Meh. Meeeeeeeh.


I was not expecting a return to power metal even if Tony sort of implied it, but it is better than the pathetic SGHN. Somehow it reminds of a (very) bad version of TDoG (which was a good album) so I'm not happy either. Doubt they will ever come back with quality material.

Larger than Life is a massive disappointment, it just reminded me of everything I dislike about The Days of Grays. The rest is great, with tracks 5-8 being the highlights for me.

EDIT: I take back what I said, everything is much better the second time round. And Larger than Life isn't as good as Destruction Preventer/The Power of One/White Pearl/the Wildfires, but 'massive disappointment' was a bit undeserved. I guess it's because the band were acting like it was the greatest song ever written in the track-by-tracks.

I like the production. Bass and drums are more prominent, sounds thicker and not as wimpy as a lot of their other stuff.

Nothing spectacular, but a lot better than I anticipated. A couple of really decent songs in there somewhere.

Blood is an awesome weird song that I don't know if I liked
Sonata... I'm really confused

Okay, it's not as good as I was hoping, but it was pretty damn good. Understand that Sonata Arctica is my favourite band and that it got that status with the first five albums (yes, I loved Unia). So just because I didn't love this does not mean it's not good. I thought Wolves die young would be more representative because it's so much like older Sonata Arctica. My only other reference was Cloud Factory which I did not like as much, but it does remind me of Tricky Beans.
So it's not old Sonata Arctica, gone is the towering greatness, but it's still a hell of a fun album. Most of the songs make me want to belt out the song aloud... And the two that don't...
Love is a beautiful song. Just beautiful. Not metal at all, but beautiful.
Then we come to What Did You Do In The War, Dad.
I am a military man myself. I have always appreciated Sonata Arctica's take on the tired "war is hell" theme. Replica could be a biography of far too many of my friends, consequently, I love the song. Destruction Preventer is more "my own" song.
What Did You Do In The War, Dad blew me away. I was moved to tears. Its the only song I listened to only once, the emotional impact is just too much.
So I say bravo to Tony and company. It was not what I expected, but it was one hell of a ride. I also really like what Henrik is doing with the keys.
I'll shut up now.

Written by The Evergreen on 29.03.2014 at 05:39

Love is a beautiful song. Just beautiful. Not metal at all, but beautiful.
Then we come to What Did You Do In The War, Dad.
I am a military man myself. I have always appreciated Sonata Arctica's take on the tired "war is hell" theme. Replica could be a biography of far too many of my friends, consequently, I love the song. Destruction Preventer is more "my own" song.
What Did You Do In The War, Dad blew me away. I was moved to tears. Its the only song I listened to only once, the emotional impact is just too much.

That's me. Those two songs are amazing, as I said in the review. However, I also liked "Cloud Factory". It's simple and catchy.

The album is no longer streaming...

Written by Stunning Cactus on 10.04.2014 at 22:41
The album is no longer streaming...

It was up for almost two weeks - can't expect it to stream forever.

Is not bad. But since Jari left the band, the guitar lines are few... and empty
Never knew why he is not part of the band since he left behind his other responsibilities.

PD: excuse my use of english, greets!

Written by Troy Killjoy on 10.04.2014 at 23:00

Written by Stunning Cactus on 10.04.2014 at 22:41
The album is no longer streaming...

It was up for almost two weeks - can't expect it to stream forever.

I was just disappointed because I needed to hear Larger Than Life a million more times

But it's okay...the individual songs appear to be still be randomly available on YouTube.