Wintersun thread (New album, "TIME I", is out!)

[?]

Sorry about the obligatory plugging, but the website that I write for did an interview with Jukka earlier this month about the crowdfunding campaign.

[Luoto]

Full concert from Nummirock last weekend, semi-official bootleg uploaded by Jari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvrllx0xDPU

The show starts with Awaken from the Dark Slumber (Spring).

[gazinwales]

Yeah I saw it a couple of days ago, Jari's live vocals have improved out of sight since he dropped playing guitar.
Three weeks today the new album drops, along with all the the other crowd funding goodies, can't wait.

[gazinwales]

Bumping this, as the new album The Forest Seasons is out today.
Got my link for the CF package around 0300, so I was tired but eager to sample.

Glad to say that the album is nothing like Time 1, but still has many layers to pick away and digest before fully appreciating.

Oh the isolated Time ! tracks are amazing and killer songs in their own right.

[ErHaO]

Unfortunately I am not really digging the new album thus far. Not really a hook that stood out to me, but I can't say it is bad either.

And a little pet peeve of mine is how Jari handles "choirs". He rallies up an x amount of dudes and let's them sing the same melody in a lower and higher octave, layers them over each other, and calls it a day. It can sound neat here and there as it sounds like a group of friends singing a song at a party, but it for his ambitious epics I find it lacking.

[gazinwales]

It's actually a real love of mine with Wintersun and also Ensiferum do it now and then.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Their live studio version of Sons of winter and stars is still as epic! 

[wolfking]

Got my hopes up when I saw this thread bumped.

But yeah, that DVD that comes with Time 1 is incredible.

[gazinwales]

Yeah me too, I don't think Time II will ever come out now.

[wolfking]

I will say, I think The Forest Seasons is my fav Wintersun album, that's the one I go to anyway the most.  4 brilliant songs.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Oh sry guys, I know very well it's sensetive to bump this thread without news. Time runs slow in Jaris part of the world.

[wolfking]

Oh sry guys, I know very well it's sensetive to bump this thread without news. Time runs slow in Jaris part of the world.

Runs backwards I'm pretty sure.

[gazinwales]

I will say, I think The Forest Seasons is my fav Wintersun album, that's the one I go to anyway the most.  4 brilliant songs.

TFS is actually an all Jari demo that he polished into a fully fledged Wintersun album.
He plays all the instruments, drum machine, with only the backing vocals from the other band members.

[ErHaO]

At the very least I hope he will just go into the studio and record that Time song that never released and that they played live like a decade ago.

I will say, I think The Forest Seasons is my fav Wintersun album, that's the one I go to anyway the most.  4 brilliant songs.

Interesting, maybe I need to revisit it to see if I like it more.

[gazinwales]

Early April fool's day joke, Jari has posted that Time II is 100% complete 

WINTERSUN ALBUM UPDATE - BIGGEST WINTERSUN NEWS
TIME II = 100% DONE. Enough said.
"This album has been the biggest challenge in my life and I'm still kinda surprised it is finally done." - Jari
“The day finally came: TIME II is done!! Couldn’t be happier!” - Jukka
"I thought this day would never arrive and when Jari sent me a message that TIME II was ready I still couldn’t understand that we were finally done after all the obstacles and challenges. I am more than happy now. Cheers!" - Kai
"Whoa, I think Jari surprised us all! I’m happy that after all these years the album is finally ready!" - Teemu
Next week a little bit more information about the album release plans... Stay tuned!

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Early April fool's day joke, Jari has posted that Time II is 100% complete 

WINTERSUN ALBUM UPDATE - BIGGEST WINTERSUN NEWS
TIME II = 100% DONE. Enough said.
"This album has been the biggest challenge in my life and I'm still kinda surprised it is finally done." - Jari
“The day finally came: TIME II is done!! Couldn’t be happier!” - Jukka
"I thought this day would never arrive and when Jari sent me a message that TIME II was ready I still couldn’t understand that we were finally done after all the obstacles and challenges. I am more than happy now. Cheers!" - Kai
"Whoa, I think Jari surprised us all! I’m happy that after all these years the album is finally ready!" - Teemu
Next week a little bit more information about the album release plans... Stay tuned!

So they took over 11 years to complete it, now is it going to take another 11 years to release it?

[wolfking]

This album is fair in the 'believe it when I see it' category, but definitely interested and hopefully is does come out sooner rather than later.

[ErHaO]

... no way!   

Some of his music for me is the best of it's genre and both Wintersun probably would rank quite high in my top 50 albums of all time. A new Wintersun release will have my attention, but this will be one of those cases where it is hard to live up to the legacy behind it. Not just after Time I, but the fact that the whole Time thing began in 2006.

[wolfking]

... no way!   

Some of his music for me is the best of it's genre and both Wintersun probably would rank quite high in my top 50 albums of all time. A new Wintersun release will have my attention, but this will be one of those cases where it is hard to live up to the legacy behind it. Not just after Time I, but the fact that the whole Time thing began in 2006.

I agree.  With the build up and hype of this for so long, no matter how good it could be, it probably still won't meet the collective expectations.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

... no way!   

Some of his music for me is the best of it's genre and both Wintersun probably would rank quite high in my top 50 albums of all time. A new Wintersun release will have my attention, but this will be one of those cases where it is hard to live up to the legacy behind it. Not just after Time I, but the fact that the whole Time thing began in 2006.

I agree.  With the build up and hype of this for so long, no matter how good it could be, it probably still won't meet the collective expectations.

I don't know, my expectations are pretty low at this point. I thought Time I was a step down from the first Wintersun album. And then The Forest Seasons was another step down.

[wolfking]

Yeah, fair enough.  I guess I couldn't really care myself truthfully.  Maybe living up to the hype.....or anticipation is a better term.  I dunno, Forest Seasons is actually my fav so what the hell would I know.

[Buddyhunter1]

People are more than justified to be skeptical at this point. At least with Fear Inoculum, Tool didn't claim to actually be working on the album for all that time it took to come out.

Apparently around a year ago the band (which is to say, just Jari) uploaded a "limited time" single to Bandcamp called Warning, and this RYM review is one of the most hilariously brutal things I've read on the website.

Jari slapped together this desperate, pathetic, sad and embarrassing 2-minutes of djenty cringe so that he could shill some new guitars. This song and music video are nothing more than ad space.

It's probably not even worth commenting on the fact that this sounds nothing like Wintersun of the past or that despite Jari's well-developed self-cultivated image as some kind of autistic perfectionist when it comes to mixing his tracks, the mix on this sounds atrocious.

Wintersun is quite possibly the longest-running, most successful scam in all of metal. It's the grift that keeps on giving. The utter train wreck that is this "band" is nothing if not entertaining, and if there is anything to be gleaned from this release, it is indeed a warning that the future of Wintersun looks bleaker and more comedic than ever.

Stay classy, Jari.

[Luoto]

I'm actually cautiously optimistic because this material was written simultaneously with Time I. He can ruin it with too many bells and whistles, of course

[gazinwales]

The Time album was originally supposed to be released as one complete album.
NB forced Jari to give them a partly completed album, hence Time I.
Time II was supposed to be out 12 months after the first Time, but as we know that never happened.

Down the years Jari stated on his FB page that Time II will never be completed and a bunch of other diatribe.
Which asks the question, will Time be released as a complete album and will the Time I material, be remixed, re-amped to sound the same as Time II?

Put it this way Wintersun has actually only released one full album, the S/T debut.
Time I was only half an album and TFS was a Jari demo that he sold us as a proper WS album.

[ProfessorPeart]

He did redo Time I about 6 years ago or so and released it on their Bandcamp. That's the version I have, which he called Time I 1.5.

[gazinwales]

Time II crowdfunding campaign starts March 1st....
I'm getting a bulk supply of popcorn for this one 

[Buddyhunter1]

Time II crowdfunding campaign starts March 1st....

[gazinwales]

He did redo Time I about 6 years ago or so and released it on their Bandcamp. That's the version I have, which he called Time I 1.5.

This was first sold as part of the original CF package and not really that much different from the original NB version.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I mean I'll buy the album if it actually comes out, but I'll pass on that crowdfunding deal.

I imagine it'll reach its goal pretty quickly, though. People don't learn.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Time II crowdfunding campaign starts March 1st....
I'm getting a bulk supply of popcorn for this one 

Wait.....is this real?

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

lol I didn't even bother to check.

[wolfking]

Time II crowdfunding campaign starts March 1st....

Yeah.......nah.  I'll pass.

[wolfking]

TIME II RELEASE AND WINTERSUN CROWDFUNDING II (FOLLOW-UP UPDATE)

So last Friday, we dropped the biggest news and gave a Wintersun album update of a lifetime! And yes indeed, TIME II is finally done. 100% DONE! And it sounds massive!

Were you guys surprised? 🙂

Thank you to everyone for supporting and helping us to get it finally finished! We’ll be dropping more information along the way about the album and how all this happened.

Now… We need just a little bit more patience from you guys while we prepare everything for the release. The album booklet (Gyula Havancsák is working on it), promo photos (we have a photoshoot soon with Onni Wiljami Kinnunen), merchandise, physical release (CD, vinyl) with Nuclear Blast, etc.

If everything goes according to plan, the album release will happen in the late summer of 2024, the latest early fall.

Before that, we will launch the second crowdfunding campaign, planned to start on March 1st, which will be a pre-order for a very big PACKAGE that will include TIME II. More information about this later, but let’s just say that there are a lot more surprises we have in store for you!

Wait, I don't get it, if it's all getting done now with the release, what's the crowdfunding for?  What would happen if he didn't meet a specific financial goal?  I'd hate to think. 

Unless he's just trying to get as much of the costs back as possible in quick turnaround?

[gazinwales]

01 March 2024 and the 'crowdfunding' is now live.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wintersun-time-ii-pre-order-with-time-package?fbclid=IwAR1wyYvnYOPcuQLSkkkhewxyfNtR7OHiQxpC_nTgQ0F4FoDAFs1LfrZkisQ#/

[wolfking]

To be fair, the package for the price is actually pretty damn good.  Lots of content.