Sonata Arctica Question

[The_Q]

This message is for Glenn. I read in the July issue of BW&BK that it is a distinct possibility that the guitarist for Sonata Arctica will not be touring with them due to a civil obligation in Finland. Any news on this? Has this been settled?

-Sean

 

[The_Q]

P.S. Not to scare anyone that they weren't showing up. The article states they have a replacement on board.

 

[rms]

Yea the guitarist is fulfilling mandatory military time.

 

[AMBR]

Yea, there was a thread on it back in March. I managed to search it out. Their replacement player seems quite accomplished. I'm interested in hearing him since Jani can't be there.

 

[Stingray11214]

The guitarist coming with Sonata is Elias Viljanen. You can check out his stuff at http://www.eliasviljanen.com/.

Peace,
Ray C.

 

[AMBR]

SONATA ARCTICA Announces New Guitarist

Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA have issued the following update:

"As many already know, our guitarist Jani Liimatainen has been absent from the lineup this spring and summer. The reason was his messing around with his compulsory military/civil/prison duty, or rather, complete failure to take care of it.

"This matter, and everything that goes with it, caused a split between Jani and the other band members. This split was impossible to mend without Jani's help and co-operation.

"Therefore we would like to make known the following: During fall of '06 and spring of '07, Jani's personal matters and actions drove us to a situation where we had no option but to ask Jani to leave the band.

"Jani was notified of this in May, and the separation was amicable. We wanted to give Jani the chance to get his life together before making this public, which is why we didn't make this announcement earlier. We wish Jani well on his chosen path.

"'Show must go on,' so, facing the facts, we hereby humbly announce that Elias Viljanen is from this day forward a full and official member of SONATA ARCTICA.

"Throughout this summer, on many occasions, Elias has shown himself to be able to fill the big boots Jani left behind.

"We hope our friends and our fans understand that this was the only choice left for us to make so that our band could continue. SONATA ARCTICA has always been, and always will be, more than the sum of its parts. The band has become for us a way of life, a lifeline that simply can not be cut off.

"A long 'Unia' tour lies in front of us.

"We extend Elias a warm welcome to the SONATA family, and we hope the fans will, too. SONATA ARCTICA is whole again.

"See you on the road!"


Well, that clears things up. Did kind of suspect this was going on. Liked Jani, but looking forward to seeing Elias. Any clips of him online?

 

[St Enigma]

Since Jani's conflicts with the Finnish authorities about his total refusal to fulfill his mandatory obligation to serve in military/civil service/doing time in jail were a "public secret" for six months already, this statement wasn't really a surprise anymore but only the final confirmation from the band, expected since May. They need a guitarist who can leave the country for touring with the band, not someone who will be stranded in Finland until who knows when.
For reasons unknown, Jani has been very reluctant to solve the situation on his behalf in any way and have stayed unavailable to almost anyone. Last spring tablods told in public that he was wanted by the police, but if he was still avoiding to turn himself in after that news for any longer time, I have no information about.
I hope Jani can solve his problem (it's not that big a deal, after all) and return on stages soon again with some other band.


Elias Viljanen is cosidered as one of the most talented young axemen in this country, and I think Sonata were lucky when they got him recruited for the job. Listen to his older tracks on Elias' Myspace


There are many (poor sound quality ) clips of Sonata performing with Elias at Rockperry Festival, Vaasa Finland on July 14 on Youtube *here*

 

[Palabra de Dios]

Oh man, permanently replaced???

I feel blessed to have seen them with Jani last year, then. But Sonata Arctica has been the Tony Kakko Experience since, like, the beginning, so as long as he is in the band it will always be Sonata Arctica.

 

[Pellaz]

Oh man, permanently replaced???

I feel blessed to have seen them with Jani last year, then. But Sonata Arctica has been the Tony Kakko Experience since, like, the beginning, so as long as he is in the band it will always be Sonata Arctica.

That's pretty much how I see it, too. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them on that last tour, but....yeah. They're whole again.

 

[VenomGA]

That's pretty much how I see it, too. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see them on that last tour, but....yeah. They're whole again.

same here when we saw them at the MASQ last year.