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Wintersun - Time I review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
8.7

1151 users:
8.38
Band: Wintersun
Album: Time I
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

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!

Musically, this is a happy album, giving us dreams and hopes about the snow melting one day. It's simply like a journey, and a good one, because the lyrics and singing fit well into the music; somehow it talks to you and you're taken away, kidnapped by music. The guitars and keyboards are wonderfully arranged. I never really cared for this particular type of singing, but clean vocals always can bring more emotions into music, and to me, music without emotions is boring and worthless, just some insane drumming that nobody will remember.

Jari's singing is good in that even without knowing the lyrics already you can clearly hear what he sings and you can follow along. The lyrics and song titles are wholly Scandinavian. You just exist in winter, dream about summer, and watch how the time slips away and you are lost in time. You wake up and think, "Wait a second. I was on holiday for 17 years of wasted youth, and where am I now?" To me, it seems that this is a one-man band, because Jari Mäenpää is the main man overall; the rest just play what they are supposed to.

One good thing about this album is that it came out eight years after the first one. That's good; no rush. Velvet Revolver's first album, Contraband, was brilliant, but the next one, Libertad, was pure shit made by various demands and money ruined a deal whit a divel. I don't see such things here. It's good that Wintersun has never been such a big live band; live music brings money, but we have way too many live events with the same bands and setlists around, which makes things boring in my opinion.

The negative part of this album is that it doesn't quite fit the winter night life as well as the first album does.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 8

Written by Bad English | 20.12.2016




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Staff review by
Baz Anderson
Rating:
7.5
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?

Read more ››
published 22.10.2012 | Comments (220)


Comments

Comments: 8   [ 2 ignored ]   Visited by: 148 users
20.12.2016 - 05:11
UPDIRNS

I think this album is a 10 out of 10. Just like their first album. Both are masterpieces. When an album can transform the world around you, grab you from reality and wash away all your thoughts so you can focus only the music it's special. Few albums have changed my perspective on life. Time I has become an imprint. It's the first album I think of when winter comes. I live in Maine. We get a lot of snow. Being outdoors in the woods on a sled can be magical. Listen to this album after a good ride and wow!!
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20.12.2016 - 07:06
Rating: 8
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Can't be a 10 while Land Of Snow And Sorrow is there. Holds the rest of the album back.
----
"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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20.12.2016 - 10:07
Rating: 9
LeKiwi
High Fist Prog
Written by M C Vice on 20.12.2016 at 07:06

Can't be a 10 while Land Of Snow And Sorrow is there. Holds the rest of the album back.

lolwut. That's the best song on the album.
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20.12.2016 - 11:38
Rating: 10
Sword_Chant

It's perfect in my opinion. My only worry with them taking so long between releases, is that the overall sound of Time II could end up becoming too far reaching from Time I, so it ends up sounding like 2 different albums, and not like a 2 part album. I mean this in terms of everything, eg. guitar tone, production, and quality of songs. I do hope i'm wrong though.
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20.12.2016 - 12:32
Rating: 8
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Written by M C Vice on 20.12.2016 at 07:06

Can't be a 10 while Land Of Snow And Sorrow is there. Holds the rest of the album back.

I agree on this one. Weakest track on the record for me, and not only because it's the melancholic one.
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20.12.2016 - 23:06
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
1th one was better, originally wrote this for 1th one, then saw bunch of non staffer reviews, re wrote, edited , profreadet and fixed to this one
Much weeker as 1th one
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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19.04.2017 - 16:52
owlsarepretty080
Account deleted
Hello! this complex question. Here it is necessary to think ...
192.168.1.1
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19.04.2017 - 22:34
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
^I smell a bot
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
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