Well, the single leaves a not so good taste in the ears. I hope this album will be worth.

Written by mikeprado30 on 13.08.2016 at 07:32

Well, the single leaves a not so good taste in the ears. I hope this album will be worth.

Not a bad song but nothing more. Very average SA song...and this album will most probably be average...

Pretty shit...and they rival Children of Bodom for the worst lyrics ever. Someone needs to put a leash on Tony, his writing has been off the rails for years, this is bad.

I hope the sequel to White Pearl, Black Oceans is better than the sequels to Wildfire.

In case you've missed the new song Life.

Another grower. If you're expecting a bunch of in-your-face memorable as hell melodies on the first couple listens, you will be disappointed.

This one is probably a bit of a mix between The Days of Grays and Reckoning Night (but more the former).

My only real issue, other than the production, is that the album seems to be missing that one AMAZING song that SA albums always have. Several good tracks, but I'm not sure if any of them will go down as all time favorites for me - except maybe On The Faultline (just a beautiful and depressing song). I will say, though, as much as I was initially disappointed in "WPBO Part 2," I've been starting to really come around to it.

After a first listen, I'm confident that a 7 would be a good rating for this album. It is a grower, like the person above me stated, but it seems that with tracks ending and starting one by one, after the first half, you may lose your attention completely. Track number 2 "Life" and track number 3 "Fairytale" are perhaps the highlights of this album, but none of them are suited to be called "memorable". Overall, it's a grower, with more a concrete intention of creating an older-Sonata-Arctica-esque sound, ending up with a congestion of a poorly-mixed (ffs Pasi) Reckoning Night/Silence/Unia/The Days Of Grays undecisive mix.

This is written as a fan who likes Reckoning Night and Unia the most from Sonata Arctica's catalogue, by the way.

Great Album!! The Best of Sonata since Unia

Anyone with half a brain would've ended on the high of "By The Grace Of The Ocean", but honestly, this is the first post-Jani album that hasn't left me wondering how much better it could've been if he hadn't left.

Well done Kakko, only took you 9 years!

If you ignore the horrible mixing, this is a really good album.

Indeed, a terrible mixing as farfaramir detailed, but IMHO is a nice album. I awaited the worst but i liked it so much.

Even the singles grew in myself with the album listening

Best song: 10. White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II - "By The Grace Of The Ocean" (one of their finest works in their whole history).

Thanks for not giving up even with so many criticals over you, guys!!!

I'm a big fan of sonata arctica, really. But I just cant stand their sound anymore, seems like a band without texture and quality (the mixing is just the cherry of the cake), no good interplay or cohesion at all. There are not even lapses of interesting moments on their songs, its just plain dull and uninspired shit.

Seriously, I'm actually kinda mad with that sequel to the oh mighty glorious White Pearl, Black Oceans. How the fuck did this disaster happened? I wish they'd just stop.

Written by Lulucifer on 09.10.2016 at 15:15

I'm a big fan of sonata arctica, really. But I just cant stand their sound anymore, seems like a band without texture and quality (the mixing is just the cherry of the cake), no good interplay or cohesion at all. There are not even lapses of interesting moments on their songs, its just plain dull and uninspired shit.

Seriously, I'm actually kinda mad with that sequel to the oh mighty glorious White Pearl, Black Oceans. How the fuck did this disaster happened? I wish they'd just stop.

Woah man, I thought I was the only one... Seems like Tony's contract with NB implies writing power metal, which he's already fed up with. He tried to do smth different between 2007 and 2012, but people hated that because "everybody wants to hear more stuff like Silence".

Either Tony's having a writer's block or he's plain unable to write songs he wants to write.

This was better than Pariah's which was complete trash... but it's just so insanely forgettable. I don't care if they don't want to do power metal anymore, I dug parts of Unia and Greys, but at least write something with a direction. It's just so meandering and feels very "Sonata on auto".

Boring...

Decent album again...one of the best tracks is The Elephant (JPN bonus, unfortunately)

I've been fan of them since Silence, but I feel like I don't even want to listen to this. I know it'll just depress me...

This is not an album that will pop out at you after one or two listens. So if you're not a big enough fan of the band to give it multiple listens and let it digest, you're likely going to dislike it.

Is it not a bad sign when the most memorable song is a Bryan Adams cover?

As I have been going on a SA nostalgia trip I decided to give this recent album a spin. While not as awful as some of their recent other outputs, it is still pretty "meh". Each song has some kind of nice melody but there are so many boring breaks in the songs that it brings the total package down. It is also kind of sad that the Bryan Adams cover is the best song of the album.

I could listen to pretty much anything sung by Tony's voice and mildly enjoy it no matter how bad it is. And since this album it's less generic boring power and more sweet pleasant tracks, I'll take it. Better than the rest I heard from them lately. I like We are what we are a lot, Troy Donockley always knows how to raise the bar up for a song.

According to MS, this album is worse than Pariah's Child... y'all serious?

I like it. Unlike their initial releases, this really stands out from your typical power metal sound. It's creative, and borderline progressive. I didn't like Unia and that Stones whatever album. Days of Grays and Pariah's Child were good, but this one really feels like they finally evolved this new sound they're after. And rightfully so, there's already way too many power metal bands today that sound completely the same. Very good album!

Another great album. Sure a lot of ballads but they still "Fly, Navigate, Communicate" (another signature Sonata song). BTGOTO is another epic journey like LTL from Pariah's. CTAA and Fairytale are prophetic. What a reflection of "Life"..... Lalalalalalaaa! Top 5 of 2016.

Written by mikeprado30 on 08.10.2016 at 22:00

Best song: 10. White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II - "By The Grace Of The Ocean" (one of their finest works in their whole history).

I love 2004's White Pearl, Black Oceans, even though Sonata's saccharine power metal is not at all my cup of coffee, that song is an exception. I will never, however, understand why they decided to butcher the tragic beauty of the original song with a cop out of a happy ending in part II. Feels like Tony literally took a massive dump on what was their one truly great song...

It´s a really good achievement, altough far away from the quality of the early days of the band, it equals "Pariah´s Child" in terms of quality and consistency. Songs like "Life", "Fairytale", "Among the Shooting Stars", "Rise a Night", "Candle Lawns" and "White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II - "By The Grace Of The Ocean" are the highlights in my opinion.

Didn't expect it to be that bad. I don't like it.

Written by Kais on 07.12.2016 at 13:24

According to MS, this album is worse than Pariah's Child... y'all serious?

This also surprises me! This is the first album since Reckoning Night that really impressed me, especially after a few listens. The Days of Grays and Pariah's Child had strong moments, Stones Grow Her Name was completely forgettable and Unia was stuck in between. The Ninth Hour however is a strong release. I was sceptical to hear WPBO part 2, but I have to admit it is one of the best songs here, along Life (speaking of leaving an earworm), Fairytale, and, one of my favorites, Fly, Navigate, Communicate.

I've seen several people making their list of favourite SA albums and it is funny to see how divided opinions are regarding SA albums. The few first albums will always be personal favorites, but this album definitely got me interested in hearing new material.

"White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II" is one of their best songs ever.

I can understand, why most of the people prefer their early work, but if nothing else, this one is totally worth it.

Written by Mountain King on 11.01.2019 at 04:09

Didn't expect it to be that bad. I don't like it.

I started to somehow appreciate and like the later SA albums, including this one.

I think that hardcore fans of the band appreciate them and they also need repeated listens. If you don't mind slower and softer songs on more than half of the album then I suggest you give it a listen.