Stratovarius - Eternal - review
Stratovarius - Eternal - review
Tracklist
01. My Eternal Dream02. 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]
A review by
Belegûr September 11, 2015
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.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Belegûr | September 11, 2015
Comments
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Posts: 260
Cant fucking wait, i hate being in the US where all the good finnish bands stuff comes out way after in europe
---- Follow your heart, not trends.
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Still not falling for the idea Eternal will somehow overrun Cain's Offering's Stormcrow, but we'll see.
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| Enemy of Reality
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Posts: 366 Written by Kais on 11.09.2015 at 12:28 I only obtained Stormcrow a couple of weeks ago and have been very impressed with it. If I had been given it for review I'd probably rate it around 9 as well. I think it's a great album! Definitely check this one out though, I can hear some similarities with Cain's Offering and it's made the album better than Nemesis for me. Written by qlacs on 11.09.2015 at 08:44 16 as Intermission is counted as a studio album because of the 4 new tracks.
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Posts: 179
Great review and I'm def. looking forward to this release now. Stratovarius was one of my first intros into Power Metal genre and because of their talent and passion they remain at the top of my "top shelf" metal music. I also blown away by Cain's sophomore release this year and have more reasons now to look forward to Strato's Eternal. I'm amazed Stratovarius has the gusto to put out solid releases every few years on a polished scale like they do. I hope they come to California so I have the chance to finally see them live somewhere soon in the future. For now their blu ray dvd will have to hold me over, heh.
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Posts: 366 Written by EmeraldSword on 11.09.2015 at 18:18 They definitely keep surprising me. When they returned with Polaris I was impressed with how solid it was and every release since has been great. They have a nice mix of styles throughout all their recent albums and as I said in my review, I can't believe they are on their 16th studio album. I'm enjoying their last 4 more than the likes of Visions, Infinite, Episode and Destiny...something I never thought I would say.
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Posts: 366 Written by AdrianoVieiraESilva on 11.09.2015 at 18:24 haha good eye  I missed that and the proofreader missed it too. Will see if it can be fixed 
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Posts: 366 Written by AdrianoVieiraESilva on 11.09.2015 at 18:29 Review fixed, thanks again. Will be extra careful next time They could play any of these songs live and it would be great, I'm looking forward to hearing them live when they go on tour
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Posts: 18 Quote: no problem, glad to help. By the way, great review, I agree with almost everything. I only put Fire in Your Eyes a little under the others Eternal songs. It isn't a great ballad.... but it is OK.
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Best huh only what is best ffrom this band is Fight Night
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 366 Written by Bad English on 11.09.2015 at 23:58 Fright Night* I also never said Eternal was their best album. That wouldn't matter anyway, everyones favourite is their own.
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Are you correcting Bad English's English?
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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Posts: 366 Written by Karlabos on 12.09.2015 at 01:28 Haha yes, I went there  . Eventually he will be able to change his name to "Average English".
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I for one hated Nemesis, but loved Elysium. Is there any hope for me?
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Posts: 720 Written by Stunning Cactus on 12.09.2015 at 05:14 I would say this album sounds more like Elysium, give it a listen and see what you think, I would be surprised if you were disappointed
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Posts: 328 Written by Sword_Chant on 12.09.2015 at 17:54 I will certainly give it a good, honest listen. Thank you both for your feedback
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After long & deep comparison I have to admit this record is a bit better than Nemesis. really awesome - almost each track is a top notch song!
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