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Wintersun is a Finnish Symphonic metal/melodic death metal band from Helsinki originally formed as the side project of Jari Mäenpää, then-vocalist and guitarist of folk metal band Ensiferum.
In 2003, Mäenpää began pulling together songs that he had been working on since 1995. These songs followed specific themes described by Mäenpää as majestic, "spacy", and melodic. While Mäenpää planned to perform and record each instrument for the first album himself, he still required a drummer. He sent demos to Kai Hahto, former member of Rotten Sound, who agreed to perform the drums.
After obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää scheduled studio time to record the first album. Ensiferum's tour to support their 2004 release was scheduled at the same time, which forced Mäenpää to request time off from the band. The band instead fired him, and Mäenpää was free to go ahead with the production of his self-titled album, Wintersun.
After the release of Wintersun, the band found permanent members to perform shows and promote the album, although a keyboardist would never be found due to the increasingly-complex and expansive nature of the orchestrations and synth parts on the new music that Mäenpää was writing at the time. In 2006, Wintersun began work on their second and third albums, Time I and Time II, which were initially intended to be released as a single album. Recording began in May of that year, but the albums would be the recipient of years-long delays for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was the complexity of each song's mix.
Two of the band's members, drummer Kai Hahto and bassist Jukka Koskinen, are also members of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. In November 2023, Teemu Mäntysaari became a full member of American thrash metal band Megadeth, having filled-in on their most recent tour after Kiko Loureiro's departure.
Mäenpää contacted Rotten Sound drummer Kai Hahto, who, upon hearing demos, agreed to work as the session drummer for Wintersun. Mäenpää and Hahto recorded demo versions of "Winter Madness", "Beyond the Dark Sun", and "Death and the Healing", which were sent directly to Nuclear Blast. The label offered a contract for several albums stipulating that a three-song demo must be approved before each new album is recorded.
Even after obtaining a record deal, Mäenpää intended on keeping Wintersun as a side project during his tenure as lead singer and guitarist for Ensiferum. Unfortunately, to support the 2004 release of Ensiferum's Iron, Spinefarm Records scheduled a European tour with dates that conflicted with recording studio time Mäenpää had booked to record Wintersun. After requesting a break from the band, Mäenpää was fired from Ensiferum.
Mäenpää focused his energies on recording Wintersun despite the lack of formal band members. The vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards on Wintersun were performed solely by Mäenpää, who was already adept at recording multi-instrumental songs, having grown up with 8- and 16-track equipment. Three studios were used in the making of Wintersun: drums were recorded at Tico-Tico Studios, Mäenpää's vocals, synth, and guitarwork were recorded at Sundi Coop Studios, and Nino Laurenne mixed the album at Sonic Pump Studios. Mäenpää recorded additional synth and guitar solos on his 16-track recorder. Wintersun was released on 13 September 2004.
The music video for Beyond the Dark Sun was shot over a period of two days: 3 and 4 July 2004. It was produced and directed by Maurice Swinkels.
On 4 October 2004, Wintersun announced the departure of Oliver Fokin as guitarist, and a suitable replacement would not be found until 27 December when Teemu Mäntysaari joined. The search for a keyboardist continued, and Wintersun was forced to use backing track for their future performances.
Time would face multiple setbacks, delaying the album's release for years. On 23 October 2006, Wintersun released a statement that, because recording was continually delayed, the dates for the album's mix would be pushed back to May 2007, causing Wintersun's appearance at Ragnarök Festival that same month to be cancelled. A tentative release date for August 2007 was given.
On 17 April 2007, Mäenpää released a statement updating the status on the album, detailing that difficulties with hardware failures caused further delays in the recording process. The mix dates were cancelled, and because Laurenne's schedule at Sonic Pump Studios was full for the remainder of the year, the album's release was pushed back further. By this time, all guitars, including solos and acoustic, were recorded, and the intro was completed. Mäenpää had begun composing and arranging the synth layers, but stress and frustration had been hindering his creativity.
Hahto issued an update on 5 June 2008, explaining that the album's delay would be indefinite. Difficulties with computer hardware due to limited amount of RAM affected Mäenpää's ability to compose orchestrations in real time. However, the band appeared in Metalcamp in July 2008.
While technical difficulties pursued Wintersun into 2009, problems impeding the album's progress would eventually include Mäenpää's actual apartment. The increase in stress caused Mäenpää to have writer's block. Wintersun cancelled all 2009 promotional tours to focus solely on the album's completion.
On 17 November 2010, the Wintersun official homepage was updated stating that they would again be playing live shows. Three events, Metalfest, Bloodstock, and Metalcamp were announced. The reason stated for these shows was that a deal with their label provided money for new computer hardware in return for playing the shows.
On 16 March 2012, Wintersun announced via their official homepage that they would headline the Heidenfest Tour in October 2012. The band also stated that the mixing of their new album, Time, was going well and that a release was planned for late summer of the same year. They also stated that Time would be split in two albums. On 18 July 2012, Wintersun announced on their official homepage that part I of Time would be released on 12 October 2012. Time I was released a week later than anticipated on 19 October 2012. In support of the new album, Wintersun embarked on their first tour of North America, supporting Eluveitie along with Varg, starting in late November.
Mixing for Time II began in early 2013. The band stated the album "will continue where 'Time I' left off" and include seven guitar solos. The album was expected to be released in early 2014. In August 2013, Wintersun embarked on a second North American tour. Support was provided by fellow Nuclear Blast artists Fleshgod Apocalypse, Arsis, and Starkill, with Wintersun headlining.
On 29 January 2015, Wintersun announced via their official Facebook page that Kai Hahto would be unable to perform in upcoming live shows, due to his obligations to Nightwish. Timo Häkkinen was named as his temporary replacement for live performances. In November 2016, Wintersun announced that they were looking for a second guitarist for the band so Mäenpää could focus solely on vocals during live performances.
On 17 August 2017, the band posted their future tour dates and notified fans that drummer, Kai Hahto, is still recovering from hand injuries and cannot tour. Hahto will be continuing his tour with Nightwish. Wintersun announced its new session drummer will be Rolf Pilve of Stratovarius.
On 15 July 2019, Hahto was announced as Nightwish's permanent drummer following Jukka Nevalainen's decision not to return to the band.
On 28 May 2021, Jukka Koskinen was revealed as Nightwish's session bass player for in 2021 and 2022. Koskinen was announced to have joined Nightwish as a full-time member on 21 August 2022.
On 4 May 2022, it was announced that session guitarist Asim Searah had departed the band.
On 28 November 2023, Teemu Mäntysaari was announced as a full member of Megadeth following the departure of Kiko Loureiro.
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