So what do people here think of this new album from Sonata Arctica?
With their last album, Unia, they started to take an obviously different approach musically; however, even though I thought it was listenable enough and have listened through it many times, I thought it was hands down their worst album and did not like the new direction. Those who praised it claimed it as a "progressive masterpiece" that power metal fans just don't get. I am a fan of power and prog and just don't see how it was really that proggy at all? Aside from some odd key/orchestral arrangements being maybe mildly progressive everything else was constantly mid-tempo and uninspired.
After Unia, I was already very cautious of The Days of Grays as the band (Tony) had already stated they would never go back to the pure old style of their fast songs. Even after hearing a couple of singels along with other bits and pieces before the album released and being somewhat underwhelmed, I went out and bought it the day it released. I did not find it to be too exceptional my first listen through; however, unlike Unia, after each listen it seemd to get more and more enjoyable.
I don't want to give a track by track review but would like to point out the few tracks I still find to be bad or odd. The opening track is a short instrumental precursor to the last track "Everything Fades to Grey". It wasn't particularly bad sounding, it just seemed to be sort of unnecessary. Ironically the next track I have complaints about is the actual full track version of the same name. It is basically just the exact same song as the instrumental version with a dramatic chorus section added afterwards. The sad thing is that it could have been a really good track had they done more with it. The last standout bad moment is the worst of all, the track titled "As If The World Wasn't Ending". I just find this track plain and simply bad, boring, depressing, and monontonous. I don't think I will ever enjoy this song and find myself just skipping over it everytime I listen through the album. I have heard all 3 bonus tracks (which were each divided between the EU, US, and JP versions of the album) and found them all to be better than quite a few of the tracks on the album. I really wished they would have replaced these few tracks I didn't care for with them instead.
Other than those minor complaints I have really warmed up to this album. Even though it isn't the Sonata Arctica of old (although the track "Flag In The Ground" is a nice reminder of old SA), unlike Unia, the mid-tempo does occasionally pick up to a faster pace from time to time. Actually, if any Sonata Arctica album were to have a more progressive sound I would say this one is it as there are quite a bit of sudden tempo changes all throughout. Even though it is still very different from their old material there are moments where you are reminded of it and say to yourself, "yes, this IS Sonata Arctica". These things I have described didn't start hitting me until after listening through a few times though, and I think it has a lot to do with letting go of what you expect or want to hear. One of the biggest things I have noticed that is starting to make this album "great" in my view is that the vocal work is extroidanary. Tony's voice has not only seemed to have gotten better, but also the way the vocal lines and melodies are written and carried out seems to show true musicianship and ability. Earlier when I was talking about the sudden/abundant tempo changes I wasn't just referring to the instruments, the vocals do the same right alongside them.
My biggest complaint of the album overall is the guitarwork. While even the drums and bass have a few standout moments (which is of course nice), the guitar really doesn't get a standout moment aside from like 2 or 3 quick solos that are in themselves not too inspired. In general, there isn't any interesting riffs at all as they are pretty much refined to a mid-tempo and monotonous pace. It seems that Tony was so concentrated on the vocals that he didn't put much thought into giving some room for the guitarist to have some creativeness. If he had allowed more dynamic guitar work this album would have probably been my favorite album of the year, and one of my top Sonata Arctica albums.
With their last album, Unia, they started to take an obviously different approach musically; however, even though I thought it was listenable enough and have listened through it many times, I thought it was hands down their worst album and did not like the new direction. Those who praised it claimed it as a "progressive masterpiece" that power metal fans just don't get. I am a fan of power and prog and just don't see how it was really that proggy at all? Aside from some odd key/orchestral arrangements being maybe mildly progressive everything else was constantly mid-tempo and uninspired.
After Unia, I was already very cautious of The Days of Grays as the band (Tony) had already stated they would never go back to the pure old style of their fast songs. Even after hearing a couple of singels along with other bits and pieces before the album released and being somewhat underwhelmed, I went out and bought it the day it released. I did not find it to be too exceptional my first listen through; however, unlike Unia, after each listen it seemd to get more and more enjoyable.
I don't want to give a track by track review but would like to point out the few tracks I still find to be bad or odd. The opening track is a short instrumental precursor to the last track "Everything Fades to Grey". It wasn't particularly bad sounding, it just seemed to be sort of unnecessary. Ironically the next track I have complaints about is the actual full track version of the same name. It is basically just the exact same song as the instrumental version with a dramatic chorus section added afterwards. The sad thing is that it could have been a really good track had they done more with it. The last standout bad moment is the worst of all, the track titled "As If The World Wasn't Ending". I just find this track plain and simply bad, boring, depressing, and monontonous. I don't think I will ever enjoy this song and find myself just skipping over it everytime I listen through the album. I have heard all 3 bonus tracks (which were each divided between the EU, US, and JP versions of the album) and found them all to be better than quite a few of the tracks on the album. I really wished they would have replaced these few tracks I didn't care for with them instead.
Other than those minor complaints I have really warmed up to this album. Even though it isn't the Sonata Arctica of old (although the track "Flag In The Ground" is a nice reminder of old SA), unlike Unia, the mid-tempo does occasionally pick up to a faster pace from time to time. Actually, if any Sonata Arctica album were to have a more progressive sound I would say this one is it as there are quite a bit of sudden tempo changes all throughout. Even though it is still very different from their old material there are moments where you are reminded of it and say to yourself, "yes, this IS Sonata Arctica". These things I have described didn't start hitting me until after listening through a few times though, and I think it has a lot to do with letting go of what you expect or want to hear. One of the biggest things I have noticed that is starting to make this album "great" in my view is that the vocal work is extroidanary. Tony's voice has not only seemed to have gotten better, but also the way the vocal lines and melodies are written and carried out seems to show true musicianship and ability. Earlier when I was talking about the sudden/abundant tempo changes I wasn't just referring to the instruments, the vocals do the same right alongside them.
My biggest complaint of the album overall is the guitarwork. While even the drums and bass have a few standout moments (which is of course nice), the guitar really doesn't get a standout moment aside from like 2 or 3 quick solos that are in themselves not too inspired. In general, there isn't any interesting riffs at all as they are pretty much refined to a mid-tempo and monotonous pace. It seems that Tony was so concentrated on the vocals that he didn't put much thought into giving some room for the guitarist to have some creativeness. If he had allowed more dynamic guitar work this album would have probably been my favorite album of the year, and one of my top Sonata Arctica albums.
