''Talvikuningas'' (2007) is an album by the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

rock group CMX. The title is

and translates to "The Winter King". ''Talvikuningas'' is CMX's first

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. Although the CD is divided into 12 tracks, they flow seamlessly into each other and the record is effectively one long song. The first limited edition of 8 000 copies of ''Talvikuningas'' was released on September 5, 2007. This limited printing features special packaging and a 40-page booklet, which contains extensive artwork and the full

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

to the album. Digital downloads of ''Talvikuningas'' became available the same day. A regular CD version with ordinary jewel case packaging and reduced liner notes was released on 9 January 2008.CMX press release
/ref>

Story

The album tells the same story as A. W. Yrjänä's yet-unfinished book. It's an epic science fiction story taking place in the 25th century. The album's sections are pieces of the saga of the Winter King. Some previous CMX songs, like ''Mekaanisten lintujen Puisto'' (''The park of mechanical birds'') and ''Sivu paholaisen päiväkirjasta'' (''A page of the Devil's diary'') can be linked to the story.

Track listing

Music by A. W. Yrjänä except where noted. All lyrics by A. W. Yrjänä. All arrangements by CMX and Rake. # "Kaikkivaltias" – 10:26 ("The Almighty") # "Resurssikysymys" – 1:54 (Yrjänä/Halmkrona) ("A Matter of Resources") # "Pretoriaanikyborgit" – 5:50 (Yrjänä/Halmkrona/Rasio) ("Praetorian

Cyborg A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.

s") # "Vallan haamut" – 5:31 ("Ghosts of Power") # "Tähtilaivan kapteeni" – 4:08 ("Captain of the Starship") # "Kosmologisen vakion laulu" – 3:52 ("Song of the

Cosmological Constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is the constant coefficient of a term that Albert Einstein temporarily added to his field eq ...

") # "Parvatin tietäjä" – 4:26 ("The Sage of Parvati") # "Punainen komentaja" – 4:05 ("The Crimson Commander") # "Langennut valo" – 4:26 ("Fallen Light") # "Quanta" – 5:05 (Yrjänä/Rasio) # "Rusalkai" – 3:41 (Yrjänä/Halmkrona) # "Kaikkivaltiaan peili" – 8:31 ("Mirror of the Almighty") Bonus tracks on the 10th anniversary vinyl edition (2017): # "Kuolemaantuomitut" - 4:06 ("Ones Condemned to Die") # "Mekaanisten lintujen puisto" - 7:45 ("Park of Mechanical Birds")

Personnel

* A. W. Yrjänä –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, bass *

Janne Halmkrona Janne Halmkrona (born 29 April 1968) is a Finnish musician. He is best known for playing in CMX, a band he joined in 1990, replacing Kimmo Suomalainen. He has also released two albums with Sapattivuosi, a Black Sabbath tribute band. Halmkrona a ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Timo Rasio –

* Tuomas Peippo –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Rake (Rauli Eskolin) –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, recording, production, mixing * Pauli Saastamoinen – mastering * Sami Saramäki – artwork and graphical design * Gabi Hakanen – executive producer

References

CMX (band) albums Science fiction concept albums 2007 albums {{2007-rock-album-stub