Wintersun - Time I review
| Band: | Wintersun |
| Album: | Time I |
| Style: | Extreme power metal |
| Release date: | October 2012 |
Disc I
01. When Time Fades Away
02. Sons Of Winter And Stars
1 - Rain Of Stars
2 - Surrounded By Darkness
3 - Journey Inside A Dream
4 - Sons Of Winter And Stars
03. Land Of Snow And Sorrow
04. Darkness And Frost
05. Time
06. [hidden track] [Mediabook & Mailorder edition bonus]
Disc II [DVD] [Mediabook bonus]
+ Time I Live Rehearsals At Sonic Pump Studios
+ Licks & Tricks
+ Sons Of Winter And Stars - Project Demonstration
+ Photo Gallery
Disc III [instrumental CD] [Mailorder edition bonus]
01. When Time Fades Away
02. Sons Of Winter And Stars
1 - Rain Of Stars
2 - Surrounded By Darkness
3 - Journey Inside A Dream
4 - Sons Of Winter And Stars
03. Land Of Snow And Sorrow
04. Darkness And Frost
05. Time
One of the most highly anticipated albums of the last decade; Time I finally ends the eight year silence, but was the wait worth it?
After the charming Eastern folk influenced introduction, it soon becomes apparent that things have changed with the band in the last eight years. From the album theme of comprehending human emotion and our time on earth to the musicianship and ambitious nature of the orchestrations, Wintersun have aimed for a much grander sound.
Much more symphonic, bombastic even, "Sons Of Winter And Stars" kicks the album off with high spirit and energy. Eight years all of a sudden becomes a little more understandable with the amount of attention to detail and intricate compositions that are so copiously and lavishly interlaced into the music. The musicianship is absolutely top-notch throughout and the closing two minutes of the song provide a wonderfully epic and memorable crescendo.
The album has so many layers, it is deeply ambitious. Time I is an album that has very clearly had so much dedication and effort put into it, but at times it also sounds like Jari has become so consumed with making this the masterpiece everyone wanted that it becomes a little over-indulgent with how complex and dense the compositions are. We are presented a masterclass of orchestration in metal, but it is a challenge to digest and connect with.
With a running time of forty minutes, which includes the introduction and interlude, Time I as a standalone album is very short. The previously mentioned "Sons Of Winter And Stars" and title track "Time" are both great songs and enough to make you crave the second album, but it is hard not to feel underwhelmed when the album seems to cut short. It isn't made any better with a questionable light and quiet production either. Time I then is exactly that; the first of two halves, not the complete article.
The album is mindblowingly impressive in portions, but is just a little too complex and indulgent for its own good. Perhaps along with Time II the picture will become complete, but even though this album has some golden moments - it just feels unfinished alone.
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Symphonic Extreme Power metal
Nuclear Blast
Finland
Length: 40:07
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 7 |
Rating:
8.7
8.7
|
Rating: 8.7 |
Wintersun - is it real? Well, no, it isn't. We hardly see the sun; for four whole weeks, it never shines. Allow me to copy the style of DerRozzengarten (the greatest reviewer ever), who knows how to write proper metaphors. Such music is never meant to explain northern life for people who have never actually walked on a frozen river or cleared snow from their car before work (I'm not taking a jab at the French, Dutch, or Danish, who usually overreact when they see 1 cm of snow). Imagine the pre-internet days: it's blizzard beasts, mid-winter, the sun never shines, just 22 hours of darkness and twilight in between. There is nothing to do, only good music, books, or finding a way to channel your creativity. Outside activities, aside from collecting firewood and cleaning snow? I don't think so (but wait a minute, Jari lives in the city anyway?). Anyway, the streets are dead and frozen, the horizon is dark, and night light is ablaze on the snow. All you can do is wait for spring and then summer to arrive slowly. I've done it all my life, still do, and we all did. It's typical northern madness! Read more ›› |
Comments page 7 / 8
| Ernis 狼獾 Posts: 6807  |
Thanks for the review, Baz. I think you found the best possible rating. I agree that it does sound good but it certainly is overrated because of the hype created during those eight years. I found Tyr's "Ragnarök" more polyphonic and spellbinding than "The Sons of Winter and Stars"... yep... lots of cheese... even more than in Nightwish... Written by opeth771 on 22.10.2012 at 23:14 It amazes me that so many people still think that the average score is calculated by using the ratings for performance, songwriting, originality and production. Example: the performance is good, the songwriting is professional, the music is original and the production is crystal-clear but the album and music just DO NOT stand out enough to deserve a 10 even though the four parameters qualify for a 10. You really thought reviewers take out their calculators when they've finished writing? Written by Guest on 22.10.2012 at 21:33 Let's say you like Megan Fox and I like Keira Knightley... will you say I'm blind just because I prefer Keira Knightley and not Megan Fox? Other than that... how come this thread's got five pages? Most of it probably some off-topic drama... guys, spend more time outside!
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| EW Posts: 26  |
Written by Ernis on 25.10.2012 at 19:59 You must be blind if you prefer Keira Knightly. Wayyy too skinny. This album did feel way too short and incomplete. like having a cheesy burger with no fries and coke, I'm not completely satisfied. Plus the whole 2 album release thing feels like a cash grab to me.
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| advent Posts: 268  |
Written by Daniell on 25.10.2012 at 16:26 agree, but i have to add that he focused in the wrong direction, layering , mixing and production more than songwriting ,composing and instruments , and that is a big flaw and i think that 8 years made him overworked the album not adding to it.
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| essbee Posts: 53 |
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276  |
Written by Guest on 26.10.2012 at 22:57 Why would he bother? He clearly beat you! 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Grody2themax Posts: 240  |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 24.10.2012 at 23:17 Yes...but when you have experience, then your opinion tends to start to have more value, and a stronger basis. Everyone is allowed to their own opinion on something. Regarding the review, through listening to one song, I almost agree with the main idea of the review. It seems that there are so many different things going on, but it seems to lack many strong hooks and great songwriting, which was exhibited on the first one. This feels like it was written with a few boring ideas, then about 50 other tracks thrown on top of it to fill out sound.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by Grody2themax on 27.10.2012 at 02:31 That's pretty obvious... I just start to have problems when people imply that the only way to have an opinion about art is if you are an artist yourself. Which is by all means: Bullshit.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Grody2themax Posts: 240 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.10.2012 at 02:34 Agreed, being a musician can actually work against your favor in forming opinions. For example, you can say, "bebop is the most complex form of music, look at all of the music theory behind their work, everything else is pale in comparison", and then they could go on to try to force themselves to like grandpa jazz. In this very common case, the musician is misguided not just in music, but in life in general. He/she probably has a terrible opinion on music. I have a problem when non musicians imply that every musician is pretentious. I'm not accusing you of this though.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by Grody2themax on 27.10.2012 at 02:46 A good example of that is when bands tell everyone they play x genre... where said genre couldn't be more off. 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Grody2themax Posts: 240 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.10.2012 at 02:52 Well, sort of agreed. When a band sets out to write x genre, and plays just that, it can sound pretty boring a lot of times. Opeth might be a good example of what you brought up, but they happen to have arguably one of the most authentic sounds in metal.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by Grody2themax on 27.10.2012 at 03:09 I was thinking more about bands like Dissection who said their last album was Black Metal and Children Of Bodom said the same thing at some point... Or Bring Me The Horizon that they played grindcore.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Grody2themax Posts: 240 |
 Written by X-Ray Rod on 27.10.2012 at 03:11 Children of Bodom was sort of black metal influenced at one point imo, and I think they always said they would classify themselves as just metal. But I'd rather not get into a stupid argument over that lol. My point is that the last part of your statement is not of any value to this discussion because BMTH are not musicians. 
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| Parasomnia Posts: 50  |
Personally, I waited until I'd listened to the whole album 9 or 10 times through to say if I liked it or not. Just like any extremely complex/layered music, it takes a long time for everything to sink in and for the melodies to start to catch.. but once they do, it's hard to stop listening. Excited for part 2, especially "The Way of the Fire."
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| Carl Berg Carl Berg Posts: 589  |
Written by Parasomnia on 27.10.2012 at 09:45 Yeah, I hope that album will have more of the technical aspect of Wintersun everybody was waiting for. Where are the lightning-speed solos??
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| stationarytravel Account deleted |
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| metalbrat Posts: 868 |
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| Passe Posts: 21 |
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1168  |
A bit too bombastic for petit moi. I've always enjoyed Jari's voice though, and I look forward to the day when I can hear the WHOLE album.
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| theFIST Posts: 1061  |
Written by Ernis on 27.10.2012 at 01:36 Seriously? she has no breasts or other curves she is the perfect example of a woman that starved away all gender indications outside the crotch area
---- http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18276 |
Written by Guest on 01.12.2012 at 16:11 THANK YOU! That needed to be said.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
KK is indeed the unacttractive NP
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Azarath Free as a.. Fish Posts: 959  |
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 714 |
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| henrihell93 Posts: 16  |
I actually asked the Kai Hahto what takes so long (back in 2009) and he told me that the computers keep crashing because of the number of tracks on the songs. There's up to 1600 tracks in a song on that album. That's what took so long.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
And someone else believes they have been spouting about the computers
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| AngelofDeth Cyborg Raptor Posts: 1183  |
Written by henrihell93 on 10.01.2013 at 22:50 And thats why this album sounds so shitty. No song will sound good with 1600 tracks on it, thats just straight clutter. They should have deleted some tracks instead of getting new computers and maybe the album wouldve sounded better, cleaner and more refined. Less is more sometimes.
---- pewpew.. gotcha
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| Stunning Cactus Posts: 319  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.10.2012 at 06:20 I would just like to point out that only in recent years did the appropriate releases of certain 64-bit VSTs become available (these are virtual synthesizers used in DAWs). Information on this was on the Wintersun official webpage. Jari needed these in order to finish creating and mixing the album. I'm not devaluing your opinion, but just wanted to make it known that part of the reason it took so long to make was because of software release dates.
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| Vombatus Potorro Posts: 2355  |
Even if it took him a year or two to make this is long considering how bad the mix and orchestrations are. I still remember an interview (I think it was in Bloodstock) where Jari stated he spent 3 years learning how to use the programs (talk about a slow learner...). Anyway, I never cared for the band as generic melodeath/extremepower/whatevercrapitis isn't my thing.... so yeah, whatever.
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He can say whatever he wants about any band... and so can you! 
I alsoI don't remember reading anywhere that he claimed he was a "know-it-all" so the "practice what you preach" argument is not really valid here.Hits total: 26897 | This month: 44