Jari Mäenpää (born 23 December 1977) is a Finnish singer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is the founder of the melodic death metal band Wintersun for which he sings and records the majority of instruments except the drums. Before forming Wintersun, Mäenpää was also known for his role in the folk metal band Ensiferum, which he joined in 1996 after leaving his prior band named Immemorial.Ensiferum band history. Wintersun was initially planned as a parallel project alongside Ensiferum, but in January 2004 he was forced to leave Ensiferum due to clashes between their touring schedule and the studio recording time he had booked for Wintersun.
In 1997, Mäenpää had to put his musical career on hold to take part in Finland's compulsory military service. In an interview, Mäenpää admitted he disliked the time he spent in the military and suspects it's where he acquired tuberculosis.
Jari was also a member of the band Arthemesia, and participated in Kimmo Miettinen's side project Lost Alone.
Writing style
Jari's style of guitar playing utilizes tremolo-picked melodies and phrases and the heavy use of extremely fast sweep-picking solos and breaks as heard on most of the songs. The speed of Wintersun's music is due in part to the use of blast beats and quick, spacey keyboard lines. This gives the guitar a charging, power metal feel for the most part.
Notable instruments
Tokai Telecaster Ibanez RGD(25½ scale)Custom Ibanez RGD(26½ scale)Prototype Ibanez JEM Ibanez PGM301 Jackson DR3 with EMG Daemoness 'Forest' Cimmerian VI Solar Guitars Type S (modded with EMG pickups) Mesa Boogie Mark V Mesa Boogie Triaxis Pre Amplifiers Peavey 5150 Fractal Audio Axe-FX II
Jari Mäenpää no longer performs guitar live, on Facebook he released the following statement, "After thinking about it for a long time I have made the decision to drop the live guitar, which means that I will solely become 100% live vocalist."
Discography
Band Year of release Title LabelImmemorialNo commercial releaseEnsiferum – Immemorial Split DemoEnsiferum1997Demo 1Ensiferum1999Demo 2Ensiferum1999Hero in a DreamArthemesia2001Devs – IratvsNative NorthEnsiferum2001EnsiferumSpinefarmEnsiferum2004IronSpinefarmWintersun2004WintersunNuclear BlastEnsiferum20051997–1999 (compilation)Wintersun2012Time INuclear BlastWintersun2017The Forest SeasonsNuclear BlastWintersun2024Time IINuclear Blast
References
External links