Wintersun began recording both Time I and Time II all the way back in 2006. Time I eventually saw the light of day in 2012, and Time II is finally getting released sometime "in the late summer of 2024, the latest early fall." Which is excellent news, but it also puts an end to the "Time II when?" jokes Wintersun fans have been making for over a decade.
So just how shocking is it that Time II is finally coming out? Well, Wintersun drummer Kai Hahto actually thought frontman Jari Mäenpää was joking when he told him.
In an interview with Chaoszine, Hahto commented on first finding out that Time II was complete, saying "A few weeks ago, maybe Jari sent us a message in our band chat and revealed that the album is now done. I didn't believe it at first and had to check the calendar that it isn't even April Fool's day because it's been like 16 years since I recorded my parts for it."
Hahto later added that everything you hear on Time II (at least for the drums) is what he recorded all the way back in 2006, and that Time wasn't originally supposed to be two records.
"[The] drum parts are the same as what we recorded in 2006. I recorded the drums for Time I and Time II in four days because originally it was just supposed to be titled Time and not split into two sections. Later, the record label wanted to split it into two albums because it was a bit too long. The first part came out in 2012, so it's been already over 10 years since the release of that album already."
So now we wait for Time II to get a release date from Nuclear Blast.
