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Wintersun's self-titled debut played a crucial role in introducing me to the harsher side of metal during my youth, which is why I'm always eager to hear what the band has been working on after their usual long stretches of inactivity. Time I was an epic, symphonic album that incorporated strong Japanese folk influences—something I found to be a nice touch. However, the tracks were often overlong, bloated, and a bit repetitive. While it was certainly an enjoyable album, it was inconsistent and not anywhere near as good as some people claim. Following the release of Time I, Wintersun released The Forest Seasons, a more consistent effort, in my opinion, which was part of a crowdfunding campaign meant to support the completion of the fabled Time II.

Given the extreme fan-driven and artist-created hype surrounding this album, it should be the musical equivalent of discovering porn. Of course, it's not even close, and my initial reaction to this album was disappointment. I mean sure, it sounds good: It's epic and grandiose, there are massive orchestrations, neo-classical guitar solos, some cool riffs, and Jari's vocals, which I actually don't mind at all. On the other hand, it gets tedious, it's certainly overproduced and the riffs are just not that good. I find that on Time II, Wintersun are at their best and most interesting when they slow things down, weave their delicate melodies and layering them with clean vocals. This is heard on parts of "One With the Shadows" and especially towards the end "Silver Leaves." Another bright spot is the return of Kai Hahto's flawless drumming that was sorely missed on The Forest Seasons. So, while I may have my gripes with this, Time II has some good moments. However, they are not as many as I expected, and also quite different from what I anticipated.

Overall, Time II is okay, but okay is probably not the standard Wintersun set out to achieve, and this album is just not living up to its insurmountable expectations. That said, I do hope that the Wintersun diehards who supported their numerous crowdfunding campaigns are happy with this. However, if you are underwhelmed like me, go check out Cosmic Warfare by Atavista instead.