Stratovarius Community

Wow, that bonus track is a BLATANT Sonata Artica song, and it is better than any song the band has released since he left.

Check and mate.

No kidding. It's a phenomenal album.

The TK factor is the cherry on top, but Jani is an outstanding songwriter.

Rebel wrote:Wow, that bonus track is a BLATANT Sonata Artica song, and it is better than any song the band has released since he left.

Check and mate.

Not better than Deathaura, not by a very long shot... nor do I think the record beats Whinterheart's Guild by any strech of the imagination.

It blows Pariah's Child out of the water though, very very hard. An maybe this is not the most important part as of why that happened, but the production level on Stormcrow is LIGHT YEARS away from the amateurish production in both Pariah's Child and SPECIALLY Ecliptica 2014... why Sonata doesn't get AT THE VERY LEAST Matias on that mixing desk just to save a couple Euros, is beyond me...

I know nobody from Sonata or their production staff will read this, or if they do, they won't give two damns about but Pasi MUST NOT be on the mixing desk for Sonata's next record if they hope to leave any lasting impression on me.

Cause Pariah's Child has a good middle point, from Blood to X Marks the Spot, but it's nowhere in the levels of WHG, Reckoning Night or even UNIA which despite everything is still a fantastic record.

I don't think Stormcrow is above Winterheart's Guild and Reckonging Night, but it is better than the last two Sonata efforts, and I'll be the first to accept that.

HinatAArcticA wrote:

Rebel wrote:Wow, that bonus track is a BLATANT Sonata Artica song, and it is better than any song the band has released since he left.

Check and mate.

Not better than Deathaura, not by a very long shot... nor do I think the record beats Whinterheart's Guild by any strech of the imagination.

It blows Pariah's Child out of the water though, very very hard. An maybe this is not the most important part as of why that happened, but the production level on Stormcrow is LIGHT YEARS away from the amateurish production in both Pariah's Child and SPECIALLY Ecliptica 2014... why Sonata doesn't get AT THE VERY LEAST Matias on that mixing desk just to save a couple Euros, is beyond me...

I know nobody from Sonata or their production staff will read this, or if they do, they won't give two damns about but Pasi MUST NOT be on the mixing desk for Sonata's next record if they hope to leave any lasting impression on me.

Cause Pariah's Child has a good middle point, from Blood to X Marks the Spot, but it's nowhere in the levels of WHG, Reckoning Night or even UNIA which despite everything is still a fantastic record.

I don't think Stormcrow is above Winterheart's Guild and Reckonging Night, but it is better than the last two Sonata efforts, and I'll be the first to accept that.

I find deathaura sloppy, sappy, and unfocused. That whole album has never appealed to me. Not better than Jani's Sonata Arctica albums, just better than Elias'.

Matias is outstanding behind a mixing desk, you're right about that. He did a great job on this album.

I would also agree this album is better than deathaura.

I have got high hopes for this one but I refuse to pre-listen until I get my CD!

Finally got my copy today Solid work, me likes. Both melody and lyrics seemed a bit more complex and breathtaking to me on the first album, but with the terrific guitar-keys-duels and Timo's great perfomance, this one is a very good effort as well.

Hmmm, let's see when and how said tour is going to take place...

I have not send for a copy and it feels grate. I don't like Liimatainen or sonata artica.

This is the first album I instantly fell in love with since I first heard Infinite in 2009.

I haven't felt this giddy ever since I fell in love with power metal

Stratowarius 3.0 wrote:I have not send for a copy and it feels grate.

Thank you, Borat.

I have not send for copy of gay porn and it feels great.

AAAAAAAAAA wrote:

Stratowarius 3.0 wrote:I have not send for a copy and it feels grate.

Thank you, Borat.

Are you flirting with me. Pablo?

Do not. I am homofob-

I'll flirt with you. I'll flirt you right in the face.

Clearly better than the first one, but not even close to old Sonata albums. Needs more listens anyway.

Say, anyone know what happened to Jani's blog?
I was hoping he'd post more CO related info but it's been dead for a month

Can someone Finnish please translate this:

http://www.inferno.fi/uutiset/entista-v ... -offering/

Thanks!

Few thoughts on this album after several dozen spins.

1. Amazing, traditional Strato/Sonata-style power metal. Stormcrow, Best of Times, I Will Build You A Rome, Constellation of Tears and Rising Sun are incredible songs that carry the torch so many people wish Sonata Arctica would have continued to carry after Reckoning Night.

2. Timo sounds amazing on this album, just like he did on the first. Very surprised by the high note at the end of Stormcrow and how good he is at delivering power metal choruses. The songs themselves are great power metal, but TK just knows this shit like the back of his hand, and his delivery is great.

3. Antemortem's motif sounds way too close to Nightwish's Storytime for my liking. Not a bad song but the similarity is just way too close for me to give it a high ranking.

4. The lyrics are way too whiny, like Jani was drowning in booze and self-loathing when he wrote all the songs. The only one I'm not really a fan of is A Night To Forget. Sounds too much like whiny rock and the lyrics to the chorus are about as corny as More Than Friends on the debut. The ballads don't come close to the beauty of Into The Blue.

5. I don't think it's fair to compare this to modern Sonata Arctica because Sonata has gone in a much different direction over the last decade. The production, though... Matias is fantastic. He should produce the next Sonata album because although I like Pariah's Child, it has very soft production.

</rambling>

Empathica1928 wrote:Few thoughts on this album after several dozen spins.

1. Amazing, traditional Strato/Sonata-style power metal. Stormcrow, Best of Times, I Will Build You A Rome, Constellation of Tears and Rising Sun are incredible songs that carry the torch so many people wish Sonata Arctica would have continued to carry after Reckoning Night.

2. Timo sounds amazing on this album, just like he did on the first. Very surprised by the high note at the end of Stormcrow and how good he is at delivering power metal choruses. The songs themselves are great power metal, but TK just knows this shit like the back of his hand, and his delivery is great.

3. Antemortem's motif sounds way too close to Nightwish's Storytime for my liking. Not a bad song but the similarity is just way too close for me to give it a high ranking.

4. The lyrics are way too whiny, like Jani was drowning in booze and self-loathing when he wrote all the songs. The only one I'm not really a fan of is A Night To Forget. Sounds too much like whiny rock and the lyrics to the chorus are about as corny as More Than Friends on the debut. The ballads don't come close to the beauty of Into The Blue.

5. I don't think it's fair to compare this to modern Sonata Arctica because Sonata has gone in a much different direction over the last decade. The production, though... Matias is fantastic. He should produce the next Sonata album because although I like Pariah's Child, it has very soft production.

</rambling>

Regarding #3, I found the resemblance to an existing song in all the odd ones except #1. Broken, If the Story is Over (ends with Auld Lang Syne), Storytime, Gather the Faithful and a little bit of Avantasia's Lost in Space. I like Jani's takes on all of them tho

And look at the lyrics of Constellation of Tears and tell me it doesn't remind you of Jani's lyrics on My Selene

Empathica1928 wrote:Few thoughts on this album after several dozen spins.

1. Amazing, traditional Strato/Sonata-style power metal. Stormcrow, Best of Times, I Will Build You A Rome, Constellation of Tears and Rising Sun are incredible songs that carry the torch so many people wish Sonata Arctica would have continued to carry after Reckoning Night.

2. Timo sounds amazing on this album, just like he did on the first. Very surprised by the high note at the end of Stormcrow and how good he is at delivering power metal choruses. The songs themselves are great power metal, but TK just knows this shit like the back of his hand, and his delivery is great.

3. Antemortem's motif sounds way too close to Nightwish's Storytime for my liking. Not a bad song but the similarity is just way too close for me to give it a high ranking.

4. The lyrics are way too whiny, like Jani was drowning in booze and self-loathing when he wrote all the songs. The only one I'm not really a fan of is A Night To Forget. Sounds too much like whiny rock and the lyrics to the chorus are about as corny as More Than Friends on the debut. The ballads don't come close to the beauty of Into The Blue.

5. I don't think it's fair to compare this to modern Sonata Arctica because Sonata has gone in a much different direction over the last decade. The production, though... Matias is fantastic. He should produce the next Sonata album because although I like Pariah's Child, it has very soft production.

</rambling>

About number 3: I agree! I had my iPod on shuffle, and at first I thought it was a Nightwish song.
And about number 4: I think A Night To Forget might be reflective of Jani's life, I mean we all know he's especially fond of drink, to put it lightly. And if that's the case, it's kind of concerning. But I think all the songs have a more negative tone. I feel the album needs something more hopeful, or a ballad, or both!