Sonata Arctica –Unia
Nuclear Blast - NB 1854-2 –May 18th 2007
By Axemaiden
Anyone who has never experienced Sonata Arctica before is likely to be impressed by their musical background. Formed over a decade ago in a small town in Finland, their particular blend of melodic power metal made them gain fans extremely quickly and resulted in a lucky chance to tour with Nightwish which put their names on the musical map, so to speak.
Unia is their latest album release and doesn’t disappoint in comparison with their former releases. I’ve been a fan of their music for a long time and this album does indeed push them in new directions out of the “melodic power metal” bracket, you can hear strong influences from much heavier bands for example Paradise Lost and even a hint of Cradle of Filth but the innovative guitar techniques break them into interesting territory which is more reminiscent of Satriani or Mattias Eklundh. You’ll understand if you listen to the guitar solo on the track ‘In Black and White’.
There are a couple of tracks which didn’t really impress me a great deal, they were good but I didn’t find them particularly overwhelming, for example ‘Under Your Tree’ wasn’t hugely interesting musically speaking, but on the whole the album is very impressive with the band members stretching themselves to a higher musical capacity, especially regarding keyboards, vocals and guitar work. It would have been nicer to hear a bit more unusual and innovative drum and bass work however as the musicians are very talented but seem to be used as background only for many tracks. The production on Unia is outstanding however and has obviously had a lot of care and thought put into it, resulting in a rich and multi layered album which is a joy to listen to. It is definitely worth buying.
Official Sonata Arctica Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
Nuclear Blast - NB 1854-2 –May 18th 2007
By Axemaiden
Anyone who has never experienced Sonata Arctica before is likely to be impressed by their musical background. Formed over a decade ago in a small town in Finland, their particular blend of melodic power metal made them gain fans extremely quickly and resulted in a lucky chance to tour with Nightwish which put their names on the musical map, so to speak.
Unia is their latest album release and doesn’t disappoint in comparison with their former releases. I’ve been a fan of their music for a long time and this album does indeed push them in new directions out of the “melodic power metal” bracket, you can hear strong influences from much heavier bands for example Paradise Lost and even a hint of Cradle of Filth but the innovative guitar techniques break them into interesting territory which is more reminiscent of Satriani or Mattias Eklundh. You’ll understand if you listen to the guitar solo on the track ‘In Black and White’.
There are a couple of tracks which didn’t really impress me a great deal, they were good but I didn’t find them particularly overwhelming, for example ‘Under Your Tree’ wasn’t hugely interesting musically speaking, but on the whole the album is very impressive with the band members stretching themselves to a higher musical capacity, especially regarding keyboards, vocals and guitar work. It would have been nicer to hear a bit more unusual and innovative drum and bass work however as the musicians are very talented but seem to be used as background only for many tracks. The production on Unia is outstanding however and has obviously had a lot of care and thought put into it, resulting in a rich and multi layered album which is a joy to listen to. It is definitely worth buying.
Official Sonata Arctica Website
Official Nuclear Blast Website
