Wintersun (album)

Wintersun was a project eight years in the making. Jari Mäenpää began writing the music for Wintersun in late 1995, before joining folk metal band Ensiferum in 1996 as lead singer and guitarist. In 1997, Mäenpää served in the Finnish military as part of his national defense duty, during which he contracted tuberculosis. The diagnosis was late, and Mäenpää required surgery to remove part of his lung, hospitalizing him for months. The song "Beautiful Death" would later be inspired by this event. In 2003, Mäenpää hired Kai Hahto as a session drummer and, after sending newly recorded demos to Nuclear Blast, was offered a record deal. After returning from Ensiferum's Iron recording sessions, Mäenpää began arranging the compositions of the future Wintersun tracks. Despite intending to keep Wintersun as a side project, a scheduling conflict between booked studio time for Wintersun and a tour promoting Iron forced Mäenpää to request time off from the band, which resulted in him being forced to leave Ensiferum. ==Production==

Several recording studios were used in the making of the album. Kai Hahto's drums were recorded at Tico Tico Studios in January 2004. Vocals and the majority of the guitars and synthesizers were recorded at Sundi Coop Studios in April. Additional synth and guitar solos were recorded at Mäenpää's home on his 16-track. Mäenpää, used to multi-track recording his music for years, was comfortable performing vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards on the record. Mäenpää compared the artwork to the song "Death and the Healing": "The man fallen into the snow could represent 'death' [and] 'despair,' and the light between the trees could represent 'home' [or] "birth/healing.'" =="Beyond the Dark Sun" music video==

Concept The video begins with two shots of steel doors opening, revealing Mäenpää thrashing with his guitar in sharp silhouette against a single source of light, fog simulating the cold swirling around him. During the introduction portion of the song, the video cuts quickly between the contemporary band line-up, each member performing solely against a black backdrop: Mäenpää on guitar, Hahto performing on drums, Jukka Koskinen on five-string bass, and Oliver Fokin on rhythm guitar. for LowLifeMedia. The official video can be viewed here. The cameo lighting technique is used almost exclusively to separate the band members from the black background or frosted foregrounds, and, paired with overexposure, is effective at making Mäenpää appear deep within an ice encasing. Two spotlights are used at times to separate band members appearing together. == Reception ==

Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic described the album as a blend of "the hyper-fast precision of Yngwie Malmsteen-like guitar playing (witness the speedy 'Beyond the Dark Sun') with the melodic sensibilities of post-Helloween power metal (see the more diverse 'Winter Madness') and a homegrown passion for folk-styled songwriting descended straight from trailblazing compatriots Amorphis", describing their musicianship as "superb". He calls the guitar playing on "Death and the Healing" "jaw-dropping" and finds "Beautiful Death" "stunning (if quite morbid)". His overall impression was one of surprise, making note of the fact that he based his initial impression on the artwork, which "elicit[ed] thoughts of simplistic black metal infused with pagan or anti-Christian messages." Despite these "twists and turns", Rivadavia found the album formulaic at times and rated it 3.5/5. Mike Stagno, a staff member for Sputnikmusic, rated the album 4.5/5 and called the band "stronger" than Ensiferum. He described the sound as "combining the likes of neoclassical metal, folk metal, power metal, black metal, and melodic death metal". Stagno emphasized the connection between the music and the album's cover artwork, both of which are depicted as "bleak and cold" while retaining a "mystical attractiveness". Stagno's only problem lay with Mäenpää's clean vocals, which were "passive sounding" and weren't "quite as refined" as harsh vocals. ==Track listing==

Notes • The five sections within "Starchild" are not listed on the back of the album, but the lyrics within the liner notes are segmented with the titles of each "part". • There is also an early version of "Sadness and Hate" recorded back in 1996 as part of a demo from Jari Mäenpää's former band, Immemorial. == Personnel ==

;Wintersun • Jari Mäenpää – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, producer • Kai Hahto – drums • Teemu Mäntysaari − guitar (only on Live & Raw CD) • Jukka Koskinen − bass (only on Live & Raw CD) ;Production • Ahti Kortelainen – drum engineering • Tuomo Valtonen – engineer • Nino Laurenne – mixing • Mika Jussila – mastering • Kristian Wåhlin – cover art • Helgorth – booklet design • Mario Koivumäki – photography • Tuomas Tahvanainen – Wintersun logo ==References==