Band:	Sonata Arctica
Album:	Talviyö
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	September 06, 2019
Guest review by:	tominator

01. Message From The Sun
02. Whirlwind
03. Cold
04. Storm The Armada
05. The Last Of The Lambs
06. Who Failed The Most
07. You Won't Fall [Japanese bonus]
08. Ismo's Got Good Reactors
09. Demon's Cage
10. A Little Less Understanding
11. The Raven Still Flies
12. The Garden

If you have already looked at the score of this review, it's probably clear that I have some issues with the latest Sonata Arctica record.

Honestly, I was disappointed. Why? Because the energy that I used to enjoy in Sonata Arctica's work, just isn't here. What do we get instead? Well, Talviyö tries to go for a more emotional mood (at least that's my impression). And on paper I have absolutely no issue with this. However, I feel like there are things on this album that completely undermine its intention.

First of all, while the lyrics are okay in terms of phrasing (the typical Sonata Arctica style), I feel like they aren't really going anywhere. It's like they had a theme for a song, but then got stuck at trying to deliver the message. I don't know, it's weird to describe, it feels like they are running around in circles. A song like "The Raven Still Flies" is a perfect example. That song is overly long for the message it's trying to convey. At that point you'd expect the music to carry a song like that, but that isn't the case unfortunately.

Now, that's maybe a smaller nitpick. The next thing I want to talk about isn't. Something I have already mentioned on the album page. The production? What is it with Sonata Arctica and their muddy sound on the last couple of albums? At first, I thought it was an attempt at making their sound feel heavier. But that couldn't be the case with Talviyö, since they went with a softer (more touching) approach in their songwriting. Apparently, they tried to create a live vibe. That's honestly a great idea because it fits with the attempt at a more emotional style. But as I've seen/heard in the past with other bands, something like that is not easy to achieve. Drums that don't have enough punch, guitars that miss clarity in their sound, etc. are all things that I have experienced with those types of albums. And this album suffers from those things as well. The production only amplifies the lack of energy in Talviyö. Any attempt at emotional touches in the music (other than acoustic parts) gets crushed under a production that sucks the individuality of the instrument out of the music. As an example: all the toms on the drum kit sound almost exactly the same.

Vocals-wise, I can't complain. Sure, Tony is getting older and you can hear that, but I still like his delivery and style.

The music itself? Well, I didn't really find anything really memorable. I feel like that's partially the fault of the aforementioned production, but the songwriting itself is also part of the issue here. It misses something. A spark of uniqueness that makes this album stand out in a sea of power metal albums. The older albums have the frantic, high-energy songs. Talviyö on the other hand... doesn't... The songs just don't feel like something I would only hear on a Sonata Arctica album. Maybe I'm too used to the older albums which made me fall in love with their style. I don't know.

Do I want them to return to their old style? No. If the band doesn't want to, then they don't have to. But honestly... I don't want this either... In the end it doesn't matter. They can make whatever they want to make. That doesn't mean though that I will automatically like that change in style. In this case it's disappointing, but there will always be the stuff that I like from them. Talviyö isn't going to change that.

To conclude, I can only say that I found this album to be really bland. And the thing that absolutely puts the nail on the coffin for this record, is its production. Otherwise it probably would have gotten a point more.