"Deep Unknown", the new video from Stratovarius has been released.

"Deep Unknown" will appear on the forthcoming Stratovarius album, "Polaris". "Polaris" will be available in Europe on May 21 via the band's new label partner Edel under the new imprint earMUSIC outside of Asia and the band's longtime record company in Asia, JVC

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Source:	metalfromfinland.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Original news, posted on 22.02.2009

Stratovarius will release their brand new studio album, "Polaris", on May 21st, 2009. This new album will see a worldwide release by the band's new label partner edel under the new imprint earMUSIC outside of Asia, and the band's long time label partner for Asia, JVC.

Jens Johansson states, "We are very happy to have found strong label partners for the future of Stratovarius who truly believe in the band and are as enthusiastic as we are. I can't wait to hit the road again and meet all fans who supported us through all our good and bad times."

Max Vaccaro, of earMUSIC / edel adds: "We are very honoured to welcome Stratovarius in our family; "Polaris" is in fact a special album for edel. Like for Stratovarius, it's a sort of new start, we are in fact entering a new exciting chapter in our lives, the launch of a the new label earMUSIC, to coincide with the release of this fantastic new album with a renewed line-up and an overwhelming energy. One thing is for sure, Stratovarius fans will agree with us in welcoming the extraordinary talent of the new guitar player Matias Kupiainen and immediately reckon "Polaris" to be a true Stratovarius classic."

Says Seigo Horiuchi of JVC/Victor Entertainment, Inc., Japan: "We are proud of our long and successful history with this great band and are very excited to be a part of their new beginning."

In September 2008 the band found the freedom to go into seclusion for almost a month in a cottage by the sea in a Finnish forest to relax, laugh, write songs, be creative together, and record. And they found themselves being a band reborn. The result is a melodic, powerful, fresh, tight, and technically elaborate new album. Powerful melodies mingle with sophisticated arrangements, strong anthems stand alongside heavy songs. There are 11 songs full of energy, musicianship, and a positive outlook.

"Polaris" was recorded in the fall 2008 at Hästholmen and 5by5 studios, Helsinki, Finland. It was mixed by the legendary Mikko Karmila, who has a long history with the band.

Vocalist Timo Kotipelto explains, "Polaris is a positive, powerful album that Stratovarius fans all over the world are certain to take to their hearts."

The band will support the release of their new studio album with a massive world tour. The tour will start in the UK, followed by European dates. September will see Stratovarius playing live shows in Asia, followed by a full North and South American tour in September/October. A European headliner tour is scheduled for January 2010.

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Stratovarius will return to North America for a short tour this autumn. They will also take part in a once-in-a-lifetime pre-concert meet-and-greet which will take place prior to doors opening. With a purchase of the VIP ticket, you gain access to the venue at least one hour early for the meet-and-greet.

This is available for all shows and will be on sale until all VIP tickets are sold out (limited to 100 per night). You can purchase these VIP tickets at EnterTheVault.com; you will then be automatically registered to win four tickets to a show of your choice between May 27 and December 31, 2009. Each city will have one winner and they will be notified via e-mail on May 19.

Tickets for all shows are on sale via EnterTheVault.com exclusively until March 20 at which point they will become available through all normal ticketing outlets.

Stratovarius North American tour dates:

September 16, 2009: Nokia Theater - NYC, NY, USA
September 18, 2009: Opera House - Toronto, ON, Canada
September 19, 2009: Imperial de Quebec - Quebec City, Q, Canada
September 20, 2009: Medley - Montreal, QC, Canada
September 21, 2009: Middle East - Boston, Mass, USA
September 23, 2009: Sonar - Baltimore, MD , USA
September 24, 2009: Peabody's - Cleveland, OH , USA
September 25, 2009: pearl Room - Mokena, IL, USA
September 27, 2009: Garrick Centre - Winnipeg, MB, Canada
September 28, 2009: The Riddell at University - Regina, SK, Canada
September 29, 2009: Warehouse - Calgary, AB, Canada
September 30, 2009: Starlite Room - Edmonton, AB, Canada
October 02, 2009: Plaza Club - Vancouver, BC, Canada
October 03, 2009: Sugar - Victoria, BC, Canada
October 04, 2009: El Corazon - Seattle, WA, USA
October 06, 2009: The Grand Ballroom @ the Regency - San Francisco, CA, USA
October 07, 2009: Key Club, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius
Event:	Stratovarius

Stratovarius keyboard player Jens Johansson has posted the following statement:

"A long, long time, fans all over the world have eagerly waited for Stratovarius to return to the stage. They will finally be back on the road this year, with new guitar player Matias Kupiainen. We are happy to announce that Stratovarius will rock England, Scotland and Ireland for a couple of exclusive European shows before digging into the festival season 2009. Yes, you got it right: fans there will be the very first to see them live in 2009 and witness Matias's introduction onto stage with the band. Come be a part of it!" Here are the dates:

Stratovarius North Atlantic Isles Tour 2009

May 15 - Wolverhampton, England, UK @ Wulfrun Hall
May 16 - Nottingham, England, UK @ Rock City
May 17 - Glasgow, Scotland, UK @ Cathouse
May 18 - London, England UK @ Islington O2 Academy
May 19 - Manchester, England UK @ Academy 2
May 20 - Dublin, Ireland @ Button Factory

"We are also happy to announce two more shows in May after Wacken Rocks: one in Warsaw, Poland on May 24 at the Progresja music club and one in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 30, 2009 at the Glavclub. As usual, confirmed Stratovarus live shows can be found here.

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius
Event:	Stratovarius: European Tour

Stratovarius have issued the following update:

"Finnish melodic power metal "legends" Stratovarius are breaking the silence since guitar player Timo Tolkki left the band. They will return with a new studio album in 2009. It is a positive and powerful record that the band's fans all over the world are certain to take to their hearts.

"After Tolkki gave his blessing for us to go on without him, and after writing music together again this summer and a lot of thought, we have decided to carry the legacy of Stratovarius into the future", says keyboardist Jens Johansson.

"We are all very excited about the record and about playing Stratovarius music live to our fans. We can't wait.", adds vocalist Timo Kotipelto.

The new guitar player is 25-year old Finnish guitar phantom Matias Kupiainen. Drummer Jörg Michael says, "in Matias we found new character who fits perfectly with his way of melodic guitar shredding, he is a killer player, a 'Wunderkind' from Finland!"

The first two festival dates for 2009 have been confirmed already:
Wacken Rocks, Kreuth / Aurich, May 22, 2009
Wacken Rocks, Kreuth / Aurich, May 23, 2009

More 2009 festivals are planned and will be announced soon. These dates will be followed by a concert tour."

In the meantime, also Timo Tolkki couldn't help but meddling in and posted the following reaction to whom it may concern:

"I, like everybody, read today that Kotipelto, Michael and Johansson are continuing their new band as "Stratovarius". I have really nothing else to say except to comment the quote of Jens Johansson "After Tolkki gave his blessing for us to go on without him". I have never gave them any "blessing" to continue as Stratovarius. As I have said many times, I think it is wrong and I would never have continued Stratovarius without Timo Kotipelto, Jörg Michael or Jens Johansson. What Johansson calls a "blessing" was that I gave them the rights to the name I owned and the rights to something like 14 Stratovarius albums. But not as a gift, but as to cut all the ties to them because I was told then that they will continue as Stratovarius which I though was totally wrong towards the fans and of course to me.

They write that they continue the Legacy of Stratovarius, but it cannot be continued. Even I cannot really continue it because it existed only when we were together. It's a shame to see that they cannot start from the clean table like me, but are just using the name. Without that name, they know that they would have it much harder. They took a long time in deciding if they will use the name or not and some of them were totally against using that name. Now that has apparently changed. It is timed very well also to the release of the website of my new band Revolution Renaissance.

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Source:	blogs.myspace.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Keyboardist Jens Johansson has updated the band's website with the following news:

"We have some good news. Earlier this summer, Timo K, Jens and Lauri got together with a guitar player in a forest cottage in west Finland and wrote and arranged some songs. It went extremely well, and we are very happy with the material, the direction, and the general vibe in the band.

We now have over 15 songs written and demoed already, but probably not all of these will make it to the actual album.

We are happy to confirm that our new guitar player is Matias Kupiainen photo]. He was the only guy we even considered seriously. This interesting fellow was born May 11, 1983 and is a native of Helsinki, Finland. You can find some information and pictures on his myspace page. Here is a video.

Next week, Jörg and Jens will come to Finland as we have booked three weeks of rehearsals and recordings in another cottage. We will then work more intensely on the songs in a real band rehearsal type of situation."

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Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Guitarist Timo Tolkki has issued the following press release on his official website:

Dear Stratovarius Fans,

It is time to stop the silence and announce what some of you have already been speculating. Stratovarius is no more.

Last October I told the guys that I am stopping the band and told them the reasons why. This letter is addressed to you, Stratovarius fans, who have supported the band for so many years. I first thought that I would write just a very generelized, typical "music business" statement that basically never says anything. Then I decided that you deserve to hear at least parts of the truth what has been going on behind the scenes so you will be able to understand my decision better.

All the time, since TK and Jörg joined the band, there have been tensions and negativity flying around. This has been concentrating on me, TK and Jörg. The reasons Jari Kainulainen was fired some years back were so absurd that I am not even try to explain them here. If I write a book one day, maybe then. Anyways, I think the seeds were planted already back then, something like 12 years ago. There were many confrontations, Jörg has been complaining to me about TK and TK complaining to me about Jörg. At a times it was a mess, although of course, it never would show outside to the fans. It is not my intention to disrespect TK and Jörg here. They are both fundamentally good guys. Things just sometimes happen and relationships go to directions we don't want them to go. It's like a divorce, nobody wants it to happen but sometimes it is best for all so everyone can continue their own lives. Plus I want to tell how things have been behind the curtains. You always only see the good side anyway, you don't really know what is going on.

We had amazing years, 14 records, 6 world tours with over a thousand shows all across the Globe, 3 gold discs, a Finnish Grammy and almost 3 million records sold. I have arrived to my decision after careful, long and rational thinking of over a year and I know it is the right way for me. I just felt so bad being in Stratovarius. Something was terribly wrong in there and nobody seemed to care.

The countdown really started from the last Stratovarius album in 2005. At that time the atmosphere in the band was extremely weird. I had spent most of 2004 recovering from my nervous breakdown in April 2004 when I was hospitalized. It was at this point when things started to change. Jens supported me immensely during 2004 with his phone calls. We then did that "Stratovarius" album, which I think is an awful album and went for the subsequent tour production. By that time it was apparent to me that things really were bad. Nobody seemed to care about anything. I had the idea to use projection screens and for that, you need to produce graphics. I planned those and basically the whole show. Nobody seemed to have any interest in it. It was more like, the less the better. The atmosphere at the rehearsals was awful. Lauri Porra who had just joined the band was wondering what is going on with this band. Jörg Michael came straight from Saxon to this tour wearing a Saxon shirt during most of the shows. His attitude for most of the tour was extremely arrogant, pretty much towards everybody. But especially towards me and TK. And TK's attitude towards me was lukewarm and polite, but I could sense the hostility. Of course we as professionals put on very good shows but it was more craftmanship and rehearsed performance than a great united band playing emotionally from the heart. I think TK was always very bitter about that he could not get his songs and/or lyrics on Strato records. I did not understand this really cause he had/has his solo band where he could do what he wanted. It took me many years to learn to simply tell him that I don't like his songwriting and lyrics and that the main difference between me and him is that I am writing songs that end up being Strato songs while he is trying to write Strato songs that end up being Kotipelto songs, which means they belong on a Kotipelto record. It is not easy to say to someone that you don't like his music. You guys and girls dont like all music, neither do I. Neither does TK. I am not anyone to tell what is good and what is bad music, but I do can tell what kind of music I like. And TK's stuff just doesn't do it for me. I do have to say that I think he has written many great songs as well during his solo career. Plus he probably would say the same things about my songwriting. We are just very different. He has a very different sense of humor than I have. Maybe the weirdest thing in Strato was that we never really were friends in the band. I visited TK in 12 years perhaps 5 times. To me Jens was the closest in the band and lately Lauri Porra, who is a wonderful guy. But none of use was really ever real friends. It might be surprising to you but that is the truth.

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Source:	timotolkki.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Stratovarius Has Wrote The Following Message On There Official Website:

Things didn't start the smoothest way at the airport. After I entered the cockpit it was evident that one engine had a small fuel leak, so they tried to fix that. It wasn't possible, so everybody back to terminal. They got another plane and we were on our way with 2.5 hours delay. The take-off was amazing. I just watched in awe while the pilots did their thing with hundreds of knobs. Some of them I knew from my simulator experiences. It was really cool to be there in both take off and landing and gave me even more confidence together with my simulator experiences that flying is a really safe way to travel.

So we arrived to Osaka at 11 in the morning, two hours later than planned. Everything is always so cool here; 5 star hotels, the schedules are always holding, people are nice and friendly and the fans shower us with gifts. It's weird, but we were here a bit more than a year ago and now we are selling more tickets even without new album.

First show went really well. We were a bit nervous because we hadn't been playing any shows in seven months, but it was just great. The place was called Big Cat and it was the second hottest club I have played in. The temperature on stage was close to 55 Celsius. Poor Jörg. Poor TK. Despite the heat, the Osaka audience once again gave us a GREAT welcome. Then after the show signed some autographs, back to hotel and to dinner with the promoter to a Korean barbeque. Jens was getting really drunk and showed his usual antics (unfortunately I didn't bring my video camera there). I don´t know what the locals think when they hear in Japanese 'I want to fuck your dog' or 'I want to shit on your ancestors,' but maybe they saw the humour. I certainly did and I can never get enough of this genius guy.

In the morning a bullet train (300 km/h) ride to Tokyo and I just came back from a radio interview with TK and I´m typing this in my room with a view to a city that is 100 km in diameter and has 17 million people. Tomorrow a new show, all okay here, hope there too."

Signing out,
Timo

Stratovarius' remaining Japanese dates are as follows:

May
24 - Tokyo, Japan at Liquid Room
25 - Tokyo, Japan at Liquid Room (Finland Fest)

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

The following gigs have been confirmed for 2007:

22.05.07 - Big Cat, Osaka, Japan
24.05.07 - Liquid Room, Tokyo, Japan
25.05.07 - Finland Fest at Liquid Room, Tokyo, Japan

More details about Stratovarius' appearances at Masters Of Rock Festival in July and Wacken Open Air in August are said to be announced soon.

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius
Event:	Stratovarius: Japanese Dates

Stratovarius guitarist Timo Tolkki has issued the following update:

"I have written 11 new songs and we are first going to demo them. This will be completed by the end of the year and we will enter the studio to record that actual album around February. Timo Kotipelto is releasing his third solo album around that time (and what I have heard, it sounds really great) as well and he has naturally promotional activities and I think he is also doing a tour during Spring. Stratovarius production will be ready sometime in the summer 2007 and depending on various different things, the album, entitled R...... R.......:), will be released in October 2007 or in the beginning of 2008 followed by a massive world tour. So all okay here, everybody´s happy, the songs are great and we are looking forward to the new adventures."

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Source:	myspace.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

STRATOVARIUS' Timo Tolkki has posted the following in his blog:

"I have started writing songs. It took a while to gather all the equipment, but now I am done and I can let the creativity flow. May the Muse of Music be with me. First I am gonna write the songs for the next Stratovarius album. This I expect to be completed before our tour starts at the end of September.

After that I am gonna fly to Germany to record drums for the demos. I have a pretty good idea how the album will turn out. I have also some projects happening, which I will do, as I have time."

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

Blind Guardian, Saxon, Stratovarius, Grave Digger, Therion, Samael and Schandmaul have been confirmed for next year's installment of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place August 2-4, 2007 in Wacken, Germany. Also scheduled to perform at the festival is the reunited Norwegian black metal band Immortal, who will make its only German appearance at Wacken.

The organizers of the festival also extended their thanks to "the fans for making Wacken 2006 the success that it was that caused Wacken to sell out for the first time ever!"

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Source:

myspace.com

Stratovarius just performed at Wacken Open Air 2005.

This year's "Wacken Surprise Act" was Stratovarius.

Three songs were played: Hunting High and Low, Black Diamond and Maniac Dance.

Says singer Timo Kotipelto: "It was great to be back on stage!"

Says guitar player Timo Tolkki: "Hey Jens stop updating that stupid web page and come and DRINK!!!!!"

Says new bass player Lauri Porra: "Drinking????? WOOHOO"

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

The band posted their new video "Maniac Dance" online, as well as pictures from the video shoot.
The video was directed by Antti J. Jokinen in April.

The album "Stratovarius" is still to be released on September 5th, 2005.

Source:	stratovarius.com
Band profile:	Stratovarius

A statement from Jens Johansson:

"No, we didn't plant MP3s with any malware. Of course, that's what I would say even if we did do it so if you don't believe me.. well what the fuck can I do about it.

Yes, it's very fucking possible for malicious code to hide in MP3 or other non-executable files. If you don't believe this you are very naive. There have been exploits that executed just by hovering the mouse over a file. I wish I was making this stuff up, but I'm not. It could be via a bug in the core operating system, some library thereof, some media player, some popular spyware, anything.

No, I don't at all know if MP3s with Stratovarius music is the actual vector. But it seems quite possible given the described payload.

No, you will probably not be able to find out who did this. I would consider these strange .strato files as lost. But that "challenge-response" shit could mean that there actually might be some way engineered into this thing to get them back using that challenge information and the right algorithm. Good luck..

Yes, I got copies of a file named "strato.exe" from angry people. And I'm not even going to be hovering my mouse over these files, much less run them to see if a picture of mickey mouse comes up or not.

Yes, provided it's not replicating (a pure trojan) the 12-year-old in me thinks this is at least a little bit funny.

Whichever 12-year-old sociopath did this, if those "certain" new MP3s really turn out to be the vector, well.. no pat on the back, but contact me and I'll get you a signed Stratovarius CD, a few years in federal prison, and probably a great paying IT security job when you get out..."

Band profile:

Stratovarius