The album starts out strong with “Message From The Sun”: a fairly heavy anthem which tastes like old-school Sonata with its uplifting fast beat and electric guitars. Followed by “Whirlwind”, a love song with a very interesting keyboard and electric guitar riff – I really like the song, but I can’t shake the feeling that the riff doesn’t fit with the rest of the song, like it was stitched together quickly. Then comes “Cold” which dabbles in ‘feel-good rock/arena rock’ territory here and there, but it’s beginning to grow on me. “Storm the Armada” is the first of two songs dealing with climate change, and I think it has a very beautiful melody, but the song as a whole is somewhat boring and even poppy at times.
“The Last Of The Lambs” – I LOVE this one. The slow, eerie ballad continues the ‘Caleb’ saga (a series of Sonata songs following the tragic life of a deranged stalker who eventually dies at the hand of his victim). The vibe of the song fits to the creepy saga, as Caleb bittersweetly sings “Now, when you cry on your bed – could’ve loved me instead” to, presumably, his victim. It’s very beautiful and insane. Although I’m not sure how exactly to interpret this song in the context of the previous ‘Caleb’ songs – is he singing from the afterlife? Or does this take place before he died? Or did he not die at all, and my interpretation is just wrong? Either way, this song is haunting.
“Who Failed The Most” is about how we are failing the future generations by not taking action to hault climate change, instead leaving them a planet in a “state of dystopia”. It sounds very upbeat, while also being depressing. It has it all: each instrument shines, cool bassline, catchy chorus, and the song fits perfectly to Tony’s iconic voice. The instrumental “Ismo’s Got Good Reactors” feels like an awesome jam session where guitarist Elias Viljanen especially shines. Also features a great keytar solo by Henrik Klingenberg. Very fun song that showcases Sonata’s power metal roots. Followed by the politically charged “Demon’s Cage” which sounds very “The Days Of Grays” in the best way – it’s a perfect mixture of power and symphonic, with an amazing piano riff throughout, and drummer Tommy Portimo really ties the song together with a fast power metal beat. Not to mention great lyrics: “Pave the streets with broken glass, working man kneel and kiss my beautiful…”. 
Then comes “A Little Less Understanding” which has already been released as a single. I think that this song is too much ‘arena rock’ for me to like it, and I don’t understand why they keep releasing the weaker songs first. Next song is the very symphonic “The Raven Still Flies With You”, a story about a lost child – not my favorite but with some very good pieces, and a folk-y bridge. The final track of the album is “The Garden” which has a very sentimental piano melody and acoustic guitars. It’s a subdued song about being thankful for the good things in your life. Nice message, but this lullaby-esque song is not really to my taste… but it’s not the first time that they throw in a song like this – “Don’t Be Mean” comes to mind.
So. Let’s evaluate. Sonata Arctica worked with an external producer, Mikko Tegelman, for the first time. The production value of the album is definitely better than that of their previous two albums – you can hear each instrument much more clearly. The album was produced with the intention of replicating the band’s live sound – they wanted to transfer their live energy to the studio album. I would say they succeeded in this regard, and I am looking forward to hearing the songs live.
I have to applaud the band’s work on this album. It’s a bit of a meme at this point that every time Sonata releases a new album, they claim that it will sound like ‘old Sonata’ and that they’ve gone back to their roots. But I think it rings true this time – you can really feel that Tony has worked to capture the elements that people loved about their older albums, and blended it with their new style. The lyricism is captivating, dealing with the beauty/tragedy of humanity which Tony has always been great at writing about, and the songs are incredibly diverse in style and sound. And while I find some of the songs a bit bland, I like the album a little more each time I replay it, and I find myself appreciating nuances I didn’t notice before.
Genre-wise, the album is a gray area – there’s a lot of good power/symphonic metal moments, but also some strange pop/rock elements. The band has said on multiple occasions that they don’t consider themselves power metal, but you can tell that they’ve been struggling with genres and expectations on their last 3-4 albums – they want to cater to their old fans while also wanting to experiment with sounds that are less typical for a metal band, and it can sometimes be awkward to balance that, but I think they did it pretty well on this album. It’s important to remember that Sonata Arctica was never super hardcore metal in the first place. I loved them for their cheesy power-ish metal that tells stories, and this album is exactly that: cheesy power-ish metal that tells stories. It has been 20 years since “Ecliptica”, arguably one of the best metal albums ever – maybe it’s time we stop demanding a new “Ecliptica” or “Silence” and instead appreciate that these Finns are still making innovative music despite the constant pressure of matching their first albums. I think that Sonata Arctica has done a great job at establishing their new style and direction on this album. The storytelling and musical creativity are brilliant as always – their style is different, but change is not necessarily a bad thing. And while I don’t love every song, the ones I do love fill me with a nice feeling of nostalgia from my first ever metal band.
]]>New album Awakening has only 8 songs and with 31 minutes a rather short album. But, rather quality over quantity and lucky enough, the songs are rather good. The opening and title track is a real thrash song, which also can be said about ‘Divide and Conquer’, a very fast song which punches you right in the face. Besides these typical thrash songs, there are also a couple of more groovier tracks. ‘Salvation’, ‘Killing Machine’ and ‘Death Valley’ are examples of that. Besides that, ‘Salvation’ is a very melodic piece, with twin guitars and solos that breath Iron Maiden all along. ‘Manifest Reality’ has a Slayer vibe and could have been on their debut album easily. Another real thrash attack is the shortest on the album: ‘Revolution’, it is also the fastest one. Just before that there is the in my opinion weakest track ‘Death Valley’. It is also the most melodic and slowest, and not typical one you expect from Sacred Reich. Perhaps I just need to get used to it, but at the moment I find it the less interesting one.
With ‘Something To Believe’ the groove is back again and also the melody. Again a track in which Phil shows that he is an o.k. singer. Personally I had hoped for a real heavy thrash hammer to end the album.
All in all, the quality on the album is high, but due to the short length and only 8 songs, I am not overenthusiastic. I had hoped for a few more songs after such a long hiatus, neverthelesst a good comeback album for certain.
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Leo begins with July 20, 1984, a track featuring a metal cacophony intro, with Cookie Monster vocals and dark, foreboding riffs. Angel vocals, plodding riffs and super metal riffs follow,m and of course the keys. Some serious bass work and overall jamming on this number.
Dream Away is next, and is a sweet jam with clean vocals and busy drumming. A good jam, but not quite as heavy as the first or the next tune. Realization of the Inevitable features a cool drum intro and some cool rocking riffs, almost metal machine riffs ala Rammstein. Coffin and Carriage features more HM riffs. Bereaved is a lovely piano piece. Saying Your Name Out Loud includes super HM riffs, and almost leans towards thrash here and there.
D(e)ad has a creepy piano intro, and like many of the tracks is obviously about Koen’s father. I See Myself also has HM riffs. Are You Out There Somewhere? almost made me cry. Simple Life is a short piano piece. The title track follows, and is a dramatic, sprawling prog epic. All We Have is Now is the closer for today, and it rounds things out rather nicely.
Bottom line is this, folks: if you are into prog metal, and particularly the drumming end of those types of proceedings, then Leo is for you.
]]>Somehow the band mixes aggression with melody in a way I haven’t heard for a couple of years. In the 4th song the band works that almost out into perfection, just listen to the solos and you will agree. As if we didn’t hear enough great heavy riffs yet, the band just continues in ‘The Deeper Depths’. The half spoken grunts see to it that it sounds very dark and together with the screaming vocals again a perfect blend of death and thrash. ‘Origin’ is a very fast song, with some screaming black metal influences. In ‘Spiralling Down’ the band shows that they also are into some darker a bit Opeth sounding and less heavy stuff, with accoustic guitar and cello included. What impresses me the most about Insurrection is the mature sound of the band. Sure the members have played in several other bands, but the skills are great. With a mix and mastering of Frederik Nordström everything sounds very balanced and heavy.
Is there nothing to complain about then? Well the only thing that bores me a bit after a while are the screaming vocals. There is too little variation and sounds the same in several songs after a while. Fortunately the more grunting ones compensate that a bit.
]]>From start to finish, Born To Perish grooves like hell. Songs that swing and very strong galopping riffs accompanied by melody and aggression. Typical Destruction, but stronger than ever. The fast opener which also shows that new drummer Randy Black is a real animal on drums, is Destruction all the way. The title track could have been on an album like Eternal Devestation as well. Schmier his typical voice sounds still the same after so many years. Some Bay Area influences can be found back in the riffmonster ‘Tyrants Of The Netherwold’ and closer ‘Rat Catcher’ is a very variable a bit more chaotic track. Personally I find the riffs in the song ‘We Breed Evil’ and ‘Rotten’ some of the most interesting and contagious ones I have listened to recently.
The modern heavy sound, the variety, the galopping and grooving songs see to it that this new album is for me their best in the last 20 years.
]]>Outside it is 37 degrees celcius, so I keep this review short. With the new Suicidal Angels, this album is one of the best new old-school sounding Bay Area Thrash records this month. For thrash fans this is an expensive month, certainly when you also buy Sacred Reich and Destruction.
Fans of Exodus and Testament have a must buy this month!
]]>Fight or Flight is up first, and it is a slice of AOR metal, if you will, with some very pretty piano work. The title track is up next, and it is a solid, chugging jam, again almost FM-friendly. There is an excellent guitar bit at about the four-minute mark.
Control Conquer Collide is an almost 8-minute beast. It is a very upbeat tune with keyboards playing a big role. From Saviour to Assassin features more of this distinct heaviness. Orwellian Times features solid HM riffs and good clean straight vocals, as do most of the tunes on board here. Some big keyboard things happening, and another wonderful guitar solo at about 4 1/2 minutes in.
Next up is Monsters, and it boasts a keyboard intro with some vocal FX. “I’ll never trust anybody again”, a voice tell us. Yikes! This is another possibly FM-friendly number, and features a duel between keys and guitars. Weight of Humanity includes a VERY busy drummer, and more heaviness. There are some very funky HM riffs going on here, and a beautiful piano interlude at about 3 1/2 minutes in.
Fact Resistant Human is not quite as heavy as the other tracks, but is still very good. It is mostly keyboard/drum heavy prog, if you will. The One Percent Disarm is a good heavy prog number, almost thrashy at times. It features big chugging HM riffs and clean vocals.
Our closer for today is the big one, Dispopulate. It is a 12-minute behemoth, and it is obvious from just one listen that these boys saved the best for last. This is a total JAM, folks. At about 8 1/2 minutes in we also get a wicked guitar solo. Excellent stuff, very solid material!
Bottom line is this; if you like your prog heavy, then check out Teramaze! Top marks!
]]>The Same Mistakes Again, while a bit shorter than its predecessor, is just as potent and muscular. It is more of a mellow number, almost a ballad. There is some wonderful guitar and piano work throughout. It has its rockier moments, as do the majority of the tracks. There is something grandiose, a bit stately, if you will, about this particular number. It has an urgency, but it also has a corner on timing that most melodic ballads may lack. These guys can rock your face off, but they can also tug at your heartstrings.
Orphans of the Universe is up next, and it is another behemoth prog number. A full ten-and-a-half minutes in length, dare we use the word epic here? There are, of course, two others of comparable length, No Burden to Carry and closer Stars Along the Way. I think we may learn something here, as John has told us that it doesn’t ‘matter really about song length – we wanted to instill chord changes and shake things up with the short ones as well’. Normally when we think of prog, we think of longer numbers. However, I think it can clearly be stated that sheer length for the purpose of length is a waste of time. If the tunes aren’t musically interesting, then why widdle away for 10 or 20 minutes?
No One Ever Died and Made Me King gets 5 cool points just for its title. This and the next four jams are all shorter numbers, which of course makes them eligible for ‘prog radio’, if there is indeed such a things anymore. Shout out to Asheville, North Carolina’s Asheville FM and their program ‘Closer to the Edge‘, who have already played the single! Bottom line is this, folks; whether you like your prog short or long, P-SA will definitely be prog perfection for your ears! Dig in!
]]>Yes…to an extent. I mean I miss the neo-classical licks of Carl Johan Grimmark that characterised early albums such as “Awakening” or “Long Live The King”. And some songs in this new album I found a bit dreary despite them being well executed and very well produced.
But, to use the titular metaphor, there is also light in darkness if you just look for it. For example ‘The Armour Of God’ is one of the more interesting songs – great keyboard melodies, top-notch melodic vocals and lively guitar licks. However it’s the title-track that probably contains the album’s most convincing moments. Indeed ‘From Darkness To Light’ is a dramatic and emotional song that embodies the best of Narnia. The second part of the song is instrumental so Narnia featured it as a separate track.
Other notable characteristics of this album: well, it has a lot of groove in it and vocalist Christian Rivel sometimes ventures quite low on the vocal scale.
So while I’m not 100% convinced “From Darkness To Light” has enough merits to justify a 7/10 rating.
]]>Highlights for me include “The Attack of the Dead Men”, which has an incredibly catchy, epic-sounding chorus and a classic power metal guitar solo, sprinkled with some subtle electronic elements, which is always fun.
Joakim Brodén’s vocals are good as ever, especially on the upbeat hymns “82nd All The Way” and “Devil Dogs”. Honestly, it’s hard to pick favorites on this album – I can’t say I dislike any of the songs, because all in all, The Great War sounds like classical Sabaton, so it’s easily digestible. Some may find that boring, but I don’t think so in this case. And if anything, I think Sabaton should be praised for maintaining their original sound and feeling after losing most of the original members (Brodén and bassist Pär Sundström being the only remaining original members).
The album is released today, so get ready to listen!
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