Wintersun - Wintersun
Release date: | 13 September 2004 |
Style: | Extreme power metal |
Owners: |
1943 have it 164 want it 2 trade it |
Disc I
01. Beyond The Dark Sun
02. Winter Madness
03. Sleeping Stars
04. Battle Against Time
05. Death And The Healing
06. Starchild
07. Beautiful Death
08. Sadness And Hate
09. Winter Madness [demo] [Japanese bonus]
10. Beyond The Dark Sun [demo] [Japanese bonus]
11. Death And The Healing [demo] [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [Live At Summer Breeze 2005 DVD] [2006 Special Tour Edition re-release bonus]
01. Beyond The Dark Sun
02. Battle Against Time
03. Sleeping Stars
04. Beautiful Death
05. Death And The Healing
06. Winter Madness
The best debut album of 2004
Top 20 albums of 2004: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 24
01. Beyond The Dark Sun
02. Winter Madness
03. Sleeping Stars
04. Battle Against Time
05. Death And The Healing
06. Starchild
07. Beautiful Death
08. Sadness And Hate
09. Winter Madness [demo] [Japanese bonus]
10. Beyond The Dark Sun [demo] [Japanese bonus]
11. Death And The Healing [demo] [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [Live At Summer Breeze 2005 DVD] [2006 Special Tour Edition re-release bonus]
01. Beyond The Dark Sun
02. Battle Against Time
03. Sleeping Stars
04. Beautiful Death
05. Death And The Healing
06. Winter Madness
The best debut album of 2004
Top 20 albums of 2004: 1
Top 200 albums of all time: 24
Kai Hahto - drums
Jari Mäenpää - bass, guitars, keyboards, vocals
Additional info
Drums recorded at Tico Tico Studios in January 2004 by Ahti Kortelainen.
Everything else recorded at Sundi Coop Studios in April by Tuomo Valtonen.
Mixed at Sonic Pump Studios in May by Nino Laurenne.
Mastered at Finnvox Studios in May by Mika Jussila.
Produced by Jari Mäenpää.
All music and lyrics written by Jari Mäenpää.
Tracks 1, 2 and 5 are re-recordings of the tracks with the same names from the afore mentioned Winter Madness demo.
Jari Mäenpää had been working on the songs for this album for a long time. The songs were written in/between:
1. Beyond the Dark Sun (1998)
2. Winter Madness (2002)
3. Sleeping Stars (1995-2003)
4. Battle Against Time (2002-2003)
5. Death and the Healing (1996)
6. Starchild (2000-2003)
7. Beautiful Death (2003)
8. Sadness and Hate (1996)
Rating:
10
10
Rating: 10 |
Those readers who are familiar with the history of folk/power-metallers Ensiferum will doubtless be familiar with the history of Wintersun (i.e. that after walking out on Ensiferum, main man Jari Maënpäa formed the latter as a solo project). Speculation was rife in melodic metal circles - expectations for 'Wintersun' were largely high, though some suspected that Wintersun would be little more than Ensiferum Pt.II. In spite of the various similarities between this release and those of Maënpäa's former band (and make no mistake- they do exist), 'Wintersun' is very much an exceptional album, and will be reviewed as such. Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.4
9.4
Rating: 9.4 |
Ok, just to make it clear right at the beginning, I absolutely love/adore/worship (choose preferred term) this album. And I'm not alone, just check the number of fans in "Featured bands" section. So reviewing this album comes with great responsibility. Jari Mäenpää started as a part of Ensiferum. Great black folk metal band if you'd ask me. So why did he leave? He came up with some interesting not-so-Ensiferum-like ideas. So he started his own project with drummer Kai Hahto of Rotten Sound grinders. But where are the others? Where are synth, bass, second guitar players we can hear in there? Well by the time Wintersun was recorded Jari Mäenpää did everything except drums. Yes, everything except drums. Later on Jukka Koskinken of Norther and Teemu Mäntysaari joined to finish the lineup. Read more ›› |
Rating:
9.2
9.2
Rating: 9.2 |
Wintersun is the band Jari Mäenpää started after leaving Ensiferum. Some people dispise this band because they compare it to Ensiferum and say it's worse. Big mistake. This probably isn't as bombastic and catchy as Ensiferum, of course, but, what is Wintersun? I've seen them labelled as Melodic Death Metal, as well as Extreme Power Metal. The first thing that comes to my mind though, is Children Of Bodom. But Children Of Bodom they are not. They play somewhat epic, almost progressive Melodic Death/Black Metal with Folk influences. You may see it as less Folk-like, as only some riffs have Folk qualities, but more aggressive and complex Ensiferum. It's far more than just that however. Read more ›› |
Rating:
10
10
Rating: 10 |
When in 2004 Jari Mäenpää left Ensiferum, few people could imagine what impact that would leave on the metal community. Ensiferum got on pretty we'll, but what Jari did with his new band Wintersun was something quite unexpected. There are only few albums that deserve this kind of praise and hype, but I think this one is one of them. Read more ›› |
Guest review by
Andro Maximus
Andro Maximus
Rating:
7.5
7.5
Rating: 7.5 |
A most beautiful melancholic album cover, fast sweeping guitar solos, some fantastic melodies, and an epic, if slightly overproduced soundscape - Wintersun's debut album is clearly the result of a lot of passion and hard work and is obviously intended to be a monumental album. It is a shame then, that with so much going for it, Wintersun falls short of being the masterpiece that it is intended to be. Read more ›› |
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