Sonata Arctica - Unia review
| Band: | Sonata Arctica |
| Album: | Unia |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | May 2007 |
01. In Black And White
02. Paid In Full
03. For The Sake Of Revenge
04. It Won't Fade
05. Under Your Tree
06. Caleb
07. The Vice
08. My Dream's But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare
09. The Harvest
10. To Create A Warlike Feel [digipack bonus]
11. The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden
12. Fly With The Black Swan
13. Good Enough Is Good Enough
14. They Follow [Japanese bonus]
15. Out In The Fields [Japanese bonus] [Gary Moore cover]
16. My Dream's But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare [Japanese bonus] [instrumental version]
After a career of releasing similar albums, Sonata Arctica's fifth studio effort - "Unia" - goes away from their usual style to offer something slightly more progressive. As a warning, "Unia" will have some fans and some detractors, and I belong to the latter category, despite loving progressive metal and liking the band.
The biggest surprise comes from guitarist Jani Liimatainen being relegated to playing rhythm guitars most of the time, occasionally displaying his soloing abilities on a couple of songs. If the guitar solos have been toned down, Henrik Klingenberg is filling in with solid keyboards all the way through. Tony Kakko's voice hasn't really improved since "Ecliptica", so no change in this department. Tommy Portimo is experimenting more than usual on drums, which should be a good thing.
The attempt is noble but unfortunately, the result comes up quite stale. Maybe a couple of songs are fine, such as the opening track 'Black and White' and 'Caleb', but overall, this album is just plain average. From sounding like an average Edguy album, or a Helloween album for that matter, to an insipid Vanden Plas album, "Unia" is sure to divide Sonata Arctica fans. The ballads are cheesy as ever, some tracks are limit laughable. Despite hosting 12 songs, "Unia" comes up really short in terms of valuable points.
If you loved everything about Sonata Arctica's sound, "Unia" will have you wondering or even shaking your head in disbelief. If you were tired of the same formula, give it a try. Otherwise, go look somewhere else, this album is not for you. Now, I'm awaiting the hate mail? Just remember, this is just my opinion. As I said, some people will love this album. My piece of advice is to listen to a couple of samples before buying "Unia".
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Written on 11.07.2007 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Rating:
8.9
8.9
|
Rating: 8.9 |
This is one of the bands that may be a perfect example of how heavy metal fans are often ungrateful and don't know what they want. Reckoning Night, their previous album, was very well received, but there were some complaints about some generic and repetitive songs - people thought that the band should add some more variations to their style. Then came Unia, the album that totally redefined Sonata Arctica's music; people, of course, complained that they should basically repeat Silence a thousand times over in order for the fans to be satisfied. Well, you can't please everyone, and Sonata Arctica gave a big middle finger to the latter ones. Read more ›› |
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Comments: 46
Visited by: 247 users
| Ivan Retired Admin Posts: 8850 From: Finland  |
I absolutely loved this album - somehow it touched me in a way few albums do nowdays. I've been a SA fan basically from day 1, and I'm glad to see the band evolving and reinventing themselves, rather than cashing in on their 'trademark', already explored in full on the first two albums. Songs like Caleb and It Won't Fade are amazing examples of this new complex and multi-layered sound.
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| Destryphior Posts: 397 From: Finland  |
I really love the song "Fly with the black swan"... Overall the album is one of the best ever, nothing bad with oldie SA(it rocks too), but Unia was like Beer, Ice Cream and Sweaty Men all at the same time....
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955 From: Colombia  |
What the hell Happened with Sonata Arctic ain this album? It's a mystery for me. This is by far their worst album, it's boring... I didin't even finish listening to it.
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481 From: Australia  |
i agree with this review.. it starts with some great tracks but mixed feelings about the rest. 8/10
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 From: Mexico  |
I won't waste too much words. This album is booooring. Well the first 3 or 4 songs are ok, but the rest... no comments.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Italics Posts: 294 From: USA |
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| Balls of Jericho Posts: 13 From: Canada  |
Demonic Tutor can go suck my cock, Unia is by far one of Sonata Arcticas best albums
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| Sonyfreak Posts: 1 From: Austria  |
You have to listen to this album at least 20 times before you will be able to understand it. I think its one of their best albums until now. I'm really looking forward to "The Days of Grays". :-)
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| SexyCat_1113 Posts: 78 From: China  |
Jani's crazy solo is my best love, but this album has none of that......:-[:-[:-[
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| ravendeath Posts: 240 From: Slovenia  |
Some songs are realy laughable, like the review says. I don't like this album.
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| Keo Posts: 1 From: Finland |
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| Milena gloom cookie Posts: 4603 From: Norway  |
Written by Guest on 17.10.2010 at 17:06 Agreed, this album contains the best elements from Reckoning Night (the proggy ones) but in a darker and more twisted sense than ever. Weird album for weird peeps like myself 
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Zenzero Zenzero Posts: 472 From: Italy  |
Written by Guest on 16.03.2011 at 19:27 +1
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