It took Wintersun twelve years to bring us the follow-up to their flagship album.
2024 is an important year for Jari Mäenpää (guitar/vocals, ex-Ensiferum), Kai Hahto (drums, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Nightwish, ex-Rotten Sound, ex-Swallow the Sun), Teemu Mäntysaari (guitar, Megadeth) and Jukka Koskinen (bass, Nightwish, Crownshift, ex-Norther), who finally unveil Time II, on Nuclear Blast. Like the first opus, the album is illustrated by Cameron Gray.
Fields Of Snow opens this new piece in the band’s history with sounds that start out very calm, then become more lively and finally intoxicating, blending a Symphonic approach with playful Folk influences to join The Way Of The Fire. Starting with a simple melody, the band’s fury takes over, first with a frantic rhythm section before the vocal parts join in the epic charge, whether with howls or vindictive clean vocals on the choruses. We’ve become accustomed to the band’s long, well-crafted lead parts, and they’re back on this track, showcasing the guitarists’ prowess before an explosive finale that leads into One With The Shadows and its initial heaviness, complemented by the continuation of solid riffs where the vocalist shows off his abilities. A slower, more minimalist approach to the solos is noted, before the band gives us a moment’s respite with Ominous Clouds, a captivating, classically-influenced instrumental interlude set against a downpour before Storm takes over, letting the thunder rumble to sound the rhythmic blaze. The choir reinforces the interventions of the vocalist, who doesn’t hesitate to launch into epic flights of fancy while his comrades ensure a base as beautiful as it is devastating, which he completes wonderfully, but the break will once again calm the spirits before the guitars free themselves, and lead us towards the end of this torrential downpour, then to Silver Leaves which welcomes us with its hypnotic notes. We feel the atmosphere intensifying, and it’s not long before the saturation joins the throbbing march, taking advantage of the slowness to become jerky and majestic, allowing the clear voice to guide us through the different soundscapes and fill us with wonder at every moment, before finally letting nature help us come to our senses.
It’s been a long wait for Wintersun fans, but it’s been worth it. With Time II, the Finns offer us both an epic and a deliverance, bringing their Melodic Symphonic Death Metal to its pinnacle.
95/100