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Staff review by
Baz Anderson
Rating:
7.0
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So these days the eyes on Sonata Arctica are those curiously wondering just what the Finnish fivesome will give us this time. A super solid first four power metal albums, then a bolt out the blue with the unique Unia and a middle-ground The Days Of Grays following up. Three years on then and Stones Grow Her Name is an apt reward for the wait, or is it?
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| published 17.05.2012 | Comments (28)
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| Comments: |
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| Rating: 7 |
AOR-Power album?
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| Rating: 5 |
Written by Milena on 16.05.2012 at 23:21
Written by Valaskjalf on 16.05.2012 at 20:41
Ok I knew someone was gonna get all up in my shit over my post, and apparently I have offended someone's favourite band. First of all what would YOU call the new direction they are taking? Of course it is an atempt at progression...I dont care if they never said they were becoming a progressive band, neither did I label them as a PROGRESSIVE band - I only go by what I hear...seriously wtf.
And no Im not just trolling, Ive listened to the band since Ecliptica and have every album up to Unia, so dont tell me I dont know what Im talking about. Fine have it your way, scrap the word "progressive" and insert "new direction" - You can dress a piece of shit up anyway you want, it still remains a turd.
And where the hell did you get it that I find this music "complicated"?? Are you out of your effing mind? I listen almost solely to Technical Death/Proressive metal these days and thats the point Im trying to make - Sonata Arctica are trying to play/write music for which they aren't competent of pulling off properly. It's incoherent and haphazard...be it progressive or not I dont give a shit. What I do know is that what theyre trying to do isnt working for them and they are bad at this. Up until Unia they were fantastic, every single release was very good because they did what they were good at - dont call me a fucking troll again.
But back to my first question....what would YOU call their new direction? It sure as shit isnt what it used to be and if its not an attempt at progression then what the fuck is their excuse for this album? I really really want to know your answer to this.
Pffft, like I cared about people insulting my favorite bands. But I do care about people posting shit arguments.
You said it was an attempt at progression, when clearly it is not. It's an attempt of trying something slightly new in a very simple way. It's verse-chorus thing, almost all the way. I was wondering whether you were actually listening to Unia when you posted that thing you posted.
Where the hell did I get it? In your comment. It came out that way, so for that point, yeah, I'm sorry.
"Fine have it your way, scrap the word "progressive" and insert "new direction" - You can dress a piece of shit up anyway you want, it still remains a turd. "
Thank you, that sounds a lot better. You have to understand that whenever you say "progressive metal", you mean - well, look up the list of leading bands for progressive metal. People have glued the tag onto SA because they were trying something new at the time. But that's fuckin' wrong. And I'm sitting here, reading that from you, thinking "this dude is a Suspyre fan, obviously listens to prog, what the hell is he thinking by putting the tag in there?"
And to answer your question about how would I tag them - I don't have a fuckin' clue and that makes me very happy. I stick to calling it melodic metal. Tony goes by "melodic heavy rock" (oxymoron in the name), and he's somewhat right, since there's not a whole lot of orthodox metal elements over there. It's NOT progressive. Not. I have a right to be upset about something like this for once in my life, anyway. Sorry that it had to be you, but, yeah. Life sucks.
Point is, shouldn't have snapped at you like that, but when people sound self-righteous, I tend to get at them first. That's what I got from you. If I were upset about people insulting the band, I'd have a lot of forum-post hunting and quoting to do.
Ok, well I will refrain from using the term "progressive" again in any SA discussion because apprently its only causing confusion. What they did on this album reminds me of all those "progressive" bands who got it completely wrong. I got this from SA with their weird overlapping shards of music thrown into each song as if theyre trying something else, but theyre not quite sure how to put all these random pieces together and that gave me the idea that they wanted to write something out of the ordinary - but in my opinion it just fell totally flat.
To be honest, in most of the songs the music is ok-ish but in fact it is Tony who is letting me down, just like he did on the last album. He has a fantastic voice, but he tries too much and throughout the album I would catch myself thinking "ahh fuck, everything was fine until you ruined it by trying something weird.. just sing!!"
So yeah, apologies as well....I just think their music was cheesy and simple but it was good - when you try to do new things it sometimes comes across as directionless and contrived if its not well thought through.
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| Rating: 8 |
I wasn't particularly attached to the prospect of this album fitting my worldview (soundview?) or conforming to what might be considered acceptable for SA to release. If the rating was for how good this album is at being Winterheart's Guild I would rate it a 5. But consistency of style doesn't determine my enjoyment of an album, and I like this sound. New songs by a talented band with character and originality to them are always appreciated. And so this one gets a pretty high rating.
Fuck I Have A Right to metal hell. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. There, I said it. Technically it is a good song, but fuck it. It grew on me a little bit. Like a parasitic fungus of some sort.
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| Rating: 6 |
I'm still having the feeling that this is another experimental and transitional album... like the ones before since Unia. I liked 2 or 3 songs from SGHN, when it used to be the opposite in their first albums. Don't know why, but the voice of Tony seems not to fit in their new style :S. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but i'll keep waiting for this "New Sonata Arctica" to finally get where they want, and let them blow my mind up.
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| Rating: 5 |
It's like...
01) It's an ok intro which gives the right mood..
02) ...Not, because this one has a different mood instantly
03) Traditional Sonata? Ok, what's next
04) Well, this showcases some good songwriting, maybe the album finally starts from here
05) Damn, the flow breaks again. Ok song anyway... it's just in the wrong place
06) Could have been better. A bit boring
07) Just Boring
08) Fun time? Already?
09) No, another ballad...
10) Average-
11) Average
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Written by Valaskjalf on 17.05.2012 at 19:26
Ok, well I will refrain from using the term "progressive" again in any SA discussion because apprently its only causing confusion. What they did on this album reminds me of all those "progressive" bands who got it completely wrong. I got this from SA with their weird overlapping shards of music thrown into each song as if theyre trying something else, but theyre not quite sure how to put all these random pieces together and that gave me the idea that they wanted to write something out of the ordinary - but in my opinion it just fell totally flat.
To be honest, in most of the songs the music is ok-ish but in fact it is Tony who is letting me down, just like he did on the last album. He has a fantastic voice, but he tries too much and throughout the album I would catch myself thinking "ahh fuck, everything was fine until you ruined it by trying something weird.. just sing!!"
So yeah, apologies as well....I just think their music was cheesy and simple but it was good - when you try to do new things it sometimes comes across as directionless and contrived if its not well thought through.
Ah, I can get those points quite well. I know where you're coming from.
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 *!* - 19.05.2012 at 23:25
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| Rating: 7 |
I loved "Days of Grays'" but this one is mostly a disappointment....
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| Rating: 10 |
Written by disarray on 18.05.2012 at 19:40
It's like...
01) It's an ok intro which gives the right mood..
02) ...Not, because this one has a different mood instantly
03) Traditional Sonata? Ok, what's next
04) Well, this showcases some good songwriting, maybe the album finally starts from here
05) Damn, the flow breaks again. Ok song anyway... it's just in the wrong place
06) Could have been better. A bit boring
07) Just Boring
08) Fun time? Already?
09) No, another ballad...
10) Average-
11) Average
VAF-FAN-CU-LO
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| Rating: 5 |
Written by Prometheus on 20.05.2012 at 12:05
VAF-FAN-CU-LO
It's nice to meet you too.
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| Rating: 6 |
Sonata's worst album, i really tried to like it but was impossible for me, is not about only the genre just the album is not i like to heard from them..
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| Rating: 7 |
I love Only The Broken Hearts, Alone In Heaven, The Day and Wildfire part I. The rest is just average.
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| Rating: 7 |
It's sad to think that they will never reach again Ecliptica's level, but I liked this album. I can feel the passion flowing out of it, even if some song, at the end, are a bit boring.
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I'm listening to it now (also my second Sonata Arctica album since Ecliptica) and, so far, I like everything, but I can barely remember any of the songs beyond maybe a couple of lines from the chorus when they finish. Also, some songs seem to have been written having been styled after another band ("Shitload Of Money" reminds me of Nickelback, "Don't Be Mean" reminds me a bit of a ballad by Muse (specifically, one of the ones from Black Holes and Revelations) and the riffing on "Somewhere Close To You" reminds me a bit of Iced Earth), although I do admit that I might be being overly picky about that one. Another thing that bugs me is the lack of a powerful song that makes you want to relisten to the album, although the Wildfires come close to being that. Compared to Ecliptica, which I thought was impressive and capable of standing out within two listens, it's a disappointing album, but, on it's own merits, it's not a bad album, just one that requires a lot of listens to finally sink in. Personally, I would say stronger hooks and a little bit more cohesiveness would have made this a better album, while the addition of a more standout song would have vastly improved the potential replay value.
Just my two cents.
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The cool beans:
- The two Wildfires. Could have come from Reckoning Night easily.
- Cinderblox and Somewhere Close To You. What a great tune.
- Good track placement.
- More guitars and way better production on the drums.
- The genre mix - the style is once again new, but harks a bit back to Unia and to the older albums as well.
The bad points:
- I Have A Right. GTFO.
- The album opener. Bad as an opener, not a very good track either.
- Inaudible bass. Do I have to wait for another Unia to hear more bass?
- The lyrics. Not like Sonata lyrics at all, way too simple and dare I say even shallow. The only lyrics I really like were the ones for Wildfires and The Day, followed by Cinderblox and bits of other lyrics.
- The oversimplified approach. Some songs could have really done with an extra verse or with a looser structure.
Overall, this would have been the best SA album if only a couple of songs were left out. This way, it's just satisfying, and since I'm prone to liking SA's sound, the casual listener will probably like this less.
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Listened to it twice and can't stand it ( even had to skip 2 or 3 unbearable songs). Kind of sad since I love SA, maybe I'll give it another try in a couple of weeks.
I also agree with Mora on all the bad points.... the good ones, not so much 
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Wes - 03.06.2012 at 23:25
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| Rating: 4 |
Written by Vombatus on 30.05.2012 at 21:37
Listened to it twice and can't stand it ( even had to skip 2 or 3 unbearable songs). Kind of sad since I love SA, maybe I'll give it another try in a couple of weeks.
I also agree with Mora on all the bad points.... the good ones, not so much
Agree with you here. I simply cannot STAND this band anymore. The vocals are song breaking.
The thing for me is i think the wintry keys and background music sound so promising at times. Still, I cannot say that this album is anything better than "bad" to me.
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| Rating: 6 |
Written by Radivoy on 18.05.2012 at 19:24
I'm still having the feeling that this is another experimental and transitional album... like the ones before since Unia. I liked 2 or 3 songs from SGHN, when it used to be the opposite in their first albums. Don't know why, but the voice of Tony seems not to fit in their new style :S. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but i'll keep waiting for this "New Sonata Arctica" to finally get where they want, and let them blow my mind up.
I feel exactly the same about the vocals.
Otherwise, I was still disappointed with this one  I can't find anything that memorable about it to make me want to go back and listen again. I found more memorable with TDOG and Unia with this "new style". But nothing yet for this album. I'll give it another chance in the future but for now, I find there is a lot of other quality albums out there that should get my attention more.
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Kenos - 08.06.2012 at 16:43
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Written by disarray on 20.05.2012 at 18:20
Written by Prometheus on 20.05.2012 at 12:05
VAF-FAN-CU-LO
It's nice to meet you too.
Italian bon-ton always lives up to its reputation.
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| Rating: 5 |
Written by Guest on 08.06.2012 at 16:43
Italian bon-ton always lives up to its reputation.
It sure does
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| Rating: 7 |
Just get Jani back already! Jesus!
PS: "Cinderblox" is pretty cool tho.
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| Rating: 7 |
Somes songs are boring but it's a good album
Cinderblox and the two Wildfires are the best. The Day and Alone in Heaven suck. I wish they got back to more power metal like in Reckoning Night.... =/
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| Rating: 10 |
Written by Wes on 03.06.2012 at 23:25
Written by Vombatus on 30.05.2012 at 21:37
Listened to it twice and can't stand it ( even had to skip 2 or 3 unbearable songs). Kind of sad since I love SA, maybe I'll give it another try in a couple of weeks.
I also agree with Mora on all the bad points.... the good ones, not so much
Agree with you here. I simply cannot STAND this band anymore. The vocals are song breaking.
The thing for me is i think the wintry keys and background music sound so promising at times. Still, I cannot say that this album is anything better than "bad" to me.
What did you say about the vocals?! Seriously man you got problems i know they don't make early years stuff anymore,but come on the vocals are wonderful.
And you aren't even one hairs ass of him. So your comment about Tony's vocals is Shit,it isn't even an opinion,the vocals are the best thing of the album.
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| Rating: 7 |
Written by disarray on 08.06.2012 at 20:12
Written by Guest on 08.06.2012 at 16:43
Italian bon-ton always lives up to its reputation.
It sure does
It's not by an idiot on a forum that you recognize a country. In America someone has killed nearly 20 students in a college. Hope not every American behaves like that, or we're fucked.
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| Rating: 5 |
An extremely boring album, that goes no where.
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| Rating: 7 |
So I finally got around to picking it up and listening to it. Haven't really been looking forward to it since it's gotten quite a mixed (negative?) reception.
Well, the first half (roughly) of the album is weak, dull, forgettable... bad. ("I Have a Right" is pretty good though. That repetitive chorus / circular mantra works well.) Then, out of nowhere, there's a drastic shift in quality and the rest of the album is pretty damn great. "Alone in Heaven" and "The Day" are both excellent songs, "Cinderblox" is crazy fun and "Don't Be Mean" is (despite its title) a fine ballad. The album closing "Wildfires" hark back to classic Sonata Arctica and are album highlights, especially Part II.
I understand why people don't like the album though. Compared to Sonata's more recent work this is very straightforward and compared to their early work this is downright slow (and not powah). The "Wildfires" being the exception. There's also a distinct 80's rock / AOR vibe here - that's always been a part of Sonata's sound, but it's never been as prominent before.
And here I was expecting a disaster. This is just an average album.
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| Rating: 6 |
Sounds gayish for me
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