Stratovarius has been one of the flag bearers of European power metal for a quarter of a century. No matter what direction the bands around them may have taken, no matter what bands are turning up and which bands are disbanding, when you put on a Stratovarius album you know what you are getting.
Do you like power metal? Do you like keyboard and double kick dominated songs? Do you enjoy piercing vocals? Do you also like that bane of my existence, the power ballad? Then chances are you are already listening to Stratovarius, and either have this album or would love this album.
The best parts of the band are all in the first three songs. All of them chug along at a good clip, driven by the drums and keyboards. The harmony vocals of Timo Kotipelto hit all the right heights, the guitar of Matias Kupiainen and keyboards of Jens Johannson blend and duel together as well as they always have, while the rhythm of Rolf Pilve's drums and the bass of Lauri Porra provide the perfect backing throughout. "My Eternal Dream" is a great start to the album in this fashion, followed by "Shine in the Dark" and "Rise Above It". "Lost Without a Trace" draws things back into both tempo and energy, drawing from the other aspects of the power metal genre, while "Feeding the Fire" does try to pick things up again.
"In My Line of Work" is arguably my favourite song on the album, perhaps not just because of the upbeat tempo but the fact that the keyboards are downtoned throughout the song, allowing the other instruments to give the strength to the song.
The power ballad still haunts me, always coming in and either slowing down the tempo of the album to the point that it draws away from the strength that has come before it, or literally sucking the life from an album and killing its mood completely. "Few Are Those" becomes that track on this album, and while it only comes in as a 4/10 on the album killer ranking, it does grind my gears.
The final track is an epic, "The Lost Saga" coming in at a touch under twelve minutes. It starts off slow, and initially you wonder if this is going to be how the album concludes, on a slow strangled note. Eventually it kicks into gear however, and the finishing flourish is much more pleasant and appropriate that it appeared it was going to be.
Stratovarious continue to be band that I struggle to rate, in the same way as Sonata Arctica. The band sounds great, and they stay true to their art and the musical genre. I would love to come out and give their albums - and this one as well - a high rating, but while it sounds great and it well written and the players are all excellent, the music continues to lose me a fraction with the over-emphasis on the keyboards (sorry Jens), the somewhat repetitive nature of the music, and the lack of a killer element, such as guitar riffs that hold the song together in a slightly heavier atmosphere. Like I said, that's not the style of what this band does, and so we will (and have been) always be at opposite ends of that spectrum.
Rating: Still the road goes on and on, we just have to play along. 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment