Official Site
This band from Finland should definitely appeal to all fans of Stratovarius. "Ecliptica" (1999) was easily the debut of the year in my opinion, and the follow-ups, "Successor" EP (2000) and "Silence" (2001), were eagerly embraced by all fans of neo-classical progpower metal. The three remaining members from the debut are Tony Kakko (vocals, keys), Jani Liimatainen (guitar), and Tommy Portimo (drums), now joined by Mikko Harkin (keys) and Marko Paasikoski (guitar). "Winterheart's Guild" (2003) and "The Reckoning Night" (2004) have continued in the same style.
ECLIPTICA (1999)
RATING: ****1/2
BEST SONGS: "My Land," "Kingdom For A Heart," "Full Moon"
Basically, this is what Stratovarius would sound like if they gathered all their energy and all their balls from all of their collective albums. Or Nightwish, if they had an elephant dose of amphethamines shot into its collective arm. Or Children Of Bodom, if they became more melodic, without sacrificing power, and Alexi Laiho had a singing voice. Sonata Arctica doesn't toy around: it just blows you away with power, speed, melody, and out-of-this-world musicianship. I realize that after Timo Tolkki, Jens Johanson, Yngwie, and Rhapsody's Alex Staropoli, it's hard to surprise anybody with guitar or keyboard leads, but this is as picture perfect as it gets. "Blank File," "The Eighth Commandment," "Kingdom For A Heart," "Unopened," "Picturing The Past," and "Destruction Preventer" are outstanding melodic, at-the-speed-of-light scorchers, extremely catchy (the chorus for "Kingdom For A Heart," "If I only had a heart! IF I ONLY HAD A HEART!!" stayed with me for weeks). "Picturing The Past" especially reminds me of CoB, I can easily imagine Laiho growling away on it. To put it another way: I don't know how Tony Kakko and Tony Partimo could play this thing without their hands falling off. "My Land" is a tad slower (but still very fast), with an excellent melodic intro. "Replica" is also pretty catchy. "Full Moon" is a great uptempo rocker, with excellent opening keys and extremely catchy chorus ("Run away, run away, run away!!"). "Letter To Dana" is kinda silly, but somewhat neat (it's basically a waltz). I have a version with two bonus tracks: "Still Loving You" (any Scorpions fan and Scorpions themselves would have a heart attack if they listened to it: it's fast, heavy, and ferocious beyond belief, though keeping the melody of the original) and "I Want Out" (from the Helloween tribute; I tried air drumming to it once, and by the end of the song I was tired as if I ran a marathon). Now, if some people find Timo Kotipelto's voice whiny, Tony Kakko's voice may appeal to them more: he appears to be in full control of his pipes, sounding melodic, powerful, and aggressive at the same time (even sinister, as on the Scorpions cover). No weak songs at all, excellent production, and crystal clear sound. Nice fluit in places too. This is one crazy album, and, along with Children's Hatebreeder, the best thing to come out of Finland in 1999. Bloody awesome.
SILENCE (2001)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Black Sheep," "Land Of The Free," "Wolf And Raven"
At first, I thought this was a serious setback after the sheer bliss of the debut. But after a few months this album has grown on me quite a bit. I still believe somebody ought to tell the boys from Finland that they have to slow down (they also had an Successor EP between these two full length releases), take their time, and write more ass-kicking and memorable songs before releasing another cd. This album has 13 tracks, and a third of them are ballads, and not particularly memorable ones. It takes a little longer for this album to get going: it doesn't start rocking for me until track 5, "Black Sheep," which is a great melodic rocker. "Land Of The Free" is another blaster (more mid-tempo), with a great Nightwish-like bridge. "San Sebastian" (is this song talking about a resort?) showcases everything I loved about the debut: fast and furious, with a great keyboard solo from Mikko Harkin. "End Of This Chapter," "Last Drop Falls," "Sing In Silence," and "Tallulah" are not bad, but they don't add anything my overspoiled perception of power metal. The highest (and the fastest) point of the album is, undoubtedly, "Wolf & Raven," a tale which I'm not sure I understand completely, something about "killing the king" (not Rainbow OR Megadeth), performed at the speed of light, all guitars and keys blazing. This song alone makes this album worth having, if you're still looking for that perfect speedster in year 2001. Concluding 10-minute epic "Power Of One" is pretty emotional too. I must also mention great booklet design, it's really cool. I hope to see these guys tour the States some day, we could use some speed here!
WINTERHEART'S GUILD (2003)
RATING: ***
BEST SONGS: "The Cage," "Victoria's Secret," "Champagne Bath"
A pretty serious disappointment. Not a bad album, but it simply sounds like a collection of the leftovers from Silence. There are more up-tempo songs here than were on Silence, but they sound extremely forced, like the band is saying: "OK, we are being expected to have fast songs on our albums, so let's write a couple," hence fast and ballless "Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited" and "Ruins of My Life." Even in the fast songs, the only truly fast-playing instrument is the drums and, to a degree, bass; everything else (guitars and keys) just "create a mood." What songs lack is the bite and the urgency that made "Kingdom for a Heart," "Full Moon," "Mary Lou," and "Wolf & Raven" immediate classics. The song that comes the closest to possessing these qualities is "Champaigne Bath" (with Kakko's patented scream in the chorus) but the feeling is still quite scarce and thin. Now the band sounds like they are playing because they are being paid to. Slower "Gravenimage" (which does begin to rock... at 3.27 mark), speedy "The Cage" and "Victoria's Secret" (were they shooting for the endorsement?) and mid-tempo "Silver Tongue" are all nice and even atmospheric, but they all lack the energy and the sense of despair that fueled their previous albums. Not to mention that Sonata Arctica writes probably the most indistinguishable slow ballads in history. All slow tunes from all three (or four, if you count Successor) are identical. The production is still solid, Kakko still hits those high notes like a rooster at dawn, the booklet is very pretty, with band members dressed in capes and robes, and the music is fine for a background listen, but we have come to expect much more from these band that have exploded in the scene in 1999-2000.
UNIA (2007)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "In Black & White," "It Won't Fade," "Caleb"
Looks like the days of reckless speed-of-light, keys-and-drums metal are over for Sonata Arctica. Not that this is entirely a bad thing, but this is clearly where the band’s initial appeal laid, and albums #3 & 4 did not impress me in the least. However, on Unia (“Dreams” in Finnish) Kakko & Ko. has began to recapture some of their early attitude. Still firmly in the realm of melodic metal, there is also some much-needed crunch here. Opening “In Black And White” reminds me of “My Land” from the debut, and it’s quite good. “Paid In Full,” the single, is rather commercial, but I still like it. “I Won’t Fade” has a killer bridge: the best thing I have heard since “Wolf & Raven.” “The Vice” has a cool operatic, early Gamma Ray / Savatage vibe. The rest of the material follows suit. One disappointing moment is the bonus track: Thin Lizzy’s “Out In The Fields” was covered many times before (notably by Riot and Primal Fear), but never to such pathetic effect. The album’s lyrics are still rather puzzling: while Tony is obviously trying to tell something, the times I can understand what is he talking about can be counted on one hand. Song titles like “My Dream Is But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare” and “The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden” don’t help the cause either. The album cover is the most simplistic they ever did, but the inside artwork is very impressive. Verdict: this is a good album and will find its way to my player for a while.
|
|
