Time II

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Time II
Studio album by
Wintersun
Released30 August 2024 (2024-08-30)
Recorded2006–2023
GenreMelodic death metal, symphonic metal, power metal
Length48:37
LabelNuclear Blast
Wintersun chronology
The Forest Seasons
(2017) 		Time II
(2024)

Time II is the fourth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Wintersun. After numerous delays and being in development hell for 18 years, it was released on 30 August 2024 via Nuclear Blast and marked their first studio release in seven years, following The Forest Seasons in 2017.

The album reached first position on the Official Finnish Charts following its release.[1]

Background

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Time I and Time II were initially planned to be one full album tentatively titled Time. As of the commencement of recording in May 2006, frontman Jari Mäenpää stated that the album length would run over 65 minutes, and that it would be a concept album.[2] Furthermore, according to Mäenpää, the album's sound was to be highly intricate. Each song was said to contain about 200 tracks.[2]

On 27 February 2009, Mäenpää announced through Wintersun's official website that the band would cancel all their live appearances, including Bloodstock Open Air and Summer Breeze, in order to make way for the slow progress of the album.[3] On 26 April 2010, Mäenpää announced on the Wintersun message board that "Land of Snow and Sorrow" was completely finished and that the tracks "Storm" and "Silver Leaves" would be done soon.[4] On 17 November 2010, the band members announced on Wintersun's official website that the album was close to being completed for the most part and that the synths and orchestrations might be finished around December 2010/January 2011. Jari intended to start mixing the album afterwards.[5] On 25 December 2010, Jari stated on the Winter Madness message board that "Silver Leaves" was finished except for some orchestrations. On 26 December 2010, Jari stated that three songs are finished and ready for mixing, and that four songs have "bits and pieces" missing, including vocals.[6] On 19 March 2011, Jari announced via the Winter Madness message board that mixing had been put on hold until late summer at the earliest due to various complications, ranging from a lack of 64-bit DAW plugins to noisy nearby construction.[7] Time was eventually announced to be split into two halves and released separately, with the titles of Time I and Time II. Time I was released in 19 October 2012 in Europe and 22 October 2012 in North America.[8][9]

Production of Time II was then marred with years-long delays for a multitude of reasons, until 12 January 2024, when Wintersun announced on its social media that Time II is "100%" complete.[10] Three days later, on 15 January 2024, the band announced that "the album release will happen in the late summer of 2024, the latest early fall" and a second crowdfunding campaign was also announced.[11] On 9 February, the band revealed the track list and cover art for Time II.[12] On 26 February, the band announced Time II would be released on 30 August.[13]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Jari Mäenpää.

Time II track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Fields of Snow"4:05
2."The Way of the Fire"10:08
3."One with the Shadows"6:18
4."Ominous Clouds"2:21
5."Storm"12:15
6."Silver Leaves"13:30
Total length:48:37

Personnel

[edit]

Charts

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Chart performance for Time II
Chart (2024) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 9
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 11
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 8
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 51

References

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  1. ^ "Albumit 36/2024" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Jari Mäenpää (17 April 2007). "News update". Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2007.
  3. ^ "Wintersun Pulls Out Of Summer Breeze, Bloodstock Open Air Festivals". Roadrunner Records. 28 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  4. ^ "WINTERSUN :: View topic - Time album is progressing-Album update 24.sept.2008". Wintermadness.net. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  5. ^ Wintersun Mainman Issues New Album Update Archived 26 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine blabbermouth.net. 19 November 2010.
  6. ^ Happy birthday Jari! Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine wintermadness.net. December 2010.
  7. ^ Mixing. Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine wintermadness.net. 19 March 2011.
  8. ^ Nuclear Blast Records (4 July 2012). "WINTERSUN - TIME I - Studio Trailer (PART 1) (OFFICIAL BEHIND THE SCENES)". Archived from the original on 14 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "WINTERSUN: First Studio Trailer Posted Online". Nuclear Blast. 4 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Wintersun announce major news: "Time II" is finally finished!". Chaoszine.net. 12 January 2024.
  11. ^ "WINTERSUN To Launch Another Crowdfunding Campaign In March". metaladdicts.com. 15 January 2024.
  12. ^ "WINTERSUN Reveal "Time II" Album Cover Artwork, Tracklist". Metal Kaoz. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Wintersun julkaisee "Time II" -albuminsa elokuussa" (in Finnish). Kaaoszine. 26 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Wintersun – Time II" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Wintersun: Time II" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Wintersun – Time II" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Wintersun – Time II". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 September 2024.


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