Biography
In 2002 Jari Mäenpäa exited the Finnish Viking metal band Ensiferum, having previously sung and played multiple instruments in Arthemesia. He launched Wintersun with drummer Kai Hahto, who had last worked with the grindcore outfit Rotten Sound. Their self-titled debut appeared on Nuclear Blast in 2004, merging the folk strains heard in fellow Finnish groups like Amorphis and Finntroll with the precision, velocity, and soaring melodies of neo-classical power metal. After eight years of near-total inactivity, Wintersun resurfaced with the follow-up album Time I, again released by Nuclear Blast in 2012.