Sonata Arctica

Onhell

Infinite Dreamer
I did an extensive search and didn't find a thread for this fairly popular band on this forum. Sooo.... here we go.

I was listening to albums on Youtube and saw a link for S.A's Ecliptica, their first and by far my favorite. However, even though the thumbnail was the original, the recordings were from the 2014 rerecorded, rerelease 15th anniversary album. I was surprised I wasn't aware of this album as I do consider myself a fan (have every album up to Days of Grey) and rereleases are usually big news.

Sadly, like much of their material since Winter Heart's Guild it was very disappointing. The only members left from the first album are Tony and the drummer. The new arrangements feel off. One of the things that i liked about the original was the speed, the energy, the conviction and the prominent interplay between the keyboards and the guitar.... all of that... gone. Tony sounds flat out bored with the whole thing, a chore. The music, while technically better sounds passionless and has no energy. Compared to other rereleases like Apocalyptica's Metallica at four cellos or the Megadeth remasters, etc... this is disappointing at every level. The sound quality doesn't really improve, the arrangements sound like shitty covers and While you may or may not be a fan of Tony's singing (he still can't say "bother" or "window" right to save his life) his conviction, energy and passion from those early recordings is just gone.

Of the albums I own I only give consistent listens to Ecliptica, Silence and Unia while just a few songs from the rest. What a wasted opportunity.

I was expecting something like Edguy's The Savage Poetry but got Megadeth redoing A Tout Le Monde instead.
 
Love that song, and the boy who wanted to be a puppet. While my favorite album is Ecliptica, my favorite song is The Power of One off of Silence.
 
Saw them live last November, and it ended up being quite a nice show. Tommy really kicks ass, he is their secret weapon in my opinion.

Ecliptica and Silence are my favorites of course, but I like all their stuff really
 
Sonata's new album is a great return to form and in my opinion their third best album behind Ecliptica and Silence. This would be a good time to check the band out live.
 
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