vote
8.0
- Band:
WINTERSUN - Duration: 00:48:40
- Available from: 08/30/2024
- Label:
-
Nuclear Blast
Streaming not yet available
In 2012, Wintersun released their second album, “Time I”, a record that certainly aroused contrasting reactions between those who, also indulging in the very high expectations created by high-sounding presentations, praised it as one of the greatest masterpieces of all time and those who, instead, panned it, considering it perhaps too dispersive if not even inconclusive due to the quantity of themes and stratifications used, with songs that were too open and without a supporting structure.
Of course we have tried to summarise a discussion which is in reality much more complex and full of arguments but, in the opinion of the writer, “Time I” is an excellent album (perhaps judged a little harshly at the time even on these pages), of a good standard both from the compositional and interpretative point of view, as well as for the quality of the arrangements.
But perhaps the most important aspect is that it is an album that still sounds very fresh and current today, also for its great ability to mix very different genres: in “Time I” we can find melodic death, power metal, prog metal, neoclassical solos, symphonic metal, some hints of the most modernist gothic/death or some folk reminiscences, which are not put there randomly all together in a sort of crossover, but really assimilated by the band and condensed into a single style. In essence, Wintersun did not invent a genre and are probably not better than anyone else in playing it, but they manage to make many different influences coexist, creating their own style, their own proposal, their own trademark.
This might have been unwelcome to many in a period where there was perhaps still a greater tendency to conceive the various genres as somewhat compartmentalized, but in some ways Wintersun had already paved the way for a trend that in fact later became the key to the success of many other bands.
The title of “Time I” itself suggested that there would be a second part, but leader Jari Mäenpää made a huge mistake in our opinion in thinking he could dedicate himself to something else first, publishing the mediocre “The Forest Seasons” in 2017 and launching some very successful crowdfunding campaigns with which he created his own studio.
The release of “Time II” has been announced and awaited for a very long time, but it has finally arrived, a good twelve years after the previous one.
Despite the long temporal distance, this second part is closely connected to the first, so much so that if you listen to them in sequence, our impression is that the two albums really seem to have been released in a rather close period.
Even in this case, the tracklist includes two instrumental tracks, one of which is placed at the beginning: it is actually a sort of intro that is quite long and even a bit bizarre, considering the way it tends to accentuate oriental sounds, but in fact listening to the album you will notice how in reality this also anticipates some themes that will then be taken up again several times during the other songs. This reference to the East is also well expressed by the cover itself, where a cherry tree is depicted in a snowy atmosphere, with a mountain in the background that makes us think of Fuji. Furthermore, in some tracks some ethnic instruments are also used, especially from the Chinese tradition, such as theheya typical string instrument.
Continuing the analogy with the first “Time”, one of the album’s strong points is undoubtedly the second track, “The Way Of The Fire”, which fully encompasses all the elements and characteristics of the band’s sound, with both extreme and clear singing and a style that touches on various genres, in a truly effective condensation of anger, power, melancholy, between symphonic passages and interludes of various kinds, with at least two splendid guitar solos: one, slower and full of feeling; the other, faster and of a neoclassical style.
The following “One With Shadows” is also excellent, while “Ominus Clouds” is the second instrumental of the album, a sort of guitar caprice that aims to be very atmospheric. “Storm” is the darkest and perhaps heaviest track on the album, with a very open structure, which however, to tell the truth, does not convince us entirely, because to convey the sense of the storm it presents at least three-four minutes of absolute chaos, with a very fast rhythm and many stratifications, giving an idea of extreme confusion, to then bring a final trail a bit long of almost silence, interspersed only by the sound of distant thunder. Let's say that it remains an interesting song, however, considering its duration of over twelve minutes, the times perhaps could have been managed in a more optimal way. In fact, even in the final “Silver Leaves” there is a long trail of 'almost silence', but in this case it makes more sense because it comes after a long song that insists on oriental themes and represents a moment of authentic quiet after a long journey, a sort of state of mind after having crossed the storm and the darkness to rediscover the harmony of life and the beauty of nature.
We believe that with “Time II” Wintersun have really hit the mark by creating a very intense album, to be discovered and metabolized slowly, where you can appreciate the beauty of the lyrics and you can always discover new facets or new points of view with each listen. It is an album where nothing seems to have been left to chance, but at the same time it manages to involve and enchant because the band always tries to touch a spectrum of emotions transmitted in a style that musically does not allow boundaries.
The Finns demonstrate with “Time II” that they have been able to pick up the conversation right where they left off with “Time I”, beyond the fact that several songs were already conceived years ago but still taking into account all the time and everything that happened in between. We don’t know what path their career will take at this point, if it will end with this album, in a certain sense almost even 'due' to their fans who have waited so long for it, or if they will be able to give a worthy follow-up with other works.
What is certain, let us say, given the quality of this work, is that it was a real shame for the band itself to lose all these years: probably many things would have gone differently and in any case, as the title also suggests, the 'time' lost will never return.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM