We Got the Latest Wintersun Update and for Some Stupid Reason, I’m Still Excited for Time II
It has been 11 years since Wintersun released Time I, the first of what is supposed to be a pair of records. Originally intended to be recorded and released together, the two albums were split and it quickly became apparent that frontman and main composer Jari Mäenpää demands a level of specificity and perfection that makes Axl Rose look like a lightweight.
Time 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 the modern era, and that’s what makes the rest of Wintersun’s existence so frustrating. Wintersun were supposed to release Time II in 2013, simply a year later to fix mixing issues, nail down specifics and other reasonable wants. It’s now 2023 and a lot has happened within the Wintersun camp, including a public feud with label Nuclear Blast and a crowdfunding campaign that raised half-a-million dollars to build an allegedly-necessary studio, but we still don’t have Time II.
The crowdfunded campaign did give us Wintersun’s third album, a new one called The Forest Sessions, on time and it is a good album in its own right. But 2013 was 10 years ago, 2017 was six years ago and, according to Mäenpää’s latest update via Wintersun’s Facebook page, the album is still stuck in development hell, alongside more in-progress Wintersun albums.
“Guys, I am working on an album, several in fact, like I’ve updated you many times and will keep updating. One of these albums is coming along nicely and it’s a strong possibility it’s going to be the next one. This album is way bigger production than ‘The Forest Seasons’ and it presents whole new challenges for me vocally, guitar playing and production wise. Even song writing wise, ’cause as you know I like learn and explore different composition styles and not write the same stuff over and over again, which would be easy. So I have to (and want to) constantly evolve and get better in every way. Development and learning new skills takes time. Many of these new challenges I’ve already conquered and I’m very happy with the results, some challenges still are ahead, but we are close to victory. And as Wintersun fans you guys already know that I am not going to release anything until I’m completely happy with it. And I’m guessing you wouldn’t want me to do that either, to release something unfinished. 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 one of these albums that he keeps talking about and I really do hope that we get Time II one day, but it’s starting to feel like Chinese Democracy. Even if the album does come out, can it even live up to expectations or did we get conned by a musician who supposedly needed 500 thousand dollars to build a cutting-edge studio for an album that Delain could probably make for a fraction of the cost?
I know the answer is probably closer to the latter possibility but I still want Time II.
