SONATA ARCTICA - Flag In The Ground - MAKING OF

[Ragehead91]

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[Arkash]

Cant wait to see the vid!

[AAAAAAAAAA 2.0]

2:02
My microphallus turned into a MACROphallus!
:rotflmao1:

[NeverendingAbyss]

Awesome! I can't wait for the album release!!!

[rakettitulppa]

It has been a long time that sonata sound this good! I will sure buy the new album

[Ragehead91]

The samples really sound great. Not at all like Unia, what is a good thing.

[AAAAAAAAAA]

Cant wait to see the vid!

I'll let you in on a little secret: if you press the "play" button, it'll start!

[Arkash]

I'll let you in on a little secret: if you press the "play" button, it'll start! Laughing Laughing Very Happy

Oh really? Yeah, it works!

But cant wait to see the final video clip I meant!

[kameli]

Sounds (and looks) really awesome. I can't wait

[Irinia]

Ooooooooooh, I love it
The song sounds amazing and now I am really looking forward to the album!

[fernandotcl]

That sounds great! :headbang:

[HinatAArcticA]

Totally better than Cain's Offering stuff

[icecab21]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVdLYw4uNws

here is the full song

[rakettitulppa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCgshcb-B0k Another song!

[fernandotcl]

Kind of sucks, doesn't it? Perhaps the non-orchestral version is good.

[icecab21]

if sucks is code word for amazing, yes it sucks. if hate is code word for love, i hate it

[exe knight]

Though I think Unia is their best album, this sounds positively not like it.

[Rebel]

Jani is the embodiment of awesome, and I'm not sure if they can pull it off without him, maybe if they replaced Henrik with a real keyboardist (IE Mikko Harkin), it could work, but I have doubts about this album, every time a band releases a "Dark" album, the followup usually sucks because the bands are afraid of being dark, there is NOTHING going on in the orchestral version of the Last Amazing Grays, so I really hope the instrumental version is something special, because Tony Kakko is NOT Hansi Kursch, Tony's voice needs a barrage of power metal awesome going on behind him to sound his best, maybe this new guitarist isn't up to the task.

And call me a Jani Purist if you must, but the guitar in Flag in the Ground sounds like what Jani would play if you chopped off his balls. It's the same guitar style (Because Tony is still writing the music), but there's no crunch, this would be a simple pedal fix, but it's more than that, in the intro to "Black and White", Jani plays with an unquestioned authority, the guitar was his instrument, but he was the master, I totally get why they compared this to old SA, but it's just not there, it's rehashed, and I'm NOT impressed yet.

[icecab21]

http://www.sonataarctica.info/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=4481

This thread has reviews of the album in it.

[Mormegil]

Jani is the embodiment of awesome, and I'm not sure if they can pull it off without him, maybe if they replaced Henrik with a real keyboardist (IE Mikko Harkin), it could work, but I have doubts about this album, every time a band releases a "Dark" album, the followup usually sucks because the bands are afraid of being dark, there is NOTHING going on in the orchestral version of the Last Amazing Grays, so I really hope the instrumental version is something special, because Tony Kakko is NOT Hansi Kursch, Tony's voice needs a barrage of power metal awesome going on behind him to sound his best, maybe this new guitarist isn't up to the task.

And call me a Jani Purist if you must, but the guitar in Flag in the Ground sounds like what Jani would play if you chopped off his balls. It's the same guitar style (Because Tony is still writing the music), but there's no crunch, this would be a simple pedal fix, but it's more than that, in the intro to "Black and White", Jani plays with an unquestioned authority, the guitar was his instrument, but he was the master, I totally get why they compared this to old SA, but it's just not there, it's rehashed, and I'm NOT impressed yet.

Strange, I always thought Jani is like Tolkki with chopped balls, while Elias is one of the most talented guitarists ever to emerge from this country. I also think Henkka is very unique and just perfectly rough-around-the-edges, while Mikko's style is a little bland and generic. To each his own I guess.

[Rebel]

Jani is the embodiment of awesome, and I'm not sure if they can pull it off without him, maybe if they replaced Henrik with a real keyboardist (IE Mikko Harkin), it could work, but I have doubts about this album, every time a band releases a "Dark" album, the followup usually sucks because the bands are afraid of being dark, there is NOTHING going on in the orchestral version of the Last Amazing Grays, so I really hope the instrumental version is something special, because Tony Kakko is NOT Hansi Kursch, Tony's voice needs a barrage of power metal awesome going on behind him to sound his best, maybe this new guitarist isn't up to the task.

And call me a Jani Purist if you must, but the guitar in Flag in the Ground sounds like what Jani would play if you chopped off his balls. It's the same guitar style (Because Tony is still writing the music), but there's no crunch, this would be a simple pedal fix, but it's more than that, in the intro to "Black and White", Jani plays with an unquestioned authority, the guitar was his instrument, but he was the master, I totally get why they compared this to old SA, but it's just not there, it's rehashed, and I'm NOT impressed yet.

Strange, I always thought Jani is like Tolkki with chopped balls, while Elias is one of the most talented guitarists ever to emerge from this country. I also think Henkka is very unique and just perfectly rough-around-the-edges, while Mikko's style is a little bland and generic. To each his own I guess.

Mikko is a real keyboardist because he plays a keyboard, I can accept a little Keytar for maybe a song or two in a live set, but I can't stand the Keytar most of the time. Jani plays a bit like Tolkki, but by and large, he plays with much more authority and power than so many guitarists on the metal scene today, listen to the intro of "In Black and White", it's a big, meaty, powerful tone that tells you exactly who is in charge. Jani made a career out of making his guitar sound like it was played by a true metal badass. Fly with the Black Swan is the same story, you hear that and it comes with RESPECT. I'm hearing the same notes, the same style in "Flag in the Ground" as would any SA song written by Tony would contain, but it feels like they're regressing, Unia was dark and edgy, FITG at least, seems to have lost that.

I don't doubt that Elias is an extremely talented guitarist, but he's NOT Jani, and that's who he's trying to be on FITG (only, like I said, without the ballsy beat you in to the ground tone) I'll give it a few more listens, but I'm extremely disappointed, Jani was integral to the Sonata Arctica sound, and if they want to continue to create fresh, interesting music, Tony needs to write something that caters to Elias, not Jani.


Reviews say that FITG has nothing to do with the rest of the album musically, and although I like that High Octane sound, it just fails to deliver.

[Mormegil]

Jani is the embodiment of awesome, and I'm not sure if they can pull it off without him, maybe if they replaced Henrik with a real keyboardist (IE Mikko Harkin), it could work, but I have doubts about this album, every time a band releases a "Dark" album, the followup usually sucks because the bands are afraid of being dark, there is NOTHING going on in the orchestral version of the Last Amazing Grays, so I really hope the instrumental version is something special, because Tony Kakko is NOT Hansi Kursch, Tony's voice needs a barrage of power metal awesome going on behind him to sound his best, maybe this new guitarist isn't up to the task.

And call me a Jani Purist if you must, but the guitar in Flag in the Ground sounds like what Jani would play if you chopped off his balls. It's the same guitar style (Because Tony is still writing the music), but there's no crunch, this would be a simple pedal fix, but it's more than that, in the intro to "Black and White", Jani plays with an unquestioned authority, the guitar was his instrument, but he was the master, I totally get why they compared this to old SA, but it's just not there, it's rehashed, and I'm NOT impressed yet.

Strange, I always thought Jani is like Tolkki with chopped balls, while Elias is one of the most talented guitarists ever to emerge from this country. I also think Henkka is very unique and just perfectly rough-around-the-edges, while Mikko's style is a little bland and generic. To each his own I guess.

Mikko is a real keyboardist because he plays a keyboard, I can accept a little Keytar for maybe a song or two in a live set, but I can't stand the Keytar most of the time. Jani plays a bit like Tolkki, but by and large, he plays with much more authority and power than so many guitarists on the metal scene today, listen to the intro of "In Black and White", it's a big, meaty, powerful tone that tells you exactly who is in charge. Jani made a career out of making his guitar sound like it was played by a true metal badass. Fly with the Black Swan is the same story, you hear that and it comes with RESPECT. I'm hearing the same notes, the same style in "Flag in the Ground" as would any SA song written by Tony would contain, but it feels like they're regressing, Unia was dark and edgy, FITG at least, seems to have lost that.

I don't doubt that Elias is an extremely talented guitarist, but he's NOT Jani, and that's who he's trying to be on FITG (only, like I said, without the ballsy beat you in to the ground tone) I'll give it a few more listens, but I'm extremely disappointed, Jani was integral to the Sonata Arctica sound, and if they want to continue to create fresh, interesting music, Tony needs to write something that caters to Elias, not Jani.

That big, meaty and powerful tone is called a 7-string guitar. j/k I get what you mean.
I won't comment on anything about the new album, since I've only heard one song, but I watched the Wacken gig with Elias and listened some of his solo stuff and was more than impressed.

And what does everyone have against keytar? "It looks stupid/gay" is not a valid argument, it's still a keyboard.

[Ragehead91]

Keytars suck. End of discussion.

[icecab21]

Keytars are harder to play than a keyboard and they are better for stage energy. With all the metal heads love of balls, I think it takes more to do something on your own when other people are against it.

[fernandotcl]

I believe people don't like keytars because they think the musician can't give a performance as good as he could if he was using a regular keyboard.

I don't know, I've seen Sonata Arctica live and it works well as far as I can tell. I do believe Jens stage presence is much more kick ass with the keyboard on that inverted position and all, but bleh, keytars are fine.

I have great expectations towards this album. It's not uncommon for bands publish those sucky orchestral songs before the real thing, so that song doesn't worry me at all. And I like FITG, I hope it's gonna be a good album.

[icecab21]

in a interview henrik said it definitly hinders playing ability but that he likes to be able to move around.

I pretty much prefer orchestra to non orchestra so I can't see how it would make the song worse. Orchestra is way more natural to music than distortion and conveys emotions better. It also makes a song more full and is more accessible to actually get a group of people together to play wit6hout the need for electricity

[Rebel]

Jani is the embodiment of awesome, and I'm not sure if they can pull it off without him, maybe if they replaced Henrik with a real keyboardist (IE Mikko Harkin), it could work, but I have doubts about this album, every time a band releases a "Dark" album, the followup usually sucks because the bands are afraid of being dark, there is NOTHING going on in the orchestral version of the Last Amazing Grays, so I really hope the instrumental version is something special, because Tony Kakko is NOT Hansi Kursch, Tony's voice needs a barrage of power metal awesome going on behind him to sound his best, maybe this new guitarist isn't up to the task.

And call me a Jani Purist if you must, but the guitar in Flag in the Ground sounds like what Jani would play if you chopped off his balls. It's the same guitar style (Because Tony is still writing the music), but there's no crunch, this would be a simple pedal fix, but it's more than that, in the intro to "Black and White", Jani plays with an unquestioned authority, the guitar was his instrument, but he was the master, I totally get why they compared this to old SA, but it's just not there, it's rehashed, and I'm NOT impressed yet.

Strange, I always thought Jani is like Tolkki with chopped balls, while Elias is one of the most talented guitarists ever to emerge from this country. I also think Henkka is very unique and just perfectly rough-around-the-edges, while Mikko's style is a little bland and generic. To each his own I guess.

Mikko is a real keyboardist because he plays a keyboard, I can accept a little Keytar for maybe a song or two in a live set, but I can't stand the Keytar most of the time. Jani plays a bit like Tolkki, but by and large, he plays with much more authority and power than so many guitarists on the metal scene today, listen to the intro of "In Black and White", it's a big, meaty, powerful tone that tells you exactly who is in charge. Jani made a career out of making his guitar sound like it was played by a true metal badass. Fly with the Black Swan is the same story, you hear that and it comes with RESPECT. I'm hearing the same notes, the same style in "Flag in the Ground" as would any SA song written by Tony would contain, but it feels like they're regressing, Unia was dark and edgy, FITG at least, seems to have lost that.

I don't doubt that Elias is an extremely talented guitarist, but he's NOT Jani, and that's who he's trying to be on FITG (only, like I said, without the ballsy beat you in to the ground tone) I'll give it a few more listens, but I'm extremely disappointed, Jani was integral to the Sonata Arctica sound, and if they want to continue to create fresh, interesting music, Tony needs to write something that caters to Elias, not Jani.

That big, meaty and powerful tone is called a 7-string guitar. j/k I get what you mean.
I won't comment on anything about the new album, since I've only heard one song, but I watched the Wacken gig with Elias and listened some of his solo stuff and was more than impressed.

And what does everyone have against keytar? "It looks stupid/gay" is not a valid argument, it's still a keyboard.

Best stage presence I've ever seen regarding the keyboard is Damon Fox of Bigelf, rocking a Hammond Organ to one side, and a Mellotron to the other.

[HinatAArcticA]

Jani was not Sonata...
Look at what Henkka said in an interview...

AMG: So, switching topics a bit, did you guys get a strong reaction to the whole situation with Jani?

Henkka: Uh, yeah. Somewhat yeah, a lot of our fans were like “Hey, why did this happen?” and blah blah blah blah blah and I think, I don’t remember exactly what we said in our statement at the time, but I think it should have been made clear that this was something we couldn’t do anything about. It’s basically pretty hard to have a guitar player without a passport who can’t travel anywhere. And he was really messing his life up and not, uh… I mean, he was dodging the phone for like 3 or 4 months, so it’s impossible to work with somebody if the situation is like that. Originally the thing was like, we said like, “OK, you get your shit together and Elias is covering for you and you get your stuff done and when you’re ready you come back.” But then we still couldn’t get ahold of him and he wouldn’t answer the phone and then we were on tour with Elias and at some point we just had to say, “Look, if you’re not making this effort this is not going to work out.” So.., but I think partly he did not want to be in the band anymore but he just couldn’t manage to tell us that. That I think could have been one of the reasons that he let everything slip through his hands and go, you know, at least some statements that I read by him later.. he seemed like he didn’t want to be in the band, but just couldn’t say it out loud or something like that. Of course it was a difficult time for us, we were in the middle of recording an album when these things started to happen. Then we got the album ready and then it was a total disaster and we had shows booked for like one or two years ahead and we had no guitar player and so for us that was a pretty chaotic time for the band, but I think we got through it and things are way easier with Elias. I mean, I just got off the phone with him to call you, so.. It was a really… there were really a lot of problems and a lot of stuff that I won’t go into and that we didn’t tell the public because it wouldn’t have been fair, but basically…the tip of the iceberg is something that people know and that was eventually what led to the situation where we chose to fire him.

People who can't let Jani go... go to listen to Cain's Offering instead...

Also, Flag in the Ground is a song composed back in 1996, so is not new material.
I also see people who think that it will be a very bright album or a new Reckoning Night just for listening to that song.
The band said it is a dark album, so don't rush conclusions.
I can't wait for the album

[icecab21]

I find it strange if people consider any of the songs bright since to me they are lyrically and musically dark. They certainly have not released any eaglehearts, liberties, or fantasias.

here are random samples of all tracks from amazon
http://www.amazon.com/The-Days-of-Grays ... 918&sr=1-8

[Saffron]

Also, Flag in the Ground is a song composed back in 1996, so is not new material.

Only small parts of the song are from '96. The lyrics are totally new, and most of the song completely rewritten, so I would consider it as new material.