Wintersun - Wintersun review
| Band: | Wintersun |
| Album: | Wintersun |
| Style: | Extreme power metal |
| Release date: | September 13, 2004 |
| Guest review by: | Talvi |
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
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.
The opener and the second song are the heavy songs on the album. Check the speed of "Winter Madness". Holy shit, what a drummer! There are even some blast-beats. After those, you may think yes, this is a more aggressive Ensiferum or Children Of Bodom. But after that, the first ballad comes and you don't know what to think. Such beauty! Another difference it's that the lyrics are very beautiful and much more intelligent than those of Ensiferum.
The song "Starchild" should also be noticed. That song is probably the little gem inside the album. It's a really progressive song, divided into five parts. It begins in a really heavy and uplifting way, but then it has an ending that is really epic. The last two songs are also really beautiful, with amazing choruses and riffs.
The most noticeable thing is how the album manages to be very harsh, but at the same time melodic. It has a sound that should be on short songs, but most of them are past the seven minute mark. My friends, Wintersun is a new genre in itself. Now, how will Ensiferum battle this monster of an album?
I recommended this album to almost everyone, especially fans of Ensiferum. If you can't stand growled vocals, you'd better try Ensiferum or Children of Bodom first; this may be a bit harsh for you.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Talvi | 29.12.2006
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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:
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 ›› |
Comments
Comments: 6
Visited by: 136 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
Here you have written a very good review and I agree in a lot of passages with your point of view... But I consider this album a true masterpiece which deserves a 10 in songwriting in my opinion, and my personal overall impression is 10 too... Anyway, great work! 
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Talvi Posts: 825  |
Written by Katatronik on 29.12.2006 at 16:21 I was gonna rate it as perfect 10, but I don't wanna give so high ratings. But this is one of my favorite albums. And there is already a perfect review for this album.
---- My account on other musical pages: http://www.last.fm/user/Pozito/ http://rateyourmusic.com/~Talvi
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
Great review, but IMO Wintersun are probably better than Ensiferum.
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| RavenLord Posts: 651  |
I hate Wintersun being compared to CoB. Yes, the styles are similar, but Wintersun are far removed from Bodom's downfalls. The keyboards are never used to solo, and the song structure is more varied than Bodom's. I also don't like Wintersun being compared to Ensiferum, as I feel their styles are quite different...I prefer Wintersun, with its mix of melody and rhythm, and wonderful shades of light and shade. Nothing is done to an excess (no wankery in the solos...they flow!), and my sole complaint would be the production, which is a LITTLE too polished...and a few naff vocal moments in Starchild. Sadness and Hate is fucking killer, though...as is the rest of the album, for that matter.  About a 9.8 from me, and gets placed 4th(?) in my top 10 albums of all time.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62017  |
Reading this and gernes I say this band somehow jumps out of extreme power metal definition and actually its better as CoB in all ways
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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