Band:	Wintersun
Album:	Wintersun
Style:	Extreme power metal
Release date:	September 13, 2004
Guest review by:	Black_Handed

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

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.

This project is full of speed, power, great melodic, long and catchy riffs, incredible solos and sheer beauty of music of a style that was pioneered by Children Of Bodom. But of course this time it's not COB. We have a lots of folk/viking influences all over the place and much more. There are two types of songs you can find, slower, epic ones with long choruses like Sleeping Stars, Death And The Healing or Sadness And Hate - and the faster, technical ones like, Beyond The Dark Sun, Winter Madness, Battle Against Time and Beautiful Death. And all of them have a little touch of progressive in the song structures.
So how does it all feel? Freezing, like being alone in an arctic storm. And all that is accompanied by Jari's excellent vocals and lyrics. Both growls, clean-ones and chants are extremely well done. Lyrics are concentrated mostly on feelings, dreams and things like that Jari experiences (little difference from COB and Ensiferum, especially from COB "extremely philosophical" lyrics, eh? ). Sure it's not something extremely great but it all fits in it incredibly well.

If you play this kind of music you have to be a skilled player no doubt and Jari is certainly skilled. Expect long solos with tons of sweeps. But Wintersun is not only about speed, it's about melody and feelings too. Jari succeeds in this department too. Like Alexi Laiho he can play really fast and melodically at the same time. And Kai? Well, he's a grinder so don't expect him to be afraid to make his instrument reach sonic speeds. On the other hand he knows how to show his "softer" side. Most of the songs are played fast, but it's definitely slower that Kai's ordinary speed.
What about production? Nothing unexpected, it's top-notch. Everything less than "top-notch" would ruin it. Every instrument can be distinguished no problem.

But the best thing about this album is how long it lasts. You can listen to it every day and you still won't have enough. It's an incredible pleasure to sink into Jari's mind again and again and again. Even though you know each song back to back you won't have enough and that's not only my subjective opinion, but it's shared widely among the fans.

So to sum it up: some interesting ideas; catchy, melodic, emotional songs with slightly varied structures, performed by two great musicians and coming with a crystal clear sound. This is surely one of the greatest albums not only in 2004, and definitely deserves a place among the greatest.

Best tracks: Are you joking? Every single one!!!