Concerning the album and potential Japanese influence, Jari Mäenpää stated in a 2004 interview, "Right now I'm exploring some Japanese style melodies, so beautiful and magical. You can probably hear some in the next album." The introduction track is confirmed to have Japanese influence.

The album's complexity was one of the main reasons for its slow production process. As of April 2007, drums, bass and all the guitars had been recorded. Kai Hahto stated on the official site that due to studio intervention, progress was being made, but also announced that they would not be giving any more release dates at that time, so as not to disappoint fans if they were not met.

As a teaser for the upcoming album, Wintersun ended their Metalcamp 2008 set with a 15-second preview of "Sons of Winter and Stars".

On February 27, 2009, Mäenpää announced through Wintersun's official website that the band would cancel all their live appearances, including Bloodstock Open Air and Summer Breeze, in order to make way for the slow progress of the album.

On December 25, 2010, Jari stated on the Winter Madness message board that "Silver Leaves" was finished except for some orchestrations. On December 26, 2010, Jari stated that three songs are finished and ready for mixing, and that four songs have "bits and pieces" missing, including vocals.

On March 19, 2011, Jari announced via the Winter Madness message board that mixing had been put on hold until late summer at the earliest due to various complications, ranging from a lack of 64-bit DAW plugins to noisy nearby construction.

On October 17, 2012, the album was made available for streaming on the band's website.