On disc: Sonata Arctica

 
- Ecliptica
 
- Philip Thelen -
 
 


 
- Successor
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- Silence
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- Silence
 
- Volker Raabe -
 
 


 
- Orientation
 
- Philip Thelen -
 
 


 
- Songs Of Silence - Live In Tokyo
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- Winterheart's Guild
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- Reckoning Nights
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
- The Collection
 
- Philip Thelen -
 
 


 
- Unia
 
- Jörg Petersen -
 
 

Unia

(Nuclear Blast - 2007)



 
 

 

The Finnish band Sonata Arctica is back with Unia and fans won't be disappointed! With their 5th album - and the first studio album for Nuclear Blast - the band had to think about where to go. And somehow they got more mature. Not so many speedy songs these days, but beside that there are all the typical sound elements. With less speed the songs have more space and offer a larger variety. With the rocker In Black And White they chose a song as opener which should easily get their fans attention and helps to get into this album. With The Harvest they have a faster tune, even if not as speedy as before and kinda build a bridge to their new sound. Like The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden they are more atmospheric then ever.

So, Sonata Arctica changed a bit, but fans from the early releases will enjoy it. And perhaps this is also getting people listening to them who always missed some variety in the band's sound. But I think we have to wait til their next release to really get an idea where they will go to. Meanwhile you should give it a try and perhaps you will find it still enjoyable. Or for the ones who were a bit bored by them in the past, perhaps this one will surprise you!
 
 










Jörg Petersen
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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The Collection

(Spinefarm - 2007)



 
 

 

Why another best-of compilation? That question many will ask, coz just before the release of their live album they put out a best-of. Well, I think that this is the end of a chapter and The Collection is the final strike of Sonata Arctica to close the chapter.

Everybody who knows the Finnish expect music at a high level with precise riffs, very skillful played and with deep lyrics. Nothing to complain at all.

But what's new? Well, some songs are also on their first best-of, but there are differences. The End Of This Chapter is a release which was mainly done for the Japanese market while The Collection aimed on the European market - released in Finland in November 2006 and now it gets into the stores in other European countries in March 2007. Especially for this compilation the guys re-recorded 2 songs of their debut - the classics My Land and Replica which is now called Replica 2006.

In my opinion this CD is interesting for collectors, die-hard fans and people who want to check out the band. The CD has tracks from their early days up to today. The special edition offers a bonus DVD with 2 live video clips. The Collection has everything from fast tracks like 8th Commandment, Wolf & Raven or The Cage, but also some slower ones like Tallulah and Last Drop Falls.

A little sign of life is The Collection. The re-recorded songs are kinda show the way they chose for the coming release Unia. One thing's for sure, it ain't a waste of money!
 
 










Philip Thelen
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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Reckoning Nights

(Nuclear Blast - 2004)



 
 

 

The Finnish start off - as usual - with an up-tempo tune, with Misplaced. Melodic speed metal is what you expect from the quintet and that's what you get. They sound more mature, no longer the happy metal... at least this track suggests the change. Singer Tony Kakko is partly a little bit too much in the back... I prefer a voice more up-front. Therefore the choirs sound like their are dozens of people... All this is laid over the rapid fire double bass drum and the neo-classical keyboard lines. The following track - Blinded No More - might scare of the die-hard Sonata Arctica fan... This could be a different band. A mid-tempo song with a catchy vocal line, but not this happy metal. Tony sounds here more hard rock influenced.... Darker with some screams, even if he has to work on the screams. The whole atmosphere is dark and the almost psychedelic keyboard sound - ELPish sometimes - build a nice contrast to the guitar riffing. Still the weakest part is Jani Liimatainen's guitar, but perhaps it's that he feels limited by the keyboards...  Actually I like this side of Sonata Arctica. With Ain't Your Fairytale they recorded a typical Sonata Arctica track! This is what the fans want to hear... And I tend to skip to the next track... A very fast happy melodic metal song. Not much more to say, in my opinion. Henrik Klingenberg's keybaord starts off the song Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night. Two minutes later, still just keyboard... But not very catchy... Not very innovative... And that's it. No idea why this song made it onto the disk! Luckily they got back to melodic power metal with Don't Say A Word. Here the five show some aggressiveness and finally the guitar riffing is heavy and can dominate the keyboard. The refrain is a sing-along one. Very catchy and epic. More and more the dark side of Sonata Arctica is showing and I'm glad that they experimented with this sounds. After the last album Winterheart's Guild, I wasn't sure, if I should continue following them. It wasn't a bad album, but I soon got tired of it. In a way you can devide the album in 2 parts... the happy metal and the dark side. On the track My Selene they almost do a walk on the edge... But tend to fall down to the happy metal side. Outstanding in a way is Wildfire. Up-tempo, heavy and epic. Some vocal parts are Queen-ish.... But here it shows off again that Tony Kakko has to improve on the shouts. And partly the lead vocals are too much in the background - for me. Even if this one has the typical sound trademarks of the guys, it's different. Mature. A little more epic... While Shamandalie has a touch of folk or mediaeval sounds... Perhaps due to the keybaord sound which is here more piano-like... When the band joins in it got a heavy rocker... And very melancholy. Here Mr. Kakko had to improve on some parts... Beautiful and melancholy.

It seems that there are two souls living in Sonata Arctica - the happy metal one and the mature, darker one... A matter of taste, but I hope that the Finnish five-some will choose the darker, more mature sound to follow.... And so I recommend the die-hard fans to check out the dark side with songs like Blinded No More, Don't Say A Word and White Pearl, Black Oceans. I can say the same to metal fans who are tired of the happy sounds. The happy side is more or less the same kind they did on the last releases. Personally I hope they continue the ride on the dark side....
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Winterheart's Guild

(Spinefarm - 2003)



 
 

 

This is the 3rd studio album of the Finnish youngsters who did the first steps into the limelight back in 1999. When UnOpened their first single and a little later Ecliptica were released nobody expected the Finnish to rise that fast. The tour with Stratovarius and Rhapsody through out Europe catapulted them to the top, perhaps not to the premier league, but very close. As a result of this they were voted as 'newcomer of the year 2000' in many magazines and were nominated for the Finnish Emma which is similar to the Grammy!

On Winterheart's Guild the band of Tony Kakko starts fast with Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited before Graven Image slows down and shows partly / in the beginning the emotional side of the quintet. Other bands would have placed the more then 6 min. track at the end of the CD, but Sonata Arctica decided to place it on the CD as track 2 and after about 3 min. of speeds up. That the band doesn't follow the unwritten rulers of the music biz isn't new. They released a live album after 2 full-length albums which is unusual. Graven Image fades out slowly and next The Cage starts like an explosion, but the men from the North never forget to add melodies. They stick to their musical roots and now rattle at the throne. They supported Stratovarius and Gamma Ray and are now on the way, perhaps already entered the top level of melodic power metal. Composer Tony Kakko wrote again some high quality songs, powerful hymns and fantastic ballads.
Let Sonata Arctica enchant you with Silver Tongue or Graven Image.

Anyway, it's great to have a young band who delivers one great album after another and is able to keep the heir of the top acts.

If you call yourself a fan of power metal and don't know them, shame on you! This is a must!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Songs Of Silence - Live In Tokyo

(Century Media - 2002)



 
 

 

The album starts with some spoken words... "Well, well... How are you?" then you hear the fans scream and the voice is going on. Then keyboard sounds starts, the voice say "Silence" and the shows starts with Weballergy!

In spring 2001 the Finish youngsters released Silence their 2nd full-length album and they toured a lot afterwards. Well experienced they headed to Japan to play there for their nume­rous fans. The band decided to record a live album and they chose Tokyo for the recordings. The disk contains 12 songs and the intro which documents the history of Sonata Arctica so far. The set list incl. songs like Last Drop Falls, Replica, My Land and Wolf & Raven. It also shows the live power of the Finish quintet; the sound is superb and it's a pleasure to listen to. Especially Tony Kaako's voice is very clear and invites the listener to sing along. But every band member has the chance to show his abilities and it's obvious that the five-piece grew together, live they got much stronger.

It would be interesting to see the guys in front of such an audience! It must have been awesome!

I can just recommend this album to every metal fan and it would be a waste of space to talk about the songs, coz they are not new! Just go and get your copy!!!!!
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Silence

(Century Media - 2001)



 
 

 

With Silence the Finnish quintet present the metal world their 2nd full-length album. The album is a step forward for singer Tony Kakko & the band. It has fast tracks like Wolf & Raven which is also on some magazine compilations, mid-tempo tracks like Sing In Silence and a kind of ballad Last Drop Falls. And all are sounding like Sonata Arctica, even if some tracks leave their traditional sound a little bit behind... A very interesting track is The Power Of One which is a more than 10 min. long opus and a kind of mixture of all their sound elements.

Again the band recorded at Tico-Tico Studios and is mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios. Only one thing changed, bass player Janne Kivilahti left and got replaced by former Sonata Arctica member Marko Paasikoski.

In many countries the band got high ranks as newcomer of the year 2000 and got nomi­nated for the Finnish music award Emma! With this album and the coming tour the band will find their place and make more fans. They are on their way to the highest level of melodic power metal! The album will also be released on vinyl.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Silence

(Century Media - 2001)



 
 

 

Fans of Stratovarius and Rhapsody can buy the album Silence of the Finnish Sonata Arctica without giving it a try. The quintet can shine here and there on the album, but the song structure and arrangement of the songs we heard a thousand times. Anyway, the five-some are very melodic which songs like The End Of This Chapter, Land Of The Free and False News Travel Fast proof. That Sonata Arctica get better since they released their debut Ecliptica proofs the more then 11 minutes long opus The Power Of One. A more then decent performance, but not the perfect album...
 
 










Volker Raabe
(translation: Claudia Ehrhardt)


  
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Orientation

(Marquee / Avalon Records (Japan only) - 2001)



 
 

 

Finnish melodic metal newcomers Sonata Arctica released this nice EP only in Japan as a thank-you to their Japanese fans. The EP contains 1 album track, 3 non-album tracks and a video interview concerning the Japanese fans and the band.

The first song is Black Sheep from the Silence album. It is a fast, melodic song in ¾ phrase and keyboard / guitar duel in the middle of the song. The second one is a slow, accoustic version of Mary Lou - very emotional. The third song is The Wind Beneath My Wings, a cover version from Bette Middler. And the last aong is Die With Your Boots On from Iron Maiden.

Ok, what can I write about this Japan-only release? It is hardly sold out and maybe you can catch a copy at ebay (I got my at ebay). It is only for collectors, but for everyone who is interessted: the non-album tracks are worth it!
 
 










Philip Thelen


  
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Successor

(Centruy Media - 2000)



 
 

 

This EP contains 7 songs incl. 2 cover versions. It starts with Full Moon in an edit version before presenting the Finnish version of the Scorpions ballad Still Loving You. Musically it sounds much like the well-known Hannover-based band... in the beginning, later they get faster. It's a power metal version. Personally I prefer the original, coz in my opinion a lot of the songs atmosphere get lost. With Helloween's I Want Out they cover a song from their genre. Sonically a little different, but a decent version.

Next are San Sebastian and Shy, two new songs. San Sebastian is a fast power metal track which is in the vain of their last release. Shy is a ballad which is based on an acoustic guitar and Tony's voice. A track which proofs that they are able to do slow balladesque tracks as well.

At the end of this disc are two 'old' tracks which were recorded live in Finland last summer. Interesting to hear the live versions of Replica and My Land, especially for the one's who haven't seen them live.
 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Ecliptica

(Spinefarm - 1999)



 
 

 

The first full-length album of Sonata Arctica Ecliptica was released in 1999. Before that the band released three demos under the names Tricky Beans and later Tricky Means before they changed the name into Sonata Arctica. At the first track Blank File you can hear that they are inspired by the legendary Finnish melodic band Stratovarius. Singer Tony Kakko hits the high parts. This is an song in a nice high tempo. Right after that My Land starts with spheric keyboards and lyrics to think of. 8th Commandment is another up-tempo song where guitar player Jani Liimatainen shows his talent. First ballad on this album Replica starts off with keys, guitars and the voice of Tony. This song turns into a really heavy ballad. The following song does remind me on fair music. The really fast and complex guitar riff, synchronised with keys and this refrain which you can´t get out of your head. It's great. Ok, now it´s time for one of the greatest songs on this album. It´s really hard to name a single song, but this is one of my faves - Fullmoon. It's not only in the studio version, even live a really kick off song. Second ballad is Letter To Dana which starts with some flutes. The next high tempo melodic song is Unopened which is about an unopened love letter. By the way, most of their lyrics are dealing with relationships. Picturing The Past has by far one of the most complex guitar and keyboard riffs at this album. And they didn´t forget the melodies in this song - fast and melodic. The official last song Destruction Preventer is the longest by time and it is an really speedy song. The Japanese version containd the bonus track Mary Lou which is a fast 'love story' about the fictive Mary Lou.

All in all, this is an great debut of a great band. I don´t know what I should write, it is nice, beautiful, heavy, fast, slow, melodic,... Just listen to it yourself and have a look on this great band!
 
 










Philip Thelen


  
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           ©2008-2010 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com