Band:	Stratovarius
Album:	Eternal
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	September 2015

01. My Eternal Dream
02. Shine In The Dark
03. Rise Above It
04. Lost Without A Trace
05. Feeding The Fire
06. In My Line Of Work
07. Man In The Mirror
08. Few Are Those
09. Fire In Your Eyes
10. The Lost Saga
11. Endless Forest [Japanese bonus]
12. Giants [Japanese bonus]

Few bands could hope to release a 16th studio album and fewer bands still could even dream that their 16th effort would be an album that could stand with some of their best. While the likes of Helloween, Gamma Ray and Rhapsody seem to have reached a stage where they sound completely uninspired with a lack of passion for their music, Finnish power metal juggernauts Stratovarius sound as good as they have done in many years.

Founding member and main songwriter Timo Tolkki attempted to disband Stratovarius back in 2008 and thankfully that never happened. Since then, Stratovarius songwriting duties have fallen to long-term members Timo Kotipelto (vocals) and Jens Johansson (keyboards). This was a fresh start and everything they have released in this new era has been impressive and way above average. It's hard to think of many bands in the power metal genre that could sound this inspired and passionate after so many albums.

Of course originality isn't the focus here; this certainly sounds like Stratovarius. The surprising thing is how varied it is when it comes to obvious songwriting inspiration. I was reminded of Cain's Offering and early Sonata Arctica on many occasions; "Shine In The Dark" certainly sounds like a mix of the above influences mixed with the sound of Stratovarius present on the likes of Polaris and Elysium. This track and "Man In The Mirror" are songs that are perfect for a live performance: infectiously catchy and melodic. "My Eternal Dream" opens the album and sounds a bit like Freedom Call if they weren't so average. This track also screams classic Stratovarius and fans of the golden era of the band in the '90s should love this one.

The performances are as good as you would expect with the talent available and it's crazy how good Timo Kotipelto sounds on vocals after so many years. Jens Johansson is still as impressive as ever on keyboards. Writing this review has finally given me the opportunity to praise Matias Kupiainen on guitar. I think his playing has been more varied and interesting than most of Timo Tolkki's work with the band. Kupiainen definitely deserves his share of praise and he sounds great on Eternal.

It would be futile to go through this album track by track and explain that it sounds like Stratovarius, what should be taken away is that Eternal continues from where Nemesis left off, but with some influences that still make it sound relatively fresh. Instead of becoming stale, they seem to improve their songwriting with each release and are so confident in their ability to write good power metal. Eternal is power metal done to expert levels, with mid-tempo numbers, fast tracks with bouncy keyboards, ballads, the long epic to close the album and very few dull moments. Guardians Of Time have probably released the best power metal album of the year with their Rage And Fire release, but Stratovarius are close behind with this album and are becoming the most reliably consistent band in the genre.