Wintersun (2)

Metal band from Helsinki, Finland, founded in 2003 by vocalist/guitarist Jari Mäenpää. Wintersun originally started as Mäenpää's side project, but when he was fired from his main band Ensiferum in 2004, he focused on Wintersun full-time. For the debut album released in 2004, Mäenpää recorded all instruments and vocals, and Kai Hahto was hired to play the drums. Teemu Mäntysaari and Jukka Koskinen were soon added to the line-up for guitar and bass, respectively. In 2006, Wintersun began working on the second album, titled Time. The album faced years-long delays, and was ultimately splitted in two parts. First part, titled Time I, was finally released in 2012; for part two, there is no definite release date. In 2017 the band launched crowdfunding for future projects, and the third album titled The Forest Seasons was also released, which was almost entirely performed and programmed by Mäenpää. According to Mäenpää, the band is currently working on several albums, although no information of the possible release schedule has been given. Drummer Kai Hahto stepped out from performing live in 2015, due to his commitment with Nightwish. Rolf Pilve, Timo Häkkinen and Heikki Saari have since served as the touring drummers for the band. In 2017, Asim Searah was added to the line-up as the second guitarist, so that Mäenpää could focus solely on vocals during live performances. Searah was dismissed from the band in 2022. Current line-up: Jari Mäenpää - vocals, guitars, keyboards (2003–present) Teemu Mäntysaari - guitars (2004–present) Jukka Koskinen - bass (2005–present) Kai Hahto - drums (2004–present; on hiatus) Heikki Saari - drums (2017–present; touring member)