adrian9 wrote:is kind of the old sonata vibe.
Mmmh... maybe
SGHN "old" because I don't quite get it. It still sounds pretty dull to me, in the vain of
I Have a Right and like I said: I get it, but it doesn't quite do much for me because the composition is still just bland imo.
Also, here's an interview I translated for the SA Reddit:
“Talviyö” will be SONATA ARCTICA's tenth offering, and will be available on September 2019 . For this, Tony Kakko and Elias Viljanen recieved us at hotel in Madrid to talk about this upcoming record of unpronounceable name, and of their upcoming tour in our country (Spain) already confirmed for December. It's been a pleasure to talk with them for a while, and part of this long conversation with the Finns is presented now:
– Let's start by talking about “Talviyö”, Why this name? What does it mean?
Tony.- It means “Winter Night”. We had the album ready, the songs, and we were missing the name. Even the cover was ready.
Elias.- That's right, the cover is a photo of a winter night in Finland, with its snow and coldness, so Tony came up with the idea of “Winter Night” in English because it sounded catchy and strong, and it was the idea that everyone liked the most. It was also his idea to name the album in Finnish, so… (laughs)
Tony.- When I said “Talviyö”, I thought... "Ha! it's gonna be so hard for the fans to pronounce it" and that's it basically. Finnish tt's hard but pretty at the same time, and that's why we chose it like that. It's a great joke, I know, because it's hard to say, but it's also pretty exotic. Look, this is the original photo (Tony shows the original photo of the Finnish night in his phone), it's actually the afternoon in Finland, but it's just really dark because it's winter, and we thought the title was great with the photo.
– What's the difference between “Talviyö” and previous records?
Tony.- I think the way of composing and working was actually very similar to previous albums. I think this is the third album in a row that we work the same way. Generally we looked for the essence of SONATA ARCTICA en each song. Our roots are also noticeable. The early years of SONATA ARCTICA in songs like “Message From The Sun” or “Ismo’s Got Good Reactors” for example. There's a bit of everything. For some time now we've been thinking of making the album better for live performances, with all the power these have. We've talked about it in the band and people have told us that we sound better live than in the studio albums, and after ten years it starts concerning you and we wanted to change this.
We've tried it before with “The Ninth Hour” for example, in which we also had our live technician Mikko Tegelman, but it wasn't a continuous effort, as he had to tour with Nightwish and it just so happened to coincide with our studio sessions. And as he was in North America, he obviously wasn't with us (laugh). But this time we've had Mikko with us full time. We have the sound with great tracks, and we recorded 10 of them last year in June and July of last year and it was just about putting the demos together, and it was actually one free day we had in Spain after a festival when he had a listening session. Eveyrone liked the songs and it was really easy to get Mikko involved because we had everything prepared with enough time and there was no rush when mixing the album. It was in September when we entered the studio to record the base drums, bass, and some guitars that we finished really soon.
– This album wasn't recorded with each band member separately, but with everyone together, right?
Tony.- Yeah, absolutely. It's much easier to play together now and it sounds like a live band. In many previous albums we would record the drums separately and then we'd put everything together. That would not make the sound very organic. Now we have a much more emotional and heartfelt sound, and I think we have to thank Mikko because he has achieved this with us. Another thing that Mikko also did was to change the balance of the instruments in contrast to previous albums, particularly the bass. The bass is very present in this new sound, and you can notice this easily. Often you'll find it right in your face. When Mikko proposed this, Pasi's face was almost a poem, filled with joy and responsibility. Pasi has always been up to the task, but even more now. In any case Pasi is not a bassist that you wanna hide. He's a really good bass player, so nobody had problems with it in the band.
– We were gonna talk about the composition style but you've pretty much told us everything already Tony (laughs). Lets start from the ending this time though. “The Garden” is a bit like a lullaby alsmot, with a three by four tempo present in large portions of the song. What can you tell us about it?
Tony.- It's something like that. It's actually a song about being thankful. I know what you mean. It's a slow song that sounds like a lullaby, but it's really about saying thanks like a hug. When you reach the age of forty for like me, you can allow yourself something like this, and I really don't care if some fifteen year old doesn't have the capacity to understand why this song is so important for me. I really couldn't care less what people think about it honestly. It's a song filled with meaning for me and everyone else in the band.
It's about saying thanks to those that you don't say "Thank you" enough. It's something that happens, and often you regret not opening and saying it enough at the right time. And I don't mean saying thanks like when you're served a cuo of coffee. It's much bigger than that, and that's the meaning of the song, and the only spot where it fit properly was at the end of the album along with “The Raven Still Flies With You”. Together they last about twelve or thirteen minutes, and in a way they are like a lullaby. An easy and pretty way to close out the album.
– Continuing with “Ismo’s Got Good Reactors”, the song is an instrumental track for a change...
Elias.- It's of course a song composed by Tony and I just play it (laughs), but many things happen in this song. I think Tony had the main melody for this track since he was thirteen or fourteen years old. It's a song you can easily play with the black keys in a piano. Musically I think it takes you around the world, from central-East Europe, going through Asia and Japan or something like that. When you're listening to the album, it's like stopping down for a moment to catch a breath, relax and let the music take you. I think the album itself is very deep, and not just with its lyrics but also with its musicality. But speaking about the name of the song, I think Tony wanted to explain something…
Tony.- Yeah, thanks! (laughs). Ismo is a very common name in Finland like Tony or Elias, but Ismo here really is my friend Mikko. He died about nine years ago at age forty two and he was a very close friend to me. His name was Mikko and not Ismo, but in a way they're the same person, and there's a story behind it. When he was twenty years old he was studying to become a school teacher, and of course he had to do practices with students, in this case with disabilities. He was with some students in area near a boat in a lake and a rock. When they tried to get the boar running, the engine started sinking and it was Mikko who by grabbing it managed to pull it out, and one of his students just said "¡Oh, Ismo’s Got Good Reactors”!, like referring to his ability as a hero to react in such situations, but of course, he got both the name and expression wrong at the time (laughs). It's a wonderful story that makes me remember my friend very dearly, and that's why this song has a very special meaning for me. It's not a sad song, but a fun one like he was. The story has been with me since I was ten or thirteen years old, so I wanted to represent it now. Ever since, every time that something falls or is about to fall, I say "Ismo, where are your reactors!?" (laughs).
– When thinking about the album, I have to say that my favorite song is “Who Failed The Most”...
Tony.- That's actually our next single! We're actually gonna record a video for it very soon.
Are you kidding me? (laughs).
Tony.- Yes, we can in fact also produce music videos in Finland (laughs).
Elias.- That's right, it'll be our next single!
– I say this because last time you were doing promo stuff for an album, I told you that my favorite in that album was “Life”, and you told me it was your next single and that it would be out next week…
Tony.- Really? This proofs that you have an excellent musical taste for sure! What a coincidence.
– About the song, what can you tell us? Is it possible that it has a note from BON JOVI's “Runaway” in some sections? It definitely sounds much more like a rock song...
Tony.- Well, it may sound strange to you but I've also heard that note, though I can't listen to that many things because I'm just not that objective when it comes to my own work. It's hard to talk objectively about your own songs because they have your personal seal... This was actually a song I had planned for my alternate project, which I hope to get to in a couple years, even if takes all the way till I'm fifty. “Who Failed The Most” is a song I felt I needed for this album, cause SONATA ARCTICA needed another song and I thought it was perfect. It's a slower song I had planned for that project, though it was a bit lost and since the project wasn't coming out any time soon, it was time to get it out. It's a great song with some very sweet sections, and it was pretty good as a demo, but when we tried it with SONATA ARCTICA and we played it together I was just convinced. As for the lyrics, I think I've written better stuff and that's why I had it separated for my solo project, but I think the lyrics become quite strong and powerful in the context of the album, and the piece has just been improving over time, finally become what it deserved to be, ready to come out at last! (laughs).
– We know that you'll be in Spain relatively soon, more specifically in Madrid and Barcelona in December if I'm not mistaken...
Tony.- That's right! We don't have the exact dates, but we're really excited to see you guys again in December. We know we start in November in Finland, but since we're here in Spain, we can tell you now that we'll be here around December.
– What can we expect of these shows? Setlist, show...
Tony.- Well, we'll have a broad and nice selection of songs from our new album, since that's what we're supporting with the tour (laughs). Of course, we'll also have a selection of our older albums, but that selection just becomes harder every time, since a lot of people wanna listen to a lot of very different songs each.
– You know that everyone wants to listen to “Talullah” and “Replica"...
Tony.- Yeah, we can't leave out “Full Moon” or “I Have A Right” for a while now… All songs have a different meaning, and there's a moment where it's just impossible to pick everything. We know that we don't always play what everyone wants to hear, but we have a great pack of songs and I'm sure everyone who attends the shows will enjoy them. We'll soon be on tour supporting KAMELOT in North America, and we'll test the waters to see what songs we wanna play for our tour (laughs). The band that will be with us will be BATTLE BEAST, so it will be a great way to start our tour like that. That will last for about six weeks and then we'll start with the European tour proper. And about the show itself, we don't really have anything pre-made for our shows right now, and we don't even have a lighting engineer for this tour yet, but we'll try to provide a winter night to those attending the show every night. There's still stuff we need to try, but it's an important challenge for us. We want to have a very arctic show (maybe with snow).
– Finally, any message for your fans...
Tony.- Well, we love you all very much and we really miss you. Yesterday in Barcelona (ROCK FEST) was incredible. It was really hot, but it was a heavenly experience non the less. I hope you're expecting our singles, both about the one already out and the one coming. “ Talviyö” will be out very soon so, give it a listen and see you on tour! I cant wait to see our fans again!
Elias.- “Stay Metal!”
Tony.- That's right! always.
– Well, that's it for the interview. Thank you very much!
Tony.- Thank you! It's been a pleasure to see you again!
Elias.- Thanks a lot!
____________________________
I don't understand why they can't just take
I Have a Right Out of the setlist, but it's up to them I guess.
As for the Tony side project songs turned Sonata songs, we're two for two with
Somewhere Close to You and
Fly, Navigate, Communicate so I'm somewhat hopeful for the next single.