Member in bands
JARI MÄENPÄÄ IS CURRENT MEMBER IN
| Name | Instrument | Member from |
|---|---|---|
| Wintersun | Guitars,Keyboards,Vocals | 2004 - |
JARI MÄENPÄÄ IS FORMER MEMBER IN
| Name | Instrument | Member from |
|---|---|---|
| Ensiferum | Guitars,Vocals | 1996 - 2004 |
| Arthemesia | Guitars,Keyboards | - |
Biography
Jari Mäenpää is the founder of melodic death metal band Wintersun in which he performs vocals and plays guitar. He also played bass and keyboards on Wintersun's first album before hiring a full-time line-up.
Before forming Wintersun, Jari was best known for his time in the Viking/Folk band Ensiferum, which he joined in 1996 after leaving his prior band named Immemorial. 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. Maenpaa went on to form his own project WINTERSUN with drummer Kai "The Grinder" Hahto. Maenpaa took care of all other instruments including vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboards. WINTERSUN keeps the Folk influence of ENSIFERUM, but with the addition of more diverse and progressive elements and longer compositions. Teemu Mäntysaari and Jukka Koskinen have recently joined the project to tour with the band.
WINTERSUN's debut was a self-titled release. The album has a variety of styles ranging from speedy Melodic Death Metal to Extreme Folk Metal, and of course Progressive Metal. A listener will find different types of tracks of different lengths to their liking. This debut from WINTERSUN is considered to be a much more personal album of founder Jari Maenpaa. In 1997, Jari had to put his musical career on hold to take part in Finland's compulsory military service. In an interview Jari 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.
Jari was not a tour buddy, nor did he play on any albums of the British doom metal band, Anathema, although they may be mistaken by the band ArthemesiA.
