Review Summary: Sonata Arctica deliver another convincing platter of their trademark Finnish metal style, despite incorporating less choruses and more vocally complex work.
Wow. It's been three years since we heard anything from the Finns of Sonata Arctica. After having put out Reckoning Night, which was a huge success, the band toured extensively in support of the album. It took almost three years to come out with their next album, Unia, but here it is: a spanking brand new SA album, complete with...what happened to the artwork, guys? The cover looks like it is a book cover, not an album cover! And the logo is much more... simple... and readable? What is this all about?
Luckily this misleading cover does not exemplify the album. In fact, quite the contrary. What strikes most is that from opener In Black and White onwards already the singalong choruses, speedy double kick songs a la Stratovarius have been abolished and replaced with Queen-esque vocal lines, more complex and varied durmming, and overall the whole feel of the music has become more challenging. Apparently Mr Kakko was not satisfied with the 160 beat per minute songs, and took a different approach, which gives the listener a bit of a problem: where did Sonata's easy hooks, choruses go? It doesn't sound like Sonata Arctica at all! Sonata is supposed to be all about easy listening, when did it take 10 spins to get a Sonata Arctica album?
But what in fact is so remarkable is that after 10 spins, the album is really really worthwhile. What seemed like a bland vocal line without any enthusiasm turns into an enigmatic performance by the band's main songwriter, Tony Kakko. Paid in Full, the first single, will not catch your attention on first listen, but once you give it time you'll realise it's actually a well-crafted song, maybe not standard verse-chorus affairs but it remains catchy despite having a more complex vocal lines. And this goes for more songs. Fly With The Black Swan is reminiscent of Wildfire, in the sense that the vocal bits are all over the place, while the guitar is still heavy and bombastically supporting Tony's voice. A killer track that should make it into the live set.
And it's just not Mr Kakko who shows that his voice has matured to be one of the best in the Finnish metal scene. Mr Klingenberg and Mr Liimatainen show off some impressive runs on their respective instruments (keyboards and guitar), with Henrik's Hammond organ lending subtle touches to pieces like the way-too-elaborately titled "My Dream is but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare", and Jani's solos are exciting (despite a little flashy), and you can finally hear his riffs in the mix. On previous albums the guitar production was a little underwhelming, but now you can finally hear Jani's riffing behind the rest of the music.
Of course, there's still some trademark Sonata songs: the ballads. While Under Your Tree already is the inferior twin brother to Shamandalie, Good Enough is Good Enough is just plain terrible. A much too sappy ballad featuring strings and a totally inappropriate ending, one wonders what it is doing on the album, why Tony feels the need to write a pop song on a metal album (it is totally misplaced), and why the lyrics are so damn atrocious compared to the rest of the album. Tony's lyrics have improved with time, and on this they are better than ever; except for this song. Oh well, SA ballads have always blown chunks, I guess.
There are also one or two songs that do recall the double-kick uptempo songs, and represent the heavy side of Sonata Arctica. The Harvest is a monster, stomping and crashing all over your face only to incorporate a bazuki solo, The Vice is another monster, heavy, strong, punishing, again showing that what this album lacks in catchiness it makes up for in variety and style.
Overall it's a satisfying, new record which sees the boys progressing away from the power metal sound, and incorporating some more complex touches to the album. It's no Reckoning Night, and it won't seem eventful at first, but give it some time to sink in and you'll be well rewarded. Oh, and for the love of God, skip the dreadful ballads.
Recommended Tracks
Paid in Full
For the Sake of Revenge
The Harvest
Fly with the Black Swan
Caleb
