Stratovarius Community

As many of you probably know, Jani Liimatainen left Sonata Arctica. He will be replaced by Elias Viljanen. I was wondering if any of you Finnish-speaking dudes could translate the following text, since it only appears in Finnish on Sonata's website:

Tervehdys kaikille!

Valitettavasti olemme tulleet tilanteeseen jossa olen estynyt soittamaan Sonata Arctica yhtyeen sovittuja esiintymisiä tänä keväänä. Syynä tähän on kansalaisvelvollisuuteni suorittaminen. Yhtye tekee kuitenkin sovitut keikat tuuraavan kitaristin voimin ja olen varma että ne kaikki tulevat täyttämään Sonata Arctica-keikkojen korkeat kriteerit. Toivon voivani palata yhtyeen live-kokoonpanoon mahdollisimman pian, sillä keikkatauko on jo venynyt pitkäksi ja minulla on jo nyt ikävä hikisiä iltoja lavoilla ja yhtä hikisiä päiviä keikkabussissa! Tahdon toivottaa hyvää kevättä kaikille faneille, toivottavasti tapaamme pian!

Parhautta,
Jani Liimatainen

He didn't leave forever. He just had to do his army duties, and he weill be away for 6 months. (3 actually, he left at the beginning of January)
Elias will play at 5 shows at Finland, and then Jani will be back.

It's in Finnish because this doesn't care Sonata fans on the rest of the world.

Oh ok; good to know.

Well, the guys at Sonata's website put a news title that says "Jani replacement" and a statement by Jani... What was I supposed to think? Would writing a mini statement in English have been too much to ask?

It's nice to know that Jani is still around.

Mandatory conscription sucks ass.

They probably thought it wasn't something worth noticing, or saying in English.

Stealth wrote:Mandatory conscription sucks ass.

Tell me about it. I only have to go one year. My father was for 26 months. Things are getting better.

I served only for 6 months. HAW HAW!!! But that's why I feel like I didn't learn a thing there. Not that I mind...

Carcass wrote:I served only for 6 months. HAW HAW!!! But that's why I feel like I didn't learn a thing there. Not that I mind...

@Carcass- Hehe- how did you manage to get by with only six months of service?

Believe it or not, six months is what normal crew members serve. NCOs serve 12 months. Medics, MPs and chauffeurs serve 9.

Hehe, so I actually finished my service with honour. I'm no pacifist, although some people might get that impression of me.

I bet people complain about that, too.

I had to do 25 months of national service, and that's still not as much as Israel, where people do 3 years!

But I guess Finland's security situation is benign compared to Cyprus', or indeed Israel's. Topic for another thread.

However, my friend in Finland is doing some sort of community service instead of the army... how does that system work?

I bet people complain about that, too.

Not so much. Some do, of course.

I had to do 25 months of national service

How did you feel about that? A waste of time?

Here you can choose between military service and civil service (or jail). About 80% choose the army. If you choose civil service you're a pussy/gay/communist/vegan/hippie/not-a-real-man etc. These guys - whom I have absolutely nothing against, I have some amongst my friends - usually work in places like hospitals, libraries and youth centers.

The civil service is 13 months, i.e. longer than any of the military trainings. This is why Finland is on the black list of Amnesty International. And because we have prisoners of conscience (the ones who prefer jail time to civil service). Maybe you can ask your friend, I'm sure he knows more than me.

There is quite a lot of pressure for boys to go to the military, some dads get very angry if they hear that their son is a vegan/gay/hippie and all that stuff. My guess is that the next generation of kids will not feel as pressured and that the percentage choosing military service will drop quite drastically. Or maybe not, we will see...

The security situation certainly is very different here, but there is this constant debate about the credibility of the Finnish Defence Forces going on. Some say it's not credible anymore, kids are too used to Play Stations and central heating and that we are not giving the Army enough money. Some argue this is why we should join NATO. But Finns are quite used to being neutral, at least apparently.

But yes, this is quite off-topic, again!

Carcass wrote:

I bet people complain about that, too.

Not so much. Some do, of course.

I had to do 25 months of national service

How did you feel about that? A waste of time?

The security situation certainly is very different here, but there is this constant debate about the credibility of the Finnish Defence Forces going on. Some say it's not credible anymore, kids are too used to Play Stations and central heating and that we are not giving the Army enough money. Some argue this is why we should join NATO. But Finns are quite used to being neutral, at least apparently.

But yes, this is quite off-topic, again!

Must be careful of that. I firmly believe every country should have the capability to defend itself, no matter how peaceful the situation could seem. For some countries obviously, this is more pressing (like Cyprus for example) and other NATO members who contribute to missions for example.

I wouldn't say it was a waste of time though. I learnt quite a few things from that time, and learnt more about personal discipline than perhaps anything else could've taught me. Being a sargeant as well, I learnt to take responsibility for other people. 2 years however I think was too long.

So what that Jani is in the Army now?
Elias Viljanen is Much more better than Jani is!!!
And I can't wait that I can see Sonata+Elias Viljanen in Tampere!!!

I listened to samples of Elias' two solo albums and I found them really boring. Those experimental solos put me to sleep. The funny thing is that most guitar players who play stuff like that tend to think of themselves as the gods of speed (I don't mean Viljanen specifically)... Just read some of the instrumental titles from the second album: "Lord of the Strings", "Fast & Furious", "Evilized", etc. Speed for the sake of speed doesn't do it for me. Virtuosity with no substance or feeling gets quite boring. Personally, I fall asleep with stuff by, say, Steve Vai or Satriani... Malmsteen and Norifumi Shima are a different story.

StratoTimo wrote: And I can't wait that I can see Sonata+Elias Viljanen in Tampere!!!

Maybe they'll be able to find aspirin there...

BTW, did you make that second trip to Finland?

Carcass wrote: There is quite a lot of pressure for boys to go to the military, some dads get very angry if they hear that their son is a vegan/gay/hippie and all that stuff.

Yeah, it's kinda sad that our national self-esteem is based on a lost war.

Stealth wrote:I listened to samples of Elias' two solo albums and I found them really boring. Those experimental solos put me to sleep. The funny thing is that most guitar players who play stuff like that tend to think of themselves as the gods of speed (I don't mean Viljanen specifically)... Just read some of the instrumental titles from the second album: "Lord of the Strings", "Fast & Furious", "Evilized", etc. Speed for the sake of speed doesn't do it for me. Virtuosity with no substance or feeling gets quite boring. Personally, I fall asleep with stuff by, say, Steve Vai or Satriani...

I guess StratoTimo will now consider you as an asshole. Have to ask him.

Carcass wrote:BTW, did you make that second trip to Finland?

Unfortunately not, my economic situation did not allow it I really REALLY want to come again sometime, maybe this summer. I really love the place!

IceBreaker wrote:

Stealth wrote:I listened to samples of Elias' two solo albums and I found them really boring. Those experimental solos put me to sleep. The funny thing is that most guitar players who play stuff like that tend to think of themselves as the gods of speed (I don't mean Viljanen specifically)... Just read some of the instrumental titles from the second album: "Lord of the Strings", "Fast & Furious", "Evilized", etc. Speed for the sake of speed doesn't do it for me. Virtuosity with no substance or feeling gets quite boring. Personally, I fall asleep with stuff by, say, Steve Vai or Satriani...

I guess StratoTimo will now consider you as an asshole. Have to ask him.

Yes... You are right about that! You have to see Elias Live play! Before that:
:stfu:

No no, you fuck the shut up!.... No, wait... Huh??

NeonVomit wrote:

Carcass wrote:BTW, did you make that second trip to Finland?

Unfortunately not, my economic situation did not allow it I really REALLY want to come again sometime, maybe this summer. I really love the place!

Summer is the best season to come here. It's not cold, but not Mediterranean-warm either.

In my opinion, Elias is an amazing guitar player and his solo project is really good! Saw his project band live last summer, it was really catchy and not really boring (even if I'm not so much into instrumental stuffs)

about army : I think it's a really good thing that countries have that military mandatory service. On the other hand, I'm glad that I don't have to go there because in France, things are like that, only volunteers go to military service.

about Finland : summer is the best season indeed, even though spring is really nice too, except takatalvi and melt snow. Actually I also love finnish winters, especially when it's really cold (like -30C) and sun is shining. Freak.

Talking about Sonata, they posted this on their Myspace:



More info here.

So NYC fellows out there, don't miss it

Klingenberg is from the same high school as me. You can still spot him drinking beer in local pubs. He's still in a band from our howe town. Silent Voices, or something...

Man I wish I'd been able to go to the listening party thing. My passport isn't renewed yet

did anybody go??

On a completely self-pluggy note (it's KINDA relevant to the topic, ha) here's a new interview with Kakko:
http://sacredembrace.com/site/interview ... opup.html There's a link to the Unia review on the same page.

[/self-promotion ]

Carcass (& everyone else), thanks for posting that about the army duties. interesting stuff...Canada is too lazy (thankfully) to have that obligation, I think