Good, but not excellent (somewhere bet 3.5-4 stars)
(Rated this album with 8 out of 10) Reviewed by
Sergio F. Morales
from Levittown, NY United States
This is the first Sonata Arctica record I purchased and only because I'm getting into the whole power/prog/operatic metal thing and wanted to check them out. Anyways, after already experiencing great music by bands like Symphony X, this record was almost to the driving melodic complexity but not quite there. It's hard to review this disc just because each song on it has its good points and bad points. There are about 3 songs on this one that really stand out, unfortunately, they seem to have been "robbed" from being absolutely outstanding, instead they just come off as really good songs. For example, track 2 "Gravenimage" is probably the best on the record, the introduction uses a very gorgeous melodic piano to the already great lead singer vocals (the guy's got great range). Towards the end of this one though where the heavy guitars come in, it seems to lose its magic, I mean, it's still good, and the heavy guitar parts fit the song well, it just seems to also have stopped it from really differentiating itself from the rest of the albums sound. Well, the first 4 tracks are genuinely good and fun, then the record slows down at track 5 which is still nice but not as good. The slow guitar and keyboard work on this one work well during the chorus but seem to drag the song during the verses. Then come track 6 and 7 which really aren't that memorable, still decent songs though but far from great. Track 8 picks the album back up again with something that sounds less like a power metal song and more like some 80's new wave song; the keyboard and bass work during the verses give a really cool melodic tone, unfortunately the end of the song seems to drag. The record ends weakly with tracks 9 and 10 which just seem like very uninspired basic power metal songs. Every song on this album though being decent to very good still follows the same verse/chorus/verse/chorus structure which keeps it from potential epicness. It also doesn't contribute to replay value, and even though you may at first listen think there are some incredible melodies as I did, they easily play out after too many listens. In the end I have to say I definitely think this album was worth purchasing. Unfortunately, it's basically just another power metal record mixed in the sea of the genre that have few artists standing out like Symphony X or Dream Theater. At the same time, there are very great moments on there too, so it seems to me a shame if you'd miss out on them. I recommend a purchase, because even though it will spend a significant amount of time in your cd player, don't expect it to be one of the very best in your collection. Everyone keeps raving about Silence so I'll be sure to pick that one up soon.
