What? They went into Progressive???
This review triggered my attention...
I should listen and come back again...

"Slightly progressive". They did not turn into Symphony X.

Am I the only one who actually enjoys this album??

I enjoy it a little, but I had to listen to it about a dozen times before I did. Now the only song I really don't like is "Under Your Tree" (such a boring song!). But the other tracks aren't that much better. "Caleb" is probably the best song, in my opinion, but it isn't as good as "Don't Say a Word". In the end, I still think the album is a disappointment. And the sad part is I suspect Sonata Arctica are going to stick with this sound, at least for another album or two. I'd prefer they try to stick with their easily recognizable power metal sound, rather than change dramatically like this.

Good review though! Thought it was pretty spot on, except I like Jani's guitar work on this album more than their previous ones.

i actually agree a lot with review. i've listened to the album a couple of times but i gave up trying to like it. it's not bad bad, just not what i expected from the band. i just hope they're next release is as good as they had been until reckoning night

Yeah i appreciate that they tried something different, but for me it's a failure. Definitely doesn't hold my attention as much as their previous albums did. But every band has to have at least one bad album and then they come back to the top right? Right??

Good review. The solos have been toned down, though, not tuned .

Im not useally a power fan. And this album just reitorated the reason why... I have enjoyed some past Sonata material, however, I was put off a bit by this release....

Not up to scratch.

Well... in my opinion this album isn't so bad, and sincerly I wasn't surprised when I listen it for the first time. The truth is that it was quite predicteble that something like this was going to happen. This is 6th Sonata's album and it is the first time I see a change in their sound, I mean, the "cathy" sound they used to play sounded good for a couple of albums, but after 5 albums I started to get tired. In my opinion it was time for change. They dared to modify completly their sound, and I think that effort needs to be considered. If they continued exploring this sound, they will certainly realise an album with tthe same sound but with much more quality.

Have you people listened to the same album i did? i wonder... The band has changed a bit i confess, but not drastically! I understand some opinions about the changes in this album, but you have to listen lots of times to get used to it, because the main difference about this release and previous ones, is that some compositions of Unia are more complex and less catchy. Still the band is great and i recommend this album to all Power Metal fans... Yes the band is still power metal! you have to give it a try!
Black and White and Paid in Full are in my opinion typiccal Sonata Arctica Songs. Catchy as hell, fast paced, great compositions. For the Sake of Revenge is a good mid-tempo song with a nice chorus, a bit short though, but still a good song.
It Won´t fade and Caleb are powerfull songs, great compositions among the best songs of Sonata Arctica in my opinion.
Under your tree is an ok balad, a bit boring i confess. I´ve heard much better balads of Sonata Arctica.
The vice and Harvest are fast and catchy songs reminding me of "Wildfire" of "Reckoning Night. Fly with the Black Swan is a great song with lots of rythm variations. One of the best too.
The big surprise of the album in my opinion definetly My Dream is but a drop of fuel for a nightmare. This songs blew me away. What a complete composition! A Masterpiece!
Oh and dont´forget to check out the album bonuses, wich in my opinion are great mid-tempo songs: To create a Warlike Feel, the Follow (Japanease Treat), and instrumental My Dream´s But a Drop....
Good Enough... Is a beautiful ballad, far better than Under your tree.
Oh i´ve almost forgot, check out the cover of Gary Moore and definitely pass aside the most weird song of Sonata Arctica. The World´s Forgotten, The world´s fobidden... Now that´s some funny Weird stuff.
In conclusion i think this release definitly deserves the attention of the fans. Off course this isn´t Silence..but still its an interesting and different release of Sonata Arctica with lots of great moments and very few bad moments (Under Your Tree - A bit boring, Worlds Forgotten, Worlds Forbiden - Weird)
Very Good Release Guys! Stay Metal! |m|

To be honest, I love this album. It is damn near perfect in my eyes (or ears, I suppose) and is my favorite Sonata Arctica album by leaps and bounds. It may even be my favorite CD altogether, but I won't jump to conclusions...

I don't think Unia is their best album, but it has some of their best songs on it. Under Your Tree is probably my favourite off it, I love the melodies and the lyrics. I really enjoy the first half of the album, but the songs after Caleb fail to make an impression on me

I think that Reckoning Night was better that this latest work.

Either Sonata Arctica has tried something else just for once or I will quit listening to their albums after this one because Unia REALLY sucks. No musical value at all.

honestly, I didin't even finished listening to this album. I got so bored I almost fell asleep.

Jani didn't play the guitars in this album, only the few solos in it 'cause he had some 'civic duty' to attend to or something.

Haha I was thinking about getting this album (although I hate Sonata Arctica and their shitty pop sound) but this review just killed it. Thanks for saving me 10 bucks =D

This Review is over exagerated in terms of negative points... This album has quality, you just have to listen "well" and lots of times the album and not one or two times, and throwing it out like a piece of junk! This album is very good, i repeat once again, its no Silence... but has lots of quality also. If you are a real fan of the band, forget the samples and buy the album. You wont´regret it. This album has the Sonata Arctica Mark.

Written by kaos666 on 14.07.2007 at 12:27

Jani didn't play the guitars in this album, only the few solos in it 'cause he had some 'civic duty' to attend to or something.

Jani did actually play all the guitars on this album. But he just didn't play live this spring and summer cuz of CIVIL duty.

I actually love this album very much, the only thing is that you need to listen to it more than once to get into it, it's more complex so it's not just sit down and listen to it once and you will love it. So all of you who don't even try to listen to it more than once, do it, you need to give it more time to grow than the older albums.

I think Its Sonata's worst album, maybe it was Jani's lack of time with the Army bullshit he had to do

Written by =maD.Doc:. on 17.07.2007 at 16:10

Written by kaos666 on 14.07.2007 at 12:27

Jani didn't play the guitars in this album, only the few solos in it 'cause he had some 'civic duty' to attend to or something.

Jani did actually play all the guitars on this album. But he just didn't play live this spring and summer cuz of CIVIL duty.

I actually love this album very much, the only thing is that you need to listen to it more than once to get into it, it's more complex so it's not just sit down and listen to it once and you will love it. So all of you who don't even try to listen to it more than once, do it, you need to give it more time to grow than the older albums.

I don't think he did because it says in the album booklet where all the technical details below the listing of the band members 'Guitars and acoustic guitars by Nino Laurenne' (Thunderstone). Well it doesn't really matter who played I don't really like the guitar work in the album, I do like the keyboard work though!

Written by DreamWeaver on 11.07.2007 at 03:39

Am I the only one who actually enjoys this album??

Nope, you're not the only one, I do enjoy this album as well. I don't see that there is something wrong with it.

I didnt like it at first but i enjoy it a lot now....i think its definitely better than "Reckoning Night" and the proggy aspect of the album is actually a breath of fresh air. Who cares if its not as good as Symphony X?? We dont want Sonata to sound like them and im glad theyve changed course slightly - I can think of a number of bands who just bring out the same type of album year after year and even THAT is annoying the fans so what is a band to do? Obviously this isnt another "Ecliptica" or "Silence" but its also not 2001 anymore and you want bands to try something new. Im pretty sure theyre fed up of playing the same type of music over and over.

As a matter of fact I was also one of those who shot them off after the release of "Reckoning Night", especially for replacing the normal sounding keyboards with something out of a church organ, it totally fucked things up for me. but i just got used to it after some time...still dont love it but now i just listen to it as how the songs should be.

I think 6.8 is a bit harsh for "Unia" id give it a 7.8 - 8.0...mostly deducting marks for the guitar work - i miss Jani's crazy-ass solos. And if you think 8 is a bit high....well Id give Ecliptica 9.4 and Silence 9.2 so yeah lol

Believe me, I gave it almost 10 listens, maybe even more. But I still couldn´t really dig into it. The album is boring IMO. I recognize the attempt of the band to abandon their old Stratovarius-inspired sound and "jump" into new direction, trying new sound with prog metal elements. But prog elements are like dynamite - if you incorporate it well, you have a kickass album, if not, it blows your album off and ruins it all. The one and only song on this album, in which the prog elements are incorporated well, is actually Paid in full. I really wanted to dig into the album and find those "masterpieces", as much as I could, but it was in vain, ´cause except Paid in full, no other song caught my attention. If a band decides to change their sound, they should contemplate a bit if they are capable to do it well. Maybe Sonata should have taken more time to develop the album more and not release it as soon as possible. But just maybe. I am an open-minded person, so I decided to give them one more chance = if they do their next effort well, they will again gain my attention, if not, their battle is lost I think...

And just to compare it - the new Dream Theater effort (Systematic Chaos) took me 4 or 5 listens to appreciate at least some of the songs (after those listens I could actually dig into that album). Dream Theater! If a band needs more listens to appreciate their album than an album from Dream Theater and I still don´t find it interesting, there is something wrong with it... Actually, I needed more listens for Orphaned Land albums, but not 10 or more, and I started to like them. But if Sonata needs so much listens and I still don´t get their point, they should have done something wrong...

To me, this is a great album. A little twist in their style, but not to much.
I didn't need to listen a lot of times to like the songs, just after 2 or 3 times listening to the album I loved it.
To me Sonata Arctica is one of the best bands and this album only consolidates my opinion on them.

Written by tulkas on 11.07.2007 at 06:04

i actually agree a lot with review. i've listened to the album a couple of times but i gave up trying to like it. it's not bad bad, just not what i expected from the band. i just hope they're next release is as good as they had been until reckoning night

Agree with this comment. It's not a bad album...it's just boring and not what I expected

I didn't even find a remarkable song u.U I should listen to it again...the more times you hear it, the more you like it.

Dunno, I like this album from the very first listen... For the Sake of Revenge and The Worlds forgotten, The Worlds forbidden just brought me in right away. I will admit, I haven't heard any other Sonata Arctica albums - however from this review and all of the comments I might have to look into them more.

I completly agree with Demonic Tutor's review. When I've heard the album I thought to myself: "what's this?" Where are the Sonata Artica I knew?!
This album sounds a little bit like Dream Theater but far, far away from Theater's geniality! For progressive fans maybe this is an album to buy, but for the Sonata Arctica power metal fans I must admit it's a disappointment... (Sorry for my english...)