SONATA ARCTICA return to their power metal roots on “Clear Cold Beyond”.

SONATA ARCTICA have been many things in their storied career. Finnish power metal messiahs, relentlessly touring powerhouses, champions of sublime melody. First and foremost, however, they have been stalwarts in showcasing the magic and the enchantment flowing through heavy metal. They have been embodying the majesty and serenity of Nordic nature since their foundation in 1995 and have been spellbinding their world with ten records, EPs and countless tours.

"Clear Cold Beyond" easily is the most relentless SONATA ARCTICA record to date, a spectacular resurgence of their trademark, lightning fast power metal forged far, far north. "We’ve felt for a while now that we’d need to get heavier again after some unintentionally softer albums", Tony says.

With production duties handles by your truly Mikko Karmila, key figure of their early days, "Clear Cold Beyond" sounds massive, heavy and hungry and takes a bow to their early work when everything was shrouded in a profound sense of magic and mystery. This magic is back now - only with a band that’s 25 years down the road and nothing less than an experienced beast urging to go mental like they never did before.

CD:

1. First In Line
2. California
3. Shah Mat
4. Dark Empath
5. Cure For Everything
6. A Monster Only You Can't See
7. Teardrops
8. Angel Defiled
9. The Best Things
10. Clear Cold Beyond
11. A Ballad For The Broken (Bonus)
12. Toy Soldier (Bonus)

SONATA ARCTICA is:

Tony Kakko - Vocals
Elias Viljanen - Guitars
Pasi Kauppinen - Bass
Henrik Klingenberg - Keyboards
Tommy Portimo - Drums

With a unique trademark sound that is instantly recognizable even through a massive block of ice, Finnish melodic power metal overlords SONATA ARCTICA never fail to enthrall their audience with captivating hymns of Nordic splendor and magic. Graced by the aurora borealis, they’ve released ten studio albums thus far, taking us into their world since the majestic tunes of their long-fabled debut, "Ecliptica". Now, however, the band is about to start a whole new chapter. Aptly titled "Acoustic Adventures – Volume One", SONATA ARCTICA carefully strip their sound of all things metal only to reveal precious, stunningly beautiful acoustic songs that still capture the heart, spirit and very essence of this band.

TRACKLIST CD/ 2LP:

1. The Rest of The Sun Belongs To Me
2. For The Sake Of Revenge
3. A Little Less Understanding
4. Alone In Heaven
5. Tallulah
6. Don’t Say a Word
7. As If The World Wasn’t Ending
8. Paid In Full
9. Tonight I Dance Alone
10. The Wolves Die Young
11. Wolf & Raven
12. On The Faultline

“INSPIRATION COMES FROM THE WORLD AROUND ME.”
(Tony Kakko)

“I let the music write itself within the loose boundaries and just enjoy the ride”, reveals the creative mastermind of this mighty Finnish sound forge, radiating an inner calm as well as compassion that immediately captivates. It’s undisputed: Tony Kakko - charismatic singer and lyricist of Power Metal heroes SONATA ARCTICA - is a musical genius! He has a delicatly tuned sense for incomparable, deeply epic and complex melodies which not only go into the ear but even deeper; under the skin and into the soul. It’s this atmospheric finesse which has always been born from a multitude of facets, mixed with an interplay of emotions – that characterises the men from the far north and their vision. Their sound combines deep feeling and beautiful melodies in a most seductive fashion, merging dynamic-driving passages and delicate refrains. SONATA ARCTICA has long since proven that they belong to the Power Metal elite...

Now is the time to open a new chapter: “Talviyö”. It can already be stated that the band has succeeded in creating a colossal masterpiece, but let’s start at the beginning... Only three years have passed since the brilliant predecessor “The Ninth Hour”, three years in which the quintet has been anything but idle. “Basically I write songs all the time when it comes down to it” says Tony, “but at the beginning of 2018 I took care of the new album. The recordings then started in September last year, mixing and mastering were ready in May” he counts up and starts to laugh:

“That sounds like a very relaxed schedule, but it wasn’t at all, since many shows and projects happened in the interim” explains the Finn, revealing that there was no concept in the classical sense in advance. “No, not really. As usual, I first wrote the music and only after that when I knew which songs would musically fit on the album, I started writing the lyrical side of things. I had some ideas ready as to what this and that song might be about, but the lyrics always tend to surprise me at the end. Just like the predecessors.”


TRACKLIST CD:

01. Message From The Sun
02. Whirlwind
03. Cold
04. Storm The Armada
05. The Last Of The Lambs
06. Who Failed The Most
07. Ismo’s Got Good Reactors
08. Demon’s Cage
09. A Little Less Understanding
10. The Raven Still Flies
11. The Garden

LINE-UP:

Tony Kakko I vocals, keyboards
Elias Viljanen | guitar
Pasi Kauppinen | bass
Henrik Klingenberg I keyboards
Tommy Portimo | drums

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46

Humanity no longer needs a bible to know that we are quickly approaching the „ninth hour“ – the particular moment, when Jesus died on the cross.  Our time has come to sacrifice and regret our sins, yet not in a religious way, but in a completely mundane context. We are standing on the edge of a nuclear war, inside a society where environmental pollution is a daily matter and people’s respect for Mother Nature seems barely existent. No wonder that even the good-humoured Finns from SONATA ARCTICA are slowly haunted by fear and doubt when it comes to the future of this planet. And although their sound is still dominated by fast guitar solos, catchy keyboard melodies and Tony Kakko’s unmistakable vocals - a gloomy sense of world-weariness is creeping through their ninth studio album »The Ninth Hour«.

“I am not a very religious person at all,” admits front man and lyricist Tony Kakko. “So I actually had to study the background and different meanings, once I came up with the title »The Ninth Hour«, which was meant to underline the fact this is our 9th studio album. But it was a pleasant thing to find all these meanings and realise that they actually fit in really well with my idea about the cover and some of the lyrical themes.”

Once again, the album was produced by SONATA ARCTICA themselves and mixed by Pasi Kauppinen, to create a typical yet refreshing sound that defines the spirit of the band in the year 2016. The recordings started in April in different home studios, before the band came together to unite their creative forces at Studio57 in Alaveteli, Finland.

After 17 years as a team, the wolf pack has moved from classic Power Metal to more progressive shores, but went back to their initial roots on the last release »Pariah’s Child«. Fans know that SONATA ARCTICA constantly deliver their high quality sound, but are also up for a little surprise here and there, hence every one of the band’s 8 full-length releases carried its own charm that always added a fresh new touch to the genre – not only in their homeland, but across the entire world, placing them on top of the melodic metal Olympus next to bands as NIGHTWISH or STRATOVARIUS.

Therefore the ever-active quintet rarely finds time to breathe and once again, it only took them less than two years to produce the follow-up to their last hit album »Pariah’s Child« - their new brainchild »The Ninth Hour« will see the light of day on October 7th. But just like their last two releases, this album also gives the listener food for thought due to its thoughtful lyrical and visual content. After a North American tour with their friends from NIGHTWISH plus many headline shows around the globe, the band was able to take a close look at the entire world as it is at the moment – on the edge of a possible armageddon. And this spirit is reflected in the new artwork of »The Ninth Hour«, which was once again designed by ToxicAngel (NIGHTWISH, TAROT) and tells a story whose ending we need to decide for ourselves:
 
“The artwork of »The Ninth Hour« depicts a future utopian landscape on the background”, Tony explains. “Nature and human technologies are in balance. In the middle we have an hour glass contraption with a knob for us to meddle with. The right-hand side cup represents the nature side with no humans left, on the left we have the human dystopia after we have destroyed Nature. The idea I had was, that turning the knob will tilt the hour glass in one direction or another, and the other cup will slowly empty and that future will be erased. Biblically we are expected to repent and sacrifice on »The Ninth Hour«…to dive right back to a more mundane reality; it’s a fact that we are currently living in critical, historical times. Our decisions will define the future. Not only ours as a race, but the future of this entire planet. We need to make sacrifices and in many cases we will repent our already made choices.”

But from a musical point of view, one won‘t risk falling into deep depression while listening to the new release, since the band once again concentrated on writing 11 epic hymns with energetic melodies and powerful impacts:

„The album itself is not particularly gloomy, I think. Our music has mostly been happy sing-a-long stuff, but the lyrics never really fit that mould. If you are familiar with my lyrics in the past, I'd say we swim in similar oceans. I deal with my worries about the state of this planet, human greed, love, relationships, tragedy, death, but also war and politics in semi-tongue in cheek fashion (I feel the US elections are an endless chest of unbelievable wonders…). Our ‘murder-ballad-saga’ continues AND an old, epic lighthouse related tragedy now has a second part…”

Especially these sequels to evergreen- classics such as ‚Don’t Say A Word‘ or ‚White Pearl, Black Oceans‘ will be a great discovery for all the die-hard fans and their euphoria is just about to begin – since SONATA ARCTICA have massive long-term plans for their future:

“It’s been a work-filled spring and summer for us so far. Working on the album, in the middle of it all a seven week long North-American tour supporting NIGHTWISH, summer festival shows while still in studio… it’s has been a rough ride, but absolutely worth it! And after the festival season our “The Ninth Hour World Tour” will start around the time of the album release and continue until… well, we’ll see where the journey will lead us to! I can’t wait to hit the road and play these new songs live - SEE YOU on tour!”

TRACKLIST CD:

01. Closer To An Animal
02. Life
03. Fairytale
04. We Are What We Are
05. Till Death’s Done Us Apart
06. Among The Shooting Stars
07. Rise A Night
08. Fly, Navigate, Communicate
09. Candle Lawns
10. White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II –
“By The Grace Of The Ocean”
11. On The Faultline (Closure To An Animal)

Bonustrack Digipak:
12. Run To You

LINE-UP:

Tony Kakko I vocals, keyboards
Elias Viljanen | guitar
Pasi Kauppinen | bass
Henrik Klingenberg I keyboards
Tommy Portimo | drums

“It is addictive, just like the original and you fall in love with it again, even after the 15 years that have passed. I promise.”
POWERMETAL.DK, Sophie Ruhnke

I would go so far as to say that I much prefer this rerecord over the original, everything about this effort is polished and charming. Delivering a massive chunk of pure power in one fifty minute blast.
METALMOUTH (UK)

„SONATA  ARCTICA present ten classics of melodic Power Metal. No matter if ‚My Land’, ‚Replica’ or ‚Fullmoon’ – all those songs fascinate after all these years same way, as 15 years ago, with the original ones.”
LEGACY (D)

While currently on yet another successful World Tour, this time to support their latest studio-album »Pariah’s Child«, Finnish Melodic Metal heroes SONATA ARCTICA swung by the studio to re-record their debut album »Ecliptica«, which was released 15 years ago.

Henrik „Henkka“ Klingenberg comments:
“When it first was suggested to us by our Japanese label that we’d re-record our debut album »Ecliptica«, it felt a bit weird, but somehow the idea grew on us. Being that only Tony and Tommy played on the original one, we thought that it would be a fun thing to do, to give these great songs another run. We’re definitely not trying to re-write history, the original »Ecliptica« is the starting point of this band and a very special album with a certain feel of innocence and enthusiasm which cannot be recreated as such since we’re not teenagers anymore. Having said that, this new version is more of a tribute and an update on how these songs sound when played by our current line-up. We wanted to stay true to the original album as much as possible and not turn this into some weird re-arranged project where you couldn’t tell which song was being played. So here it is, the 15th anniversary version of »Ecliptica«. Hope you enjoy it, we certainly had a good time digging into these songs and laying down the tracks.”

TRACKLIST:

01. Blank File
02. My Land
03. 8th Commandment
04. Replica
05. Kingdom For A Heart
06. Fullmoon
07. Letter To Dana
08. UnOpened
09. Picturing The Past
10. Destruction Preventer

Bonus:
11. I Can’t Dance (Genesis Cover)