Wintersun (album)
| Wintersun | ||||
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| Wintersun studio album | ||||
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Publication |
September 13, 2004 (Nuclear Blast) |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast (Europe) | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
8 (+ 3 bonus tracks) |
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running time |
54 min 9 sec |
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| occupation | ||||
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Jari Maeenpää |
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Studio (s) |
Tico Tico Studios |
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Wintersun ( Engl. Winter sun ) is the first studio album from the Finnish metal band Wintersun .
Origin and production
Jari Mänenpää wrote the pieces for the album between 1996 and 2003 while he was a singer and guitarist with Ensiferum . The album was originally only intended as a side project.
The recordings lasted from January to May 2004. Jari Müllenpää had booked the studio long before. When it became known that Ensiferum would tour at that time, Mänenpää decided on Wintersun and left Ensiferum.
The drums were recorded in January 2004 under the direction of Ahti Kortelainen by Kai Hahto , everything else in April at Sundi Coop Studios by Jari Mypenpää under the direction of Tuomo Valtonen. Nino Laurenne, the Thunderstone guitarist, mixed the album in May 2004 at Sonic Pump Studios before it was subsequently mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios .
The album was released on September 13, 2004 by the record label Nuclear Blast . The first edition was delivered in a slipcase with an embossed glossy print. Strangely enough, the song Sadness and Hate was listed as a bonus track on this slipcase, but not on the actual CD. The Japanese special edition also includes demos from Winter Madness , Beyond the Dark Sun and Death and the Healing .
Lowlifemedia shot a music video for the song Beyond the Dark Sun.
The band's appearance at Summer Breeze 2005, the band's fifth in total, was released on a live DVD, which was released together with the album as a Wintersun Tour Edition in digipak .
In November 2010 the album was re-released on a colored double LP in a gatefold cover. For this purpose, the first seven pieces of the album were distributed on the first LP, while the second LP was only recorded on the A side with Sadness and Hate and the B side remained empty. Sockets were made in white and dark blue vinyl, as well as a version limited to 100 copies in white and blue speckled vinyl.
Track list
- Beyond the Dark Sun - 2:38 (1998)
- Winter Madness - 5:08 (2002)
- Sleeping Stars - 5:41 (1995-2003)
- Battle Against Time - 7:03 (2002-2003)
- Death and the Healing - 7:13 (1996)
- Starchild - 7:54 (2000-2003)
- Beautiful Death - 8:16 (2003)
- Sadness and Hate - 10:16 (1996)
- Winter Madness (demo) [bonus track on the Japan edition] - 6:00
- Beyond the Dark Sun (demo) [bonus track on the Japanese edition] - 2:43
- Death and the Healing (demo) [bonus track on the Japanese edition] - 6:46
Texts and music by Jari Müllenpää
style
music
The musical style of the album cannot be clearly defined. However, it can be described as melodic and / or epic. It contains extensive elements of many metal sub-styles, such as black , death , power and viking metal with corresponding folk influences. In addition, there is a sound similarity to Jari Mänenpää's previous band Ensiferum, although the folk is not in the foreground at Wintersun.
The songs often have more complex structures than the typical verse-chorus scheme. One example of this is the title Starchild , which can be divided into several parts both musically and lyrically . The singing is characterized by the screaming typical of Black Metal as well as clear, hymn-like singing and high falsetto singing, as in Power Metal. In addition, complex guitar riffs , solos and drum parts can often be heard.
Jari mentions Mänenpää as influences on the compositions
“It used to be things like KISS , WASP , Metallica , Megadeth , Guns N 'Roses , Skid Row , Dissection , Amorphis , At the Gates . Today it is more artists like Devin Townsend or film music. Hm, actually there aren't that many influences these days, I guess that things from the past still affect me somehow today. "
Wintersun is compared by the record label with the band Children of Bodom , which is also under contract there ; Mänenpää denies being influenced by this band because he doesn't particularly like Children of Bodom.
Texts
“Lyrically it's quite a personal record, but there's a little bit of fantasy also. Actually, you can understand the songs by many ways and meanings, which is great. But underneath all the metaphors to stars, space, vast and cold winter landscapes, it's all about my personal life - my feelings, emotions, thoughts, dreams, visions and hallucinations. "
“Lyrically it's a very personal album, albeit with a little imagination. In fact, there are many different ways to understand the lyrics, which is great. But besides all the metaphors of stars, space, wide and cold winter landscapes, it is also about my personal life - my feelings, emotions, thoughts, dreams, visions and hallucinations. "
In the texts of Wintersun, the thought of death is often questioned, Mäenpää often associates it with stars.
The Finn wrote the song Beautiful Death during his time in the military, when he suffered from tuberculosis and was hospitalized for several months.
When asked what status the lyrics have in his music, he replies:
“A very important one, because a text breathes life into a song. It's not about telling a story or having a message - although it's not a bad thing to do. But when the lyrics are well arranged and fit right into the song, the whole package is perfect. "
The texts will be presented in English .
meaning
When asked what his favorite song is, Mäenpää answers:
“Well, every song is a highlight and important to me in their own ways. "Beautiful Death" and "Battle Against Time" were therapeutic to write, because they deal with the negative sides of my life and it was good to get those feelings on paper and into music. "Death And The Healing", "Sleeping Stars" and "Sadness And Hate" are very old songs that still live on, so they have sentimental value. ”
“Well, every song is a highlight and important to me in its own way. 'Beautiful Death' and 'Battle Against Time' were the most comforting to write because they deal with the negatives of my life, and it was good to put those feelings on paper and in music. 'Death and the Healing', 'Sleeping Stars' and 'Sadness and Hate' are very old songs that still live on, they are still important to me. "
Cover
The cover for Wintersun was designed by Kristian Wåhlin . The man lying in the snow is supposed to show death and hopelessness. The light between the trees should represent home, goal and birth / healing.
reception
Ed Rivadavia from the All Music Guide praises the compositions - despite the occasional predictability - in their musical diversity and recommends the album to fans of extreme yet accessible Metal . Frodi Stenberg from the Metal Observer particularly emphasizes the technical skills of the musicians involved in an album that increases from song to song and has convinced him, who had treated the genre as exhaustive, of the opposite. Michael Popke of Sea of Tranquility sees the musicians beyond all doubt regarding the control of their instruments and the compositional skills; However, he was not convinced by the style of Jari Mäenpää's singing , it would not be in harmony with the rest.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Story of Ensiferum ( memento October 19, 2012 on WebCite ). Retrieved December 2, 2012
- ↑ www.cduniverse.com
- ↑ Michael Mutz: CD Review: Wintersun - Wintersun Tour Edition (DVD). (No longer available online.) In: Metal1.info. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012 ; Retrieved July 21, 2008 .
- ↑ a b Interview with POWERMETAL.de
- ↑ Interview with Jari Muchtenpää on Tartareandesire.com
- ↑ a b c Ciaran Meeks: Jari Mypenpää. Metaleater, December 29, 2004, archived from the original on May 29, 2006 ; accessed on March 18, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Interview with Jari Muchtenpää at getreadytorock.com
- ^ Ed Rivadavia: Wintersun Review. In: Allmusic . Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
- ^ Frodi Stenberg: Wintersun Review. In: Metal Observer. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
- ↑ Michael Popke: Wintersun Review. In: Sea of Tranquility. August 3, 2005, accessed July 19, 2008 .