Conor Fynes 'Wintersun' - Wintersun (7/10)

Arising to the attention of the metal world for his work in folk metal band Enisferum, singer and multi instrumentalist Jari Maenpaa already had a loyal fanbase before 'Wintersun' was released. With little idea what they would receive, the fans eagerly anticipated. While Wintersun is certainly more than a meager extension of the previous band, there are definately many of the things here, that gave Enisferum their fierce fanbase to begin with. Folk and power metal abounds here, with a little bit more heaviness than a typical metal fan may expect of either genre. What makes Wintersun and this debut so noteworthy is that it melds styles that surprisingly rarely cross in the metal scene.

While melodic power metal is generally thought to be something that's left to the whims of operatic dropouts and screechers in the style of Rob Halford, Maenpaa takes the speed and technical considerations of the aforementioned style, and couples it with many traits one might expect from black metal. Blackened screams and heavy-as-hell guitar riffage seems to work magically with the generally lighter lead playing and harmonies.

The album flow of 'Wintersun' seems to be very much relient on a 'shortest-to-longest' format. Over the course of the album (which almost hits the hour mark) one begins to notice that the songs get longer and longer, going from a vicious two minute introduction to a drawn out and frostbitten epic finale that tops the ten minute mark. While this might be an interesting gag, it can make for an uneven feeling of flow along the way. However, 'Wintersun' is the sort of album that is better based on the quality of the songs themselves rather than the overall product.

Besides the drums, this is Jari's show completely. He writes all of the music, and performs all of the instruments except the percussion, which is played skillfully in a black metal style by Kai Hahto. For anyone that is not a fan of speed in heavy metal, it is better to skip by this one. 'Wintersun' blows the doors off in terms of tempo, and more often than not, things are racing by at lightspeed with blastbeats, and fastly picked guitar melodies. This is an area of the music that is completely subjective however. The transitions from the heavy to lighter portions of music can be very rough at times, but the band's emphasis on heaviness in their power metal blend is very refreshing to my ears.

While it is enjoyable to listen to such a powerful and energetic album, it can feel at points like there should be more variety. Throughout, it feels like very similar riffs are being used; and Maenpaa (while being a gifted metal guitarist) is pulling out the same tricks over and over again and expecting it to be just as impressive. All things considered however, this is a very competent debut album, and with a new highly anticipated Wintersun album arriving to shelves late in 2010, the sound of great potential is heard even more in this music.

arcane-beautiful This being originally a side project from Ensiferium nut job, Jari Mäenpää, it was suprisingly better than most of Enisferums stuff (sorry guys haha). This album was suprisingly incredibly epic, with some amazing vocals, pheonomanal instrumental work and drumming from the depths of hell. And it is very impressive that everything was done just by 2 guys.

Now, their second album Time, has been been in the process of being made, and to be honest, I don't think it will be released at all, and if it is released, it'd just be another Chinese Democracy (which I thought was a pretty decent album, no doubt)

1. Beyond The Dark Sun - This is the song that got me into this band, especially the video. I learning how to play that arrpeggio section, I was so proud of myself. Just amazing. 10/10

2. Winter Madness - Outstanding instrumental work. Great kick ass song. The instrumental songs make this song what it is. 9/10

3. Sleeping Stars - A slower and more melancholic mood. Quite eerie but surprisingly beautiful. 8/10

4. Battle Against Time - What fierce drumming. Great frantic riffing and an epic chorus. 9/10

5. Death & The Healing - This is actually the keyboardist of my band's (her name is Cathy, remember that) favourite song. I remember listening to this song with her on a bus to Belfast one day. The instrumental sections remind me of early Satyricon. Great chorus and beautiful lyrics. Love the japanese influences. This song does have some amazing guitar work. 10/10

6. Starchild - The vocals remind me of Devin Townsend. What an epic song. Best song on the abum. The instrumetal work is flawless as usual. Amazing chorus. 10/10

7. Beautiful Death - Almost sounds identical to Children Of Bodom. You can tell that he's playing an Ibanez and has put in onto the middle pick up (I get the same sound on my Ibanez). Amazing ending. 9/10

8. Sadness & Hate - Very Enisferum (I wonder why). Great build up, very battle metal. 8/10

CONCLUSION: Just a great album. Can't wait for Time (but I will have to wait, a very long time, haha)

The T 666 WINTERSUN's first and only album wears its influences with pride. But it's anyone's guess if the mixing of two different worlds into one sonic experience will please most fans of both power/symphonic metal and death/black metal. On one hand, WINTERSUN sounds a little like a power-metal band, straight from the land of groups like RHAPSODY OF FIRE: fast songs with even faster guitar solos, lots of keyboards and thunderous double-bass drums. The album has a certain epic feel to it that definitely makes the link with power-metal even stronger. But for fans of the genre, a word of caution has to be said: this is not power metal. It has many elements of it, it's been influenced by it, but this is, primarily, something else.

On the other hand, the vocals will immediately tell any listener that this record has a strong connection with black metal, with high-shrieking guttural vocals that reminds us of bands like IMMORTAL. The black-metal-side of the music is definitely even more evident than the power-metal side, as not only the vocals but also the music, with tremolo-picking sections and really heavy passages, takes us directly to Scandinavia. WINTERSUN, being from that part of the world, carries the extreme-cold sound in their veins. A band I was constantly reminded of was a Swedish black-metal band that should've been more famous than it was when it was active, DISSECTION. But for fans of the genre, caution again: the music, dark yet inviting, evil yet heroic, is not really black-metal or even death metal. Add some AMORPHIS and some KALMAH to the mix of ingredients that I've given you and by now you may start to have a clearer idea of what WINTERSUN is and if it may appeal to your taste.

The musicianship is excellent. The album was recorded by just two individuals: Kai Hahto in drums, doing a terrific job, and mastermind Jari Maenpaa on every other instrument, shining in all of them especially in the guitars where he manages to evoke the virtuosism of master-shredders like Luca Turilli.

And it's that ingredient what ultimately makes WINTERSUN an album worth getting and hearing. By combining the good elements of two in-theory very different genres, Jari Maenpaa has created music that should appeal to any prog-metal and metal fan. For those in the extremes, though, this will be harder to swallow, as it will be too-extreme for a power-metal band and too-heroic for an extreme-metal one.

4 stars. I hope we can hear more of Maenpaa's music in the future, as only one album of this good music is not enough.

topofsm Wintersun is a fairly interesting album from a metal standpoint. While it combines the speed and melodicism of power metal with the harshness and intensity of black and death metal, it also manages to twist in a few folk-influenced melodies and a couple progressive flashes. However, listeners might find their minds wandering a bit. No doubt that there are plenty of good elements in the album: The songs are clearly structured beyond standard songwriting and there are a couple of time signature changes that are used to spice things up in plenty of power metal, along with sharp and speedy guitar lines. Virtuosity aside though, this release is pretty standard.

There are tons of good points to the album though. For one thing, the energy is pretty constant through the album. Even in the more ballad-esque tracks that are pretty standard in power metal releases the drums keep the track flowing and the melodies keep moving. One of the better examples being "Death And the Healing", which really is a haunting ballad with a simply excellent guitar solo that builds and builds and never goes overboard (well, maybe it does a bit). Jari Mäenpää, the guitarist and central focus of the album keeps his guitar blisteringly fast, another good example in the wonderfully energetic "Winter Madness" and his vocals are either a woeful black shriek or a bellowing and haunting clean tone reminding the listener of the sorrow and melancholy feeling of winter. All in all, the elements combine to create an enjoyable work.

As an extreme power metal release, Wintersun stands as an good choice, and many fans of extreme and melodic metal will be sure to come across it. However, many songs sound the same, yet branching out is not the point of the album. It is the biting yet melodic metal to portray the bitter atmosphere of a dark winter in the blistering cold, which Wintersun excels at.