Following his departure in 2002 from Finnish viking metal outfit Ensiferum, former Arthemesia vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jari Mäenpäa started a new project called Wintersun, with drummer Kai Hahto (late of grindcore band Rotten Sound). Fusing the folk-littered influence of countrymen like Amorphis and Finntroll with the technicality, speed, and high melodic content present in neo-classical power metal,Wintersun‘s eponymous debut album was released in 2004 by Nuclear Blast. After eight years of virtual hibernation, Wintersun reawakened and released their sophomore album, Time I, in 2012, also on Nuclear Blast.

“Sons of winter and stars – rise!” This short but significant excerpt of the track “Sons Of Winter And Stars” not only is the wake-up call for everyone interested in music, it´s the battle cry of a band that released their self-titled debut album eight long years ago and had had to live up to the highest expectations and pressure of time for the eagerly awaited successor ever since. As Wintersun turned out to be a critically-acclaimed masterpiece of musical art, the band unintentionally found themselves facing the situation of having to out-do their previous work, and soon.

In 2012 Wintersun released second full-length album Time I. Over the course of eight years the band have taken both music and visuals to yet another level and while listening to their new effort you´ll be taken on a journey through the doors of time, a journey beyond the stars, beyond the birth of the worlds to an infinite universe. Epic metal that breaks through the boundaries not only of music, but the universe.

The main goal was to make an album that would be really astonishing to listen to, because the concept of time itself is simply just that: astonishing, overwhelming, staggering. So the lyrical concept of the album is naturally about time but it´s also about the human experience and consciousness in this vast universe and how short the time we have in this life is. It´s about deep emotions and overwhelming feelings between birth and death we all share in our lives. Love, hate, sorrow, despair, wistfulness.

From capturing the outstanding musical performance of the band to making all the breathtaking layers of orchestrations the original vision was captured with an uncompromised quality. The whole production process was taken to a great extend to ensure the album staying very dynamic through the whole epic journey. With a wide scale of varying dynamics between soothing quiets and exploding highs, Time I is like a movie soundtrack experience as the album unfolds all its magnificence, power and beauty step by step with every listen. As the complete “time saga” with more than 80 minutes total playing time being very complex and full of details would have been too much to digest in one piece, it´s been divided into two parts named Time I and Time II.

Treasured details, epic orchestration, the musical and lyrical concept – all of these give the record a tremendous profoundness. Now, you take your time and allow yourself to get deep into the album and enjoy the epic journey of time.