sonata arctica winterheart's guild

Released: 08 February 2010 (re release) Label: Spinefarm UK

Sonata Arctica have the kind of sound that almost instantly points them out as a Finnish power metal band. So many of the power metal acts from up in the land of Finlandia Vodka have a similar approach to writing music that it has sadly become a little formulaic of late. However, in Sonata Arctica, we are talking about one of the progenitors of the sound rather than the copyists. Between them, Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius have all but spawned a subgenre of their own...

Winterhearts Guild was originally released in 2003 and at the time was impressive enough to turn heads immediately. Much of the album is high quality neo classical riffage played at one hundred miles an hour. There's not one blemish on the artistry shown by each of the musicians on the recording - even the vocals are immaculately crafted with true Finnish musical precision.

You know there's a 'but' coming don't you? I can see it in your eyes - it's the way that they are starting to roll. The shaking of the head is a dead give away too... So, rather than let you down, here it is... There's something missing from these recordings - soul. I don't mean the type you would get on a Funkadelic album either. I'm referring to the bit of the record that grabs you by the emotions and tugs you right into the music. It's not easy to find on this album.

I remember hearing this album when it was first released and thinking how impressive it was. However, over the years, I've noticed that many of the originators of this particular brand of power metal have started to distance themselves from their earlier albums - replacing a little bit of the technical wizardry with some more 'feel' based song writing.

Granted, Sonata Arctica are one of those bands that has spent a great deal of effort trying to improve the 'feel' of the music over the years. I much prefer their more recent material to this. That said, this is still an impressive piece of work.

by Kev McCarthy