Stratovarius - Elysium review
| Band: | Stratovarius |
| Album: | Elysium |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | January 12, 2011 |
| A review by: | Doc G. |
Disc I
01. Darkest Hours
02. Under Flaming Skies
03. Infernal Maze
04. Fairness Justified
05. The Game Never Ends
06. Lifetime In A Moment
07. Move The Mountain
08. Event Horizon
09. Elysium
1 - Part 1
2 - Part 2
3 - Part 3
10. Castaway [Japanese bonus]
11. Last Shore [collector's edition bonus]
12. Hallowed [collector's edition bonus]
Disc II [Digipack edition demo's]
01. Darkest Hours
02. Under Flaming Skies
03. Infernal Maze
04. Fairness Justified
05. The Game Never Ends
06. Lifetime In A Moment
07. Move The Mountain
08. Event Horizon
09. Elysium
Stratovarius...That's that Finnish soap opera, right? Well, yeah, it's easy enough to chock this bands last few lack-lustre albums up to piss poor band chemistry and the downright cartoon-like drama that ensued because of it. So they "eliminated" the "problem", and came out with Polaris - an inching recovery, but a recovery nonetheless. Polaris, to put it lightly, was hit-or-miss on many tracks, but overall left most people, aside from perhaps the die-hard fans with an overall "meh" feeling. Fair enough, you can easily blame the new guy for that one, maybe the band chemistry just hadn't clicked yet? Well, the new guy is no longer the new guy, and there's been no reported in-fighting since Mr.Tolkki's days. I guess you could say every silver lining has a black cloud, because at this point they no longer had any excuse to release anything but their best. I'm not entirely sure what Stratovarius' "best" sounds like, but I can imagine it sounds something like this.
So being the leaders of the "Euro Flower-Power" scene (alongside Sonata Arctica), I'm always a little guarded against bands like this. Generally, it's soft, overtly feminine sounding guitar melodies drenched in harpsichord and symphonics. So naturally, I was a little shocked to hear a band like this pumping out some genuinely heavy riffs. It's very typical to hear bands falling under this sub-genre accomplish two pre-settings; top speed, needling neo-classical, and ballad, take your pick. While these aspects are very prevalent in Elysium, the band still manages to grind out some slow heavy-as-bricks stompers like "Lifetime In A Moment", or the less harmonious heavy metal "Under Flaming Skies".
It's without a doubt Stratovarius. If you're still violently opposed to power metal, then there is enough stomach curdling moments to turn you off Elysium. However, if you're somewhat on the borderline, (ie you secretly enjoy all those keyboard/guitar harmonies to from time to time), this is surprisingly more varied than what we've heard from similar acts.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Rating:
8.2
8.2
|
Rating: 8.2 |
After the surprisingly good Polaris and yes it is surprising since Timo Tolkki wrote most of the band's songs and hits, I had really high hopes that the new album would be even better but after listening to the single "Darkest Hours", I felt "Deep Unknown" was on a higher level. Well I was wrong! The album is as solid as it gets. Unlike Polaris which contains some of Stratovarius' best songs ("Deep Unknown", "Falling Star", "King Of Nothing", "Winter Skies"), but also had its share of mediocre moments ("Blind", "Higher We Go"), Elysium on the other hand starts with the fairly good "Darkest Hours" and continues to impress me with each passing track. The production is crystal clear and not over polished at all, the highlight being the sound of Lauri Porra's bass guitar. The groove he provides on "Lifetime In A Moment" and "Fairness Justified" is phenomenal and contributes positively to the overall sound. The absence of the typical fast double bass songs is eminent throughout but that's not to say that there are none. "Infernal Maze", being one of the finest tracks on the album, has the best vocal performance by Timo Kotipelto since the Infinite album. Perhaps the biggest surprise in Elysium is the presence of the 18 minute epic title track with its epic feel and changing moods which stands as one of the most impressive works the band has released to date. The admission of guitarist Matias Kupiainen was a good choice even though the change in the band's sound might be repelling to the Tolkki enthusiasts but Kupiainen is doing more than well in filling the big shoes of Timo Tolkki, his influence on the 18 minute title track brought some very inspiring moments and showcased what drummer Jörg Michael is capable of ("Elysium" Part II is worth mentioning). Read more ›› |
Comments page 2 / 2
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| LeChron James Helvetesfossen Posts: 3561  |
I saw a commercial for this album yesterday on VH1 and i was confused. Not that it was on VH1, but because Stratovarius decided to advertise this album on TV and not any others.
---- Kick Ass, Die Young Less is More Stay Pure Stay Poor Music was my life, music brought me to life and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz in my head that only I can hear.
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| LordFezzington Lost To Apathy Posts: 398  |
Not really listened to any Stratovarius since Elements Part 2, might have to check this out though!
---- "Pay no heed to anyone and do what seems right to yourself." - Franz Kafka, The Trial 2022 List: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=7001 2021 List: https://metalstorm.net/users/list.php?list_id=6742
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| Dark Blood The Avenger Posts: 1435  |
Written by Angelic Storm on 26.01.2011 at 14:34 I agree with you about the different opinions. And honestly I hate the term "flower metal" too but I think he based his review in facts, and I think he did a nice job. Although this term doesn't come from reviewers or anyone like that, this comes from the so called hater community, people who don't listen to power metal and are more familiar to other genres. What annoys me about this is the fact that Power was labelled as "flower" by people who's tastes have nothing to do with it. I can't imagine myself labelling things I don't like (and therefore, don't listen). I simply move away from it, and keep the opinions for myself. I would never bring down Black metal for example. I tried to get into it, and I can't enjoy most of the bands from that genre (I'm talking about pure raw Black btw) but that's not a reason to bring it down. But of course, that's the opposite of what most people would do, sadly. Anyways, about the review. I think it was smartly written. And it made me want to check out this album, which I wasn't intending to. 
---- It is humanity who must pay homage to the greatness of the Universe... not the Universe to the human narcissism. 
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Wow... I was just dropping by to thank Dr Rock for guiding me into check this out by reviewing it. Instead I see a truckload of drama lol What's wrong when someone who doesn't normally like the genre and gives the album high praises? Doesn't it make it an even better reason to check out the album, especially for people like me who have quite a sceptical attitude towards this band based on their recent outputs? I know I'm not the only one (= Besides, those who have been around for a while would realise Doc bashes every genre anyway when given the chance. I'd much prefer that over some song by song description of a review. If you don't like the review style here, either write your own or start your own metal site  Piece of cake.
---- loves 小巫
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| Mountain King K i K o Posts: 1361  |
Every genre has it's generic bands and it's overused sound specially 80's heavy metal and 80's thrash. Tons of bands sounded the same. That is the case with Death metal too where almost every bands sounds the same to me at least. It's not just about Power Metal, Prog metal has a million bands that sound like dream theater or other famous bands! Important thing is that we enjoy anything we like. My favorite genres are heavy and power metal but i enjoy many songs from different genres (Melodeath to Industrial and symphonic). And people talking about Power metal as happy and soft?!!! A lot of Power Metal songs are more technical, heavier, faster and more evil than a lot of Melodic Death or whatever genre that is said to be so brutal...
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| Luneth Account deleted |
Luneth
Account deleted Written by Dark Blood on 01.02.2011 at 18:03 I tend to believe now that the majority of people who use the term 'flowermetal' know about the Power Metal genre; I kinda understand to a small extent why certain bands get that label, but in relation to this review, there's absolutely no reason for any controversy, reviewer doesn't even like the genre much but thinks highly of the album, I think 8 is too generous and love Power Metal.
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| Wintersun616 Posts: 34  |
Kotipelto's singing is bugging me on this album. It sounds good, and in choruses there's nothing wrong with it. But outside the chorus, he always sings somewhat in the same stretchy melody. That makes the songs sound like modified copies of the first one (I'm judging singing here only). I enjoyed this album a lot when I first listened to it on the background doing other stuff at the same time, but when I sat down and actually listened it, I found myself just more and more annoyed by how he sings outside of choruses and hoping that the next song is different and has some good tunes and melodies even outside the chorus, but no. 
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
The review is perfectly fine, except fitting Sonata Arctica into the flower-power metal scene, they dropped that thing, like, ages ago.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Luneth Account deleted |
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 717 |
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| Sephiros7 Posts: 32 |
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| EmeraldSword Posts: 179  |
Long time fan of Stratovarius. I think Lauri Porra was the unsung hero of this album. Well done. I'd give this a 8.3.
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| Savior Posts: 3 |
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| Breakerr Posts: 2  |
I just say that I have VISIONS and EPISODE and Destiny and I never get tired of listening to them, Is a great band and music regardless the members and genre categorization, Look forward to hear this latest album Elysium.
---- Break the system and be free inside to reach the goal and find peace of mind.
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| ErnilEnNaur Account deleted |
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| GammaRayForever Posts: 8 |
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 717 |
Written by GammaRayForever on 21.08.2011 at 21:32 I think if Tolkki were to re-enter the band, that would be very risky. Chances are high that another 'Elements Part 2' would be churned out.. or something like the Symfonia release we heard last year. Not that I really dislike Elements 2, but Strato needed to test some new waters. At least with this lineup, we are seeing more consistency in releases and even some of that memorability is returning, the kind of approach that was there in the mid 90's (their pinnacle of music imo) and not so prevalent in the 2000s. I personally look forward to hearing their later releases, even if it doesn't sound the same. The lineup is very talented and with enough effort there could be some great songs in the future. Not only is there a return to form, but a return in band chemistry which had definitely disappeared in the last Tolkki 2005 self titled album. "It's without a doubt Stratovarius" Quote this from the review 
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| LICH Posts: 94  |
I love stratovarius with a passion to me this was a reasonably good effort id give it an 8.8 or 8.9 , i didnt really like tolki , he was a good musician but just an asshole ...
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| Req Posts: 5 |
Written by Angelic Storm on 27.01.2011 at 18:55 I am a big Stratovarius fan and I didn't like the album either . Though I don't consider myself as a big power metal fan. Other than Blind Guardian and some Dragonforce (if I feel cheesy) I don't listen to it. Still this album sounded very unimpressive. Stratovarius' past below avarage work is more interesting than this imo.
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