfied with life, and enjoying the nature around you, as reflected in the cherry orchard on the cover. The illustration is the work of Cameron Graywhile the libretto has been designed by the Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsak (lyrics, credits and thanks) and Onni Wiljami Kinnunen (photos).
Wintersun is:
Jari Mäenpää – vocals, guitars, computer, programming
Teemu Mäntysaari – guitars
Jukka Koskinen – bass
Kai Hahto – drums
(Photo – Onni Wiljami Kinnunen)
