Sonata Artica: Ecliptica (1999)

Silence, Sonata Arctica's sophomore full-length album, probably ranks as one of my favorite power metal albums of all time.  I do not have any kind of true list, but it is one that I come back to again and again.  Unfortunately, I have only been able to track down a couple of other albums from the band, Unia and Stones Grow Her Name, neither of which come even close to the quality of Silence, particularly the latter album which was a massive disappointment.  I figured if I wanted something close to the sound of Silence I should go for albums closer temporally.  And so, as soon as I could find the debut for a reasonable price (and not the re-recorded version which is almost certainly terrible), I decided to go for it.

Sonata Arctica is a highly melodic power metal band from Finland whose songs often tell interesting stories that can often be heart-wrenching.  Their focus is on crafting strong melodies rather than aggression and use powerful vocals and frequent piano/keyboards to supplement the guitar riffs.  Silence caught my attention mostly through some of the high octane songs like "Wolf & Raven" and "False News Travels Fast" and the keyboard-driven "Black Sheep".  That was what I was looking for in delving into this release.

This album is a lot closer to what I was looking for in an album by Sonata Arctica.  It is a very good example of European power metal.  Sure it is cheesy as hell and there is a reason that European power metal is derogatively referred to as "flower metal".  The album is bright and cheery-sounding most of the time, though with a few of the heart-breaking ballads, such as "Letter to Dana", that caught my attention in the other album.  Most of the songs are still fast-paced with wailing vocals, strong melodies and infectious hooks.

Sonata Arctica were still clearly finding themselves with this album.  A lot of the elements present in Silence are here, but it is a work in progress.  The songs are generally shorter, and as a result, the album is shorter too.  The band utilizes the neoclassical keyboard runs and traditional metal riffs.  Tony Kakko's stunning vocals are on full display as well.  All of those elements would become a part of the band's sound that made their next album so great, but they are just not as fleshed out here.  And there is no song that quite reaches the extreme speed of the great songs from the next album.  Not to say there are not some faster tracks, just not to the same extent.  Closing track "Destruction Preventer" definitely has moments where it comes close to the speed of "Wolf & Raven" though.

But despite these differences, this is a truly epic debut album.  It is an incredibly strong example of European power metal done right.  It comes close to the majesty of the follow-up album and if I had heard this one first, I would have been even more blown away by it.  Just because the band improved on the formulas found here, absolutely does not mean that this is inferior. 

Worst/Most Disappointing Albums of 2012

5.  BONDED BY BLOOD: THE AFTERMATH
Bonded by Blood was once one of the more impressive retro thrash metal bands out there.  Their last release was very good.  Unfortunately, they went through a change in vocalists and basically phoned in this album.  A shame.

4.  ELUVEITIE: HELVETIOS
When I first heard Eluveitie, I was blown away by them.  Their combination of melodic death metal an Celtic folk metal was extremely impressive.  But since then, Eluveitie has been trying desperately to remake that same album to increasingly lackluster results.  I am not sure I will give them another chance.

3.  SONATA ARCTICA: STONES GROW HER NAME
Like Eluveitie, Sonata Arctica was a band that I was so impressed by when I first heard them that I still check them out on new albums despite not being horribly impressed by anything they have put out since I first heard them.  This is their worst one yet.  It's basically modern rock at this point, there is very little power metal left.

2.  TIAMAT: THE SCARRED PEOPLE
I do not care for Tiamat's take on gothic rock.  But with seemingly each new release I hear something about the band incorporating some of their atmospheric death metal elements that the band did so well early on.  Each time it is false.  This time is no exception.

1.  THE SORROW: MISERY-ESCAPE
Run-of-the-mill metalcore with Christian lyrics.  Need I say more?

Initial Impressions: Sonata Arctica: Stones Grow Her Name

I want to like Sonata Arctica's newer material, I really do.  Unfortunately it is just not happening for me.  It is extremely disappointing because I rank Silence as one of my all time favorite power metal albums, if not my favorite.  The combination of speed metal and power metal along with some amazingly catchy songs and some surprisingly heart-wrenching ballads keeps me coming back for more over and over again.  But that feeling is absent from their more recent material.  It's unfortunate.

Unia was the first album that really let me down.  I skipped the next one and then decided based on the hype that this was the band's best album in years to give them another chance.  I will probably not be giving them another shot after this one.

The album starts off fine, with a decent fast-paced song in "Only the Broken Hearts".  From that point on though the band descends into radio-friendly modern rock tracks with very few highlights.  Among the lowlights in "Shitload of Money" with its ridiculous lyrics.  "Cinderblox" is interesting, with its banjo melody, and the two "Wildfire" tracks have their moments.  The rest of the stuff is just too stale and boring.

This is pretty much it for Sonata Arctica as far as I am concerned.  I will likely not be checking out anything else.

Song of the Day: Sonata Arctica: "Wolf and Raven"

Due to the post last night, I've been listening to my Sonata Arctica quite a bit.  I am pretty sure the keyboard player immediately contracted carpal tunnel syndrome after learning to play this song.  Bad stuff, carpal tunnel syndrome.

Metal Breakup Songs?

QUICK NOTE: The subject matter of this post is not meant to be taken as any sort of clue into what is going on in my personal life.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  My wife and I have our first wedding anniversary coming up in June, and I could not be happier.  This post was inspired by a song that has been stuck in my head for some time.

Metal frequently depicts the darker side of the human experience.  It is stereotypically about the negative parts in life.  Anger, sadness, and all the other nasty stuff that happens to us all.  So of course there are a few breakup songs in the heavy metal canon, despite the emotional nature of the event.


WOODS OF YPRES: "SHARDS OF LOVE (HURT FOREVER)"
This is the song that influenced this post.  I have no idea why, but this song really gets to me.  The song is about the narrator (possibly even the singer, I am not sure how personal this song is) finding his significant other in the process of packing all of her things and moving out.  An argument ensues with the narrator pleading with her to stay.  It's heart-wrenching really.  The song culminates with the woman telling him "No, I have to go.  It's too late, I'm going away and there's nothing in the world you could say to make me stay."  The music is extremely somber with some very impressive horn lines.  Unfortunately, singer David Gold recently passed away.


MEGADETH: "1,000 TIMES GOODBYE"
Megadeth wrote a breakup song?  Yes they did.  The song deals with the pain of moving on and finding peace in the breakup.  But it is kind of funny in a way because the song incorporates some samples or recordings of a woman explaining the reasons for the breakup, which run the gamut from "I don't feel the same way about" to "I met someone else" to "I still want to be friends" and culminating with the hilarious "I love you like you're my brother".  Someone has been friendzoned.


BLEEDING THROUGH: "LOVE IN SLOW MOTION"
This is a bit of a guilty pleasure album for me.  Bleeding Through is a metalcore band with some black and death metal influences.  This track is also for the most part about the lead character finding peace in moving on with his life.  Obviously a lot of the typical emo tropes are present in this song, complete with faux-deep lyrics about pain and suffering.  Nevertheless, for some reason, I really like this song.  Sue me.


SONATA ARCTICA: "TALLULAH"
I first heard this one at a time when I was dealing with a breakup of sorts.  It starts out with the closing moments of the breakup.  The last embrace, when there is one, is often very painful and that pain is exhibited here.  The song continues and finds the narrator seeing his former lover with a new flame and all of the pain that comes with that.


DAYLIGHT DIES: "ALL WE HAD"
In a song with very few words, Daylight Dies still manages to pen an absolutely devastating song.  As I said, there are not a lot of lyrics here but the pain of a lost relationship is clearly evident here.

So there's a few songs.  Obviously there are more, but I feel pretty good naming off five.  It all makes me very happy to be in the stable relationship I currently have.

Year in Metal: 2001

One of these days, I will get this series caught up.

AMORPHIS: AM UNIVERSUM
Amorphis continued to change their sound on this release, abandoning almost all of their prior death metal influences for a much more progressive and even psychedelic sound. Nevertheless, this remains a terrific album from the band. I actually prefer their more progressive metal sound to their death metal roots, but I may be in the minority there. The additions of the saxophone to several parts, especially the baritone sax in the last track, is my favorite part of this release. I used to play the sax in high school.

FINNTROLL: JAKTENS TID
This was the first folk metal album I ever heard, and I got it in a grab bag from Century Media. As it is, I cannot think of a better introduction into the world of folk metal. There is certainly more than enough influences from death and black metal here as well as the folk melodies. It does not stray too far into folk territory, clearly resting on the metal side of the fence. It is also catchy and memorable. A great introduction to this scene.

MOONSPELL: DARKNESS AND HOPE
Moonspell is another band whose sound is constantly evolving. On this release, the band has adopted more of a dark, gothic metal sound. This was the first album by the Portuguese band I had heard and it got me very interested in checking out further releases. This is a slower, somber, and darkly beautiful release. Vocalist Fernando Ribeiro's deep, soothing baritone is the highlight of the album. Moonspell even does a decent job at covering Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley" on this.

OPETH: BLACKWATER PARK
Often considered Opeth's masterpiece, this one is not my favorite but it is definitely up there. The band's fifth album features one of their most complete and well-formed combinations of their progressive rock side and their death metal side. This is definitely the album to point to as the best summation of the band's sound. It is a great album, full of excellent instrumental passages and of course Mikael Akerfeldt's terrific voice. It's not my favorite Opeth album, but it is amazing all the same.

SONATA ARCTICA: SILENCE
I have a bit of a soft spot for romantic, powerful European power metal and Sonata Arctica can definitely deliver on that. When they are not playing ballads on this release, their music is extremely fast and infectious. But the ballads also shine brightly on this album. "Tallulah" in particular is a very emotional song. This is a long album, but it never feels long. It is instead, an impressive take on European power metal and one of the best albums in the scene in my opinion.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: ARCH ENEMY: WAGES OF SIN, ICED EARTH: HORROR SHOW, MEGADETH: THE WORLD NEEDS A HERO, SLAYER: GOD HATES US ALL.

BANDS THAT FORMED IN 2001: The Black Dahlia Murder, Dragonlord.