MELODIC EPIC HEROIC POWER METAL FROM FINNISH MAESTROS
Written: Jun 04 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Flows great, nice mix of fast, medium songs with a couple ballads thrown in.
Cons: None noted.
The Bottom Line: It's got it all, superlative songs, excellent delivery, great production, serious lyrics, fabulous singing, intriguing spoken narratives - Buy it!!! It's a real keeper.
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| daumco's Full Review: Silence by Sonata Arctica |
This band from Kemi in Finland's far north has been one of the big surprises of last year and took the hearts of many Power Metal fans by storm. After a very solid debut album these stars in the making not only avoided the sophomore jinx, they managed to top their initial release with an album that is probably in the top five, of power metal, for 2001 & 2002. Silence is a marvelous album that will elevate Sonata Arctica to the upper tier of melodic / power metal artists.
Contrary to many other bands, they have managed to retain the freshness of their debut and still sound more mature, in the melodies and arrangements. They also have what it takes to create beautiful, catchy melodies embellished with key ingredients (double bass, driving riffs soaring keyboards). Sonata also has great singing as well as talented songwriting. One big factor is Tony Kakko's voice, (who also does all the songwriting) which has grown even better than on the debut, leaving an indelible impression with the songs.
Although they are relatively young they are accomplished musicians whose arrangements and abilities belie their age. All the songs are good to great. Here is a brief summary of them chronologically; I like the narrative "Of silence" (the great narratives throughout are done by Nik Van-Eckmann), which leads to the Fast paced, double bass "Weballergy", then the slightly slower paced but more melodic "False News Travels Fast", next is the slow to mid tempo "The End of this Chapter", a brilliant 7 minute song that starts out with a scary narrative and haunting piano intro, "Black Sheep" is a standard mid paced melodic metalsong, 'Land of the free' follows the same format, "Last Drop Falls" is a very emotional heavy metal ballad, "San Sebastian" is another fast tempo song similar to "Weballergy", "Sing in silence" is another brilliant varied tempo ballad, Revontulet is a progressive sounding instumental of synth and drums, "Wolf and Raven" is a third pretty ballad and, the crowning achievement, "The Power of One". "The Power of One" is a 11 minute epic that is worth the cost of the cd alone. If you like heroic epic power metal you need this CD!
SONG / TRACK LIST
1. ... Of Silence (Kakko) - 1:17
2. Weballergy (Kakko) - 3:51
3. False News Travel Fast (Kakko) - 5:18
4. The End of This Chapter (Kakko) - 7:01
5. Black Sheep (Kakko) - 3:42
6. Land of the Free (Kakko) - 4:24
7. Last Drop Falls (Kakko) - 5:13
8. San Sebastian (Revisited) (Kakko) - 4:37
9. Sing in Silence (Kakko) - 3:51
10. Revontulet (Kakko) - 1:32
11. Tallulah (Kakko) - 5:20
12. Wolf and Raven (Kakko) - 4:15
13. The Power of One (Kakko) - 11:33
I don't know that I agree with some of the observations but here's a group biography from All Music Guide
"Finnish prog metal quartet Sonata Arctica specializes in a soaring, orchestral variation on European heavy metal, fusing the sweeping, romantic bombast of bands like Europe with the over-the-top instrumental chops of Dream Theater. Born in 1996, the band, which included vocalist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, drummer Tommy Portimo, keyboardist Mikko Harkin, and bassist Janne Kivilahti, recorded a handful of demos before releasing their first single, "UnOpened," on Spinefarm Records in July of 1999. Producer Mikko Karmila (Children of Bodom, Stratovarius, Nightwish) recorded and mixed Sonata Arctica's full-length debut, Eliptica, and the album was released in 2000 by Spinefarm and Century Media Records. Following a successful tour with Rhapsody and Stratovarius, the group put out a six-song EP, Successor-MCD, which featured live tracks, a pair of covers, and other previously unreleased material. Sonata Arctica were rewarded with various awards and honors around this time: Hard N' Heavy magazine voted them Newcomer of the Year, as did Emma, the Finnish Music Awards. Kivilahti quit the band in late 2000 and was replaced by Marko Paasikoski before work began on the band's second full-length album. With producer Ahti Kortelainen behind the boards, Sonata Arctica recorded Silence at Tico-Tico studios in time for a 2001 release." — Andy Hinds
Overcoming the very crowded Power Metal field, Sonata Arctica still will stand strong once the field has thinned out, because a band with such talent just cannot be swept away. As the saying the cream will rise to the top. If you like heroic epic power metal you need this CD!
Highest recommendation !!! If you ignore my advice, double shame on you!!!
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Driving
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Epinions.com ID:
daumco
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