Artist: Sonata Arctica Title: “Closer To An Animal” (Single) Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 8/12/2016 Genre: Power Metal Rating: 4/5
In a little over a month fans of those Finnish Metal sensations Sonata Arctica will get to enjoy the bands 10th studio album with “The Ninth Hour” which will come care of their longtime label Nuclear Blast Records. The band recently offered up a taste of the release with the first single called “Closer To An Animal” and here are some quick thoughts about the tune. The pacing of the tune is not your typical zooming melodies that we can occasionally find the band doing and its tempo while a little slower is still very steady. I think I can say it harkens back to the couple of years ago “Stones Grow Her Name” stuff if I could pick one out. That’s not a bad thing at all of course. Lyrically this comes across to me as an awareness piece where the band is telling us to be mindful of the Earth and its creatures around us. It’s not preachy at all of course which is very important to make mention of. We have truly come really far but at the same time we have not when it comes down to how we deal with the stuff that is actually important. I liked the chorus and feel in the live sense this will go over great. Continue reading “Closer To An Animal” (Single) by Sonata Arctica→
Artist: Sonata Arctica Title: “Christmas Spirits” Label: Nuclear Blast Records Release Date: 12/18/2015 Genre: Holiday Heavy Metal Rating: 4/5
Finland’s Sonata Arctica are going to be fighting the Krampus with some serious Holiday Heavy Metal thanks to their “Christmas Spirits” single. Before I examine it, here’s what the band had to say about offering up this tune for those Metal Stockings that are hung by the chimneys of the world;
“”Hello everyone out there! Christmas is just around the corner so we decided to cheer you all up with a nice Christmas story. “Decided” might be a bit strong in this context since the ‘Christmas Spirits’ song has been around for about ten years now, we just never had the time to record it. Finally during the Pariah’s Child sessions we managed to do the basic tracks and this autumn we finished the song. I guess the main reason for the delay was getting the lyrics done, it’s nearly impossible to get into the Christmas mood unless it’s actually… you guessed it, Christmas. Hats off to Tony since he did it anyway, this autumn, and without any snow, we might add. Be that as it may, here’s our latest piece of art: ‘Christmas Spirits’! Merry Christmas to everyone & cheers,“
Artist: Sonata Arctica Venue: Nokia Theater (New York, NY) Opener: Martyrd Date: 9/27/2008 Label: Nuclear Blast Records
I had mentioned that my weekend was turning out to be a bit of a “Finnish Invasion” based on all of the activity that the countries musical Metal bands of note were bringing to the Big Apple. It started for me last night at the Apocalyptica show at this very same venue and tonight’s fun was originally going to find me enjoying the music of Nightwish who would be closing our their most recent tour for their much acclaimed album “Dark Passion Play”. Sadly, the bands new singer Anette had fallen ill about a week before and cancelled a few shows based on this. The speculation was hopeful that she would recover and do the show in NYC but the evening previous being cancelled led up to the cold hard fact that this would not be happening. Luckily for everyone who had tickets, the show was not cancelled and now free with Sonata Arctica being moved up to the headlining spot. When the doors opened, the assembled fans that still wanted to take part in the event were able to meet the musicians in Nightwish who had come to NYC to meet their fans and sign autographs. I entered the venue when this was going on and it was like walking around in a Funeral Home based on the truly depressed feelings that people were broadcasting. After the signing session, some local talent by the name of Martyrd would kick off the night of Metal before Sonata would take to the stage. Here are some of the evening’s highlights. Continue reading Sonata Arctica @ Nokia Theatre Times Square (9/27/2008)→
This week was an interesting one and had I taken the initiative to generate this thing earlier the information would have flowed a little more in order of occurence. This fact troubles me as the Technical Guy, since I am a fan of both order and detail. That which confuses, ruins the flow of information or makes things come off as nonsense and with Music Adventuring there is plenty of nonsense to come naturally without me offering any extra. Be that as it may, I digress from my original point.
Food & Metal Uniting As One
My week started off with a really cool opportunity to enjoy lunch with members of the Finnish Metal sensation Sonata Arctica, who were in town for a CD Listening that was open to the general public. Lead singer Tony Kakko and keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg would be present to spin this CD for the fans and mingle among them answering questions and posing for the ever-necessary MySpace photos. Earlier in the day the guys and their rep from Nuclear Blast Records would head down to New York City’s Chinatown and hit one of my very favorite restaurants “Nha Trang”. The selection of this place came as a pleasant surprise to me, for I had recommended it to the label rep when Hammerfall was in town for a similar listening event but there was just insufficient time to do it. Luckily, they would keep the card for future reference and bring it on the next adventure into the City. Nha Trang is a Vietnamese restaurant, and there are so many delicious things in the place that I would be writing for days just explaining them. It’s been there for a number of years, and I only first heard about them when my friend Peter Pardo (Publisher of www.seaoftranquility.org) suggested I join him before we hit a show. Been a fan ever since, so back to “The Metal Lunch”.
Artist: Sonata Arctica Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: Queen Of The Ryche (tribute band) Date: 1/18/2006 Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Finland has been one of the strongest contributors to the world of Metal music over the most recent few years. Of the many notable bands we have seen Nightwish make a dent in the Operatic Metal world while Finntroll serves up the Folk Metal side. Melodic Power Metal gets delivered a hefty blow by the one and only Sonata Arctica and for listeners of this end of the genre there are few better at it. Tonight, the guys in the group would be continuing the support of their Nuclear Blast release “Reckoning Night”. In early 2005 the band performed for the first time in the US with Thrash Metal legends Overkill. It was an interesting blend of styles and Sonata truly came out as a powerhouse that night. It would be great to find them on their first headlining tour for this run of shows. They would be the only major group performing for the night and across the tour different openers were being featured. For the New York appearance fans would be treated to of all things a Queensryche tribute band called “Queen Of The Ryche”. I had heard the name before and worried that this totally driven Sonata fan base would not be so accepting yet when the group began they certainly showed that there were chops aplenty. Lead singer Todd Kaminski leads the troupe formerly known as Lestat through the best Queensryche material in existence. Highlights of their set would definitely be the “Operation Mindcrime material and with the Ryche ready to unleash a new CD on the world I think this was a nice choice to have in New York. Continue reading Sonata Arctica @ B.B. King Blues Club (1/18/2006)→
