Wintersun
Encyclopedia
Wintersun is an extreme metal
band from Helsinki, Finland
.
Wintersun was originally created by guitarist Jari Mäenpää
as a side project to folk metal
band Ensiferum
, for whom he was lead singer and guitarist. In 2003, Mäenpää began culling together songs that he'd been working on since 1995. These songs followed specific themes described by Mäenpää as majestic, "spacy", and melodic. While Mäenpää planned to perform and record each instrument for the first album himself, he still required a drummer. He sent demos to Kai Hahto
of Rotten Sound
, who agreed to perform the drums.
After obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää scheduled studio time to record the first album. Ensiferum's tour to support their 2004 release was scheduled at the same time, which forced Mäenpää to request time off from the band. The band instead fired him, and Mäenpää was free to go ahead with the production of his self-titled album, Wintersun
.
After the release of Wintersun, the band found permanent members to perform shows and promote the album, although a keyboardist would never be found. In 2006, Wintersun began work on their second album, tentatively titled Time
. Recording began in May of that year, but the album would be the recipient of years-long delays for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the complexity of each song's mix.
band Ensiferum
, with whom he'd been playing since 1996.
Mäenpää contacted Rotten Sound drummer Kai Hahto, who, upon hearing demos, agreed to work as the session drummer
for Wintersun. Mäenpää and Hahto recorded demo versions of "Winter Madness," "Beyond the Dark Sun," and "Death and the Healing", which were sent directly to Nuclear Blast
. The label offered a contract for several albums stipulating that a three-song demo must be approved before each new album is recorded.
Even after obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää intended on keeping Wintersun as a side project during his tenure as lead singer and guitarist
for Ensiferum. Unfortunately, to support the 2004 release of Ensiferum's Iron, Spinefarm Records
scheduled a European tour with dates that conflicted with studio
time Mäenpää had booked to record Wintersun. After requesting a break from the band, Mäenpää was fired from Ensiferum.
Mäenpää focused his energies on recording Wintersun despite the lack of formal band members. The vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards on Wintersun were performed solely by Mäenpää, who was already adept at recording multi-instrumental songs, having grown up with 8- and 16-track equipment
. Three studios were used in the making of Wintersun: drums were recorded at Tico-Tico Studios, Mäenpää's vocals, synth, and guitarwork were recorded at Sundi Coop Studios, and Nino Laurenne mixed the album at Sonic Pump Studios. Mäenpää recorded additional synth and guitar solos on his 16-track recorder.
Wintersun was released on September 13, 2004. Although Mäenpää enjoys writing his music without limiting it to any genre, the myriad styles in Wintersun have been broadly described as power metal
, folk metal
, melodic death metal
, neo-classical metal
, black metal
, and Viking metal
.
, of Norther
, would join Wintersun as bassist
. Oliver Fokin, former drummer
for Ensiferum and whom Mäenpää credits as inspiring him to start playing guitar, was hired as guitarist
. The search for a keyboardist
proved to be ineffectual.
The music video for Beyond the Dark Sun was shot over a period of two days, July 3 and 4, 2004. It was produced
and directed
by Maurice Swinkels.
On October 4, 2004, Wintersun announced the departure of Oliver Fokin as guitarist, and a suitable replacement would not be found until December 27, when Teemu Mäntysaari
joined. The search for a keyboardist continued, and Wintersun was forced to use backup tapes
for their future performances.
's Nino Laurenne as sound engineer
. Recording of Hahto's drum tracks began on May 3. Rhythm guitars and bass were also recorded during the session. Mäenpää would record synthesizers and sampling
, guitar solos, acoustic guitars
, vocals, and Mäntysaari's guitarwork at his apartment studio. The album will have seven songs and an intro and outro. The songs' compositions are complex, being composed of 200 to 300 tracks each.
Time would face multiple setbacks, delaying the album's release for years. On October 23, 2006, Wintersun released a statement that, because recording was continually delayed, the dates for the album's mix would be pushed back to May 2007, causing Wintersun's appearance at Ragnarök Festival
that same month to be cancelled. A tentative release date for August 2007 was given.
On April 17, 2007, Mäenpää released a statement updating the status on the album, detailing that difficulties with hardware failures caused further delays in the recording process. The mix dates were cancelled, and because Laurenne's schedule at Sonic Pump Studios was full for the remainder of the year, the album's release would be pushed back further. By this time, all guitars, including solos and acoustic, were recorded, and the intro was completed. Mäenpää had begun composing and arranging the synth layers, but stress and frustration had been hindering his creativity.
Hahto issued an update on June 5, 2008, explaining that the album's delay would be indefinite. Difficulties with computer hardware were due to the limited amount of RAM
affecting Mäenpää's ability to compose orchestrations in real time. Nuclear Blast purchased Wintersun a new laptop. The band appeared in Metalcamp
in July 2008.
While technical difficulties pursued Wintersun into 2009, problems impeding the album's progress would eventually include Mäenpää's actual apartment. The increase in stress caused Mäenpää to have writer's block
. Wintersun cancelled all 2009 promotional tours to focus solely on the album's completion.
On November 17, 2010 the Wintersun Official homepage was updated stating that they would again be playing live shows. Two events, Metalfest and Metalcamp were announced. The reason stated for these shows was a deal with their label, providing money for new computer hardware in return for playing these shows.
Former members
Demos and compilations
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band from Helsinki, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
Wintersun was originally created by guitarist Jari Mäenpää
Jari Mäenpää
Jari Mäenpää is the founder of the band Wintersun in which he performs vocals, plays guitar and keyboards. He also played bass on Wintersun's first album before hiring a full-time line-up....
as a side project to folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band Ensiferum
Ensiferum
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
, for whom he was lead singer and guitarist. In 2003, Mäenpää began culling together songs that he'd been working on since 1995. These songs followed specific themes described by Mäenpää as majestic, "spacy", and melodic. While Mäenpää planned to perform and record each instrument for the first album himself, he still required a drummer. He sent demos to Kai Hahto
Kai Hahto
Kai Hahto is a Finnish musician and drummer.-Career:Hahto starting playing drums using a handmade Kumu drumkit.Hahto was a member of the grindcore band Rotten Sound....
of Rotten Sound
Rotten Sound
Rotten Sound is a grindcore band from Vaasa, Finland, formed in 1993. The band comprises vocalist Keijo Niinimaa, guitarist Mika Aalto, bassist Kristian Toivainen and drummer Sami Latva...
, who agreed to perform the drums.
After obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää scheduled studio time to record the first album. Ensiferum's tour to support their 2004 release was scheduled at the same time, which forced Mäenpää to request time off from the band. The band instead fired him, and Mäenpää was free to go ahead with the production of his self-titled album, Wintersun
Wintersun (album)
Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic calls Wintersun a blend of "the hyper-fast precision of Yngwie Malmsteen-like guitar playing with the melodic sensibilities of post-Helloween power metal and a homegrown passion for folk-styled songwriting descended straight from trailblazing compatriots Amorphis,"...
.
After the release of Wintersun, the band found permanent members to perform shows and promote the album, although a keyboardist would never be found. In 2006, Wintersun began work on their second album, tentatively titled Time
Time (Wintersun album)
Time is the second full-length album by the Finnish metal band Wintersun. It was originally scheduled for release in November 2006, but was delayed until August 2007 and then until 2008, and delayed still after that to a currently undefined period of time. Its recording commenced on May 2, 2006 at...
. Recording began in May of that year, but the album would be the recipient of years-long delays for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the complexity of each song's mix.
2003–2004: Creation and Wintersun
Jari Mäenpää began Wintersun in 2003, "to make songs that make you feel like you are floating in space." Mäenpää chose the name "Wintersun" from a list a friend had produced, later explaining, "Winter reflects the cold and stormy side of the album and also the Finnish melancholy and magic. Sun is related to the 'universe, space and stars'-feel of the album, which is also strongly connected to the lyrics." Although the songs that would appear on Wintersun had collectively been written between 1995 and 2004 (see each track's respective composition dates here), Mäenpää kept his songwriting efforts primarily focused on folk metalFolk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band Ensiferum
Ensiferum
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
, with whom he'd been playing since 1996.
Mäenpää contacted Rotten Sound drummer Kai Hahto, who, upon hearing demos, agreed to work as the session drummer
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for Wintersun. Mäenpää and Hahto recorded demo versions of "Winter Madness," "Beyond the Dark Sun," and "Death and the Healing", which were sent directly to Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
. The label offered a contract for several albums stipulating that a three-song demo must be approved before each new album is recorded.
Even after obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää intended on keeping Wintersun as a side project during his tenure as lead singer and guitarist
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
for Ensiferum. Unfortunately, to support the 2004 release of Ensiferum's Iron, Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is a Finland-based record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. In 1999, a sub-label titled Spikefarm Records was started by Sami Tenetz from Thy Serpent...
scheduled a European tour with dates that conflicted with studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
time Mäenpää had booked to record Wintersun. After requesting a break from the band, Mäenpää was fired from Ensiferum.
Mäenpää focused his energies on recording Wintersun despite the lack of formal band members. The vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards on Wintersun were performed solely by Mäenpää, who was already adept at recording multi-instrumental songs, having grown up with 8- and 16-track equipment
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
. Three studios were used in the making of Wintersun: drums were recorded at Tico-Tico Studios, Mäenpää's vocals, synth, and guitarwork were recorded at Sundi Coop Studios, and Nino Laurenne mixed the album at Sonic Pump Studios. Mäenpää recorded additional synth and guitar solos on his 16-track recorder.
Wintersun was released on September 13, 2004. Although Mäenpää enjoys writing his music without limiting it to any genre, the myriad styles in Wintersun have been broadly described as power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
, folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
, melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
, neo-classical metal
Neo-classical metal
Neo-classical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that is heavily influenced by classical music. It refers to a very technical performanceExact quote from the french text: "L'arrivée du néoclassique remet au goût du jour la virtuosité et le travail de l'instrument", « Les secrets du metal-...
, black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
, and Viking metal
Viking metal
Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its galloping pace, keyboard-rich anthemic sound, bleakness and dramatic emphasis on lyrical themes of Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age...
.
2004–2006: Band formation and Wintersun promotion
Inspired by Wintersun's musical direction, Kai Hahto left Rotten Sound and joined Wintersun as permanent drummer, and Jukka KoskinenJukka Koskinen
Jukka Koskinen is the bassist for the Finnish melodic death metal bands Norther, Wintersun, Cain's Offering and, as of 2010, Amberian Dawn.- Personal information :*Date of Birth: 16 July 1981*From: Riihimäki, Finland*Instrument: Bass...
, of Norther
Norther
Norther is a Finnish Melodic Death Metal band from Helsinki, Finland.-History:Norther was originally formed by Kristian Ranta, Jukka Koskinen, Tuomas Planman, Petri Lindroos and Toni Hallio in the year 1996 after various of early stage band formations. The band kicked into gear with its debut...
, would join Wintersun as bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
. Oliver Fokin, former drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
for Ensiferum and whom Mäenpää credits as inspiring him to start playing guitar, was hired as guitarist
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. The search for a keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
proved to be ineffectual.
The music video for Beyond the Dark Sun was shot over a period of two days, July 3 and 4, 2004. It was produced
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Maurice Swinkels.
On October 4, 2004, Wintersun announced the departure of Oliver Fokin as guitarist, and a suitable replacement would not be found until December 27, when Teemu Mäntysaari
Teemu Mäntysaari
Teemu Mäntysaari is a guitarist for the Finnish band Wintersun and played for Imperanon until their break-up, . He was born in Tampere, Finland, in 1987, and began playing guitar at the age of 13. He has written many unreleased songs with Imperanon and has toured with...
joined. The search for a keyboardist continued, and Wintersun was forced to use backup tapes
Backing track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
for their future performances.
2006 onwards: Time
Recording for the second album, tentatively titled Time, began on May 2, 2006. Wintersun entered Sonic Pump Studios with ThunderstoneThunderstone
Thunderstone can refer to:*Thunderstone , a Finnish power metal band**Thunderstone , their self-titled album*Thunderstone , a worked stone object often associated with a thunder god...
's Nino Laurenne as sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
. Recording of Hahto's drum tracks began on May 3. Rhythm guitars and bass were also recorded during the session. Mäenpää would record synthesizers and sampling
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, guitar solos, acoustic guitars
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
, vocals, and Mäntysaari's guitarwork at his apartment studio. The album will have seven songs and an intro and outro. The songs' compositions are complex, being composed of 200 to 300 tracks each.
Time would face multiple setbacks, delaying the album's release for years. On October 23, 2006, Wintersun released a statement that, because recording was continually delayed, the dates for the album's mix would be pushed back to May 2007, causing Wintersun's appearance at Ragnarök Festival
Ragnarök Festival
Ragnarök Festival is a pagan metal festival held annually in Germany since 2004 founded by Ivo Raab. It started out as a small one night festival with only regional bands in the town hall of Hollfeld. In 2005 it was decided to go for a festival featuring mostly Viking and pagan metal with the...
that same month to be cancelled. A tentative release date for August 2007 was given.
On April 17, 2007, Mäenpää released a statement updating the status on the album, detailing that difficulties with hardware failures caused further delays in the recording process. The mix dates were cancelled, and because Laurenne's schedule at Sonic Pump Studios was full for the remainder of the year, the album's release would be pushed back further. By this time, all guitars, including solos and acoustic, were recorded, and the intro was completed. Mäenpää had begun composing and arranging the synth layers, but stress and frustration had been hindering his creativity.
Hahto issued an update on June 5, 2008, explaining that the album's delay would be indefinite. Difficulties with computer hardware were due to the limited amount of RAM
Random-access memory
Random access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
affecting Mäenpää's ability to compose orchestrations in real time. Nuclear Blast purchased Wintersun a new laptop. The band appeared in Metalcamp
Metalcamp
Metalcamp is a heavy metal music festival held annually in Slovenia since 2004.-2004:Danzig, Apocalyptica, Hypocrisy, Sentenced, Primal Fear, Katatonia, Dew-Scented, Dead Soul Tribe, Fleshcrawl, Mnemic, Prospect, Belphegor, Ancient, Destruction, Brainstorm, Dark Funeral, Vintersorg, Finntroll,...
in July 2008.
While technical difficulties pursued Wintersun into 2009, problems impeding the album's progress would eventually include Mäenpää's actual apartment. The increase in stress caused Mäenpää to have writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
. Wintersun cancelled all 2009 promotional tours to focus solely on the album's completion.
On November 17, 2010 the Wintersun Official homepage was updated stating that they would again be playing live shows. Two events, Metalfest and Metalcamp were announced. The reason stated for these shows was a deal with their label, providing money for new computer hardware in return for playing these shows.
Band members
Current members- Jari MäenpääJari MäenpääJari Mäenpää is the founder of the band Wintersun in which he performs vocals, plays guitar and keyboards. He also played bass on Wintersun's first album before hiring a full-time line-up....
− vocals, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(studio keyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
on Wintersun) - Teemu MäntysaariTeemu MäntysaariTeemu Mäntysaari is a guitarist for the Finnish band Wintersun and played for Imperanon until their break-up, . He was born in Tampere, Finland, in 1987, and began playing guitar at the age of 13. He has written many unreleased songs with Imperanon and has toured with...
− guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Jukka KoskinenJukka KoskinenJukka Koskinen is the bassist for the Finnish melodic death metal bands Norther, Wintersun, Cain's Offering and, as of 2010, Amberian Dawn.- Personal information :*Date of Birth: 16 July 1981*From: Riihimäki, Finland*Instrument: Bass...
− bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Kai HahtoKai HahtoKai Hahto is a Finnish musician and drummer.-Career:Hahto starting playing drums using a handmade Kumu drumkit.Hahto was a member of the grindcore band Rotten Sound....
− drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Former members
- Oliver Fokin − guitar
Discography
Studio albums- WintersunWintersun (album)Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic calls Wintersun a blend of "the hyper-fast precision of Yngwie Malmsteen-like guitar playing with the melodic sensibilities of post-Helloween power metal and a homegrown passion for folk-styled songwriting descended straight from trailblazing compatriots Amorphis,"...
(2004), Nuclear BlastNuclear BlastNuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic... - TimeTime (Wintersun album)Time is the second full-length album by the Finnish metal band Wintersun. It was originally scheduled for release in November 2006, but was delayed until August 2007 and then until 2008, and delayed still after that to a currently undefined period of time. Its recording commenced on May 2, 2006 at...
(TBA), Nuclear Blast
Demos and compilations
- Winter Madness (2004) – demo
- Wintersun: Tour Edition (2006), Nuclear Blast – live album
Videography
- Beyond the Dark Sun (2004) – music video
- Live at Summer Breeze 2005 (2005) – DVD