We Got the Latest Wintersun Update and for Some Stupid Reason, I’m Still Excited for Time II
It’s been 11 years since the release of Wintersun time that I, the first of two albums. Originally intended to be recorded and released together, the two albums were split and it quickly became clear that frontman and main composer Jari Mäenpää demands a level of specificity and perfection that makes Axl Rose seem like a lightweight.
time that I was released in 2012, eight years after Wintersun’s self-titled debut. It’s one of the best symphonic metal or melodic death metal albums of modern times, and that’s what makes the rest of Wintersun’s existence so frustrating. Wintersun should be released time II in 2013, just a year later, to fix mixing issues, nail special features and other sensible requests. It’s now 2023 and a lot has happened at Wintersun camp, including a public feud with label Nuclear Blast and a crowdfunding campaign that raised half a million dollars to build a supposedly necessary studio, but we always have not yet time II.
The crowdfunding campaign brought us Wintersun’s third album, a new name The Forest Sessions, on time and it’s a good album in its own right. But it’s been 10 years since 2013, 6 years since 2017 and according to Mäenpää’s latest update on Wintersun’s Facebook page, the album is still in development hell, alongside other Wintersun albums still in the works.
“Guys I’m working on an album even several as I’ve updated you guys many times and will continue to do so. One of these albums is coming along well and it’s very likely that it will be the next one. This album is a much bigger production than The Forest Seasons and it presents me with a whole new challenge in terms of vocals, guitar playing and production. Even as far as songwriting goes, because as you know I like to learn and explore different compositional styles and not write the same stuff over and over again which would be easy. So I have to (and want) to keep evolving and getting better in every way. Developing and learning new skills takes time. I have already completed many of these new challenges and I am very happy with the results, some challenges are still to come but we are close to victory. And as Wintersun fans you already know that I won’t release anything until I’m completely happy with it. And I suspect you wouldn’t want me to do that to release something unfinished either. So just relax and enjoy the ride, I have a plan!”
Look man, I don’t even know what to say at this point. I really want to believe that Mäenpää is almost done with one of those albums he keeps talking about and I really hope we get it time II one day, but it’s starting to feel like this Chinese democracy. Even if the album comes out, can it even live up to expectations, or have we been scammed by a musician who allegedly needed $500,000 to build a state-of-the-art studio for an album that Delain could probably do for a fraction of the cost?
I know the answer is probably closer to the latter possibility, but I still want to time II.