What had been done was the moving on of two former members of the band, bass guitarist Jari Kainulainen earlier, and more significantly Timo Tolkki. With this in mind, would the writing of this album be affected, and how? Well, there is no doubt it has been affected, as new bass guitarist Lauri Porra has made a major contribution on this album, penning five of the eleven tracks.
The album opens with the blasting qualities of "Deep Unknown", which despite the over emphasising of the chorus vocals and the Dream Theater-ish keyboards is a good opening track. "Falling Star" which follows has the most atypical heavy metal sound to it, with a heavy influence of the bass guitar and lead guitar, with the keyboards almost (I say 'almost') taking a back seat for the majority of the song. There is a bit of grunt in the guitar riff, and it chugs along rather than blazes along. An interesting change-up, and not a disappointing one. Then comes "King of Nothing", which increases this shift down into a darker metal, with harder and heavier guitar and bass work, a slower, almost grungier pace, and vocals that emphasise this heavier sound. It is so unlike power metal - in fact, it really isn't - but it works here for the band, and is intriguingly interesting and empowering.
From here though we plough back into the mix with "Blind", a perfect Jens Johansson track, blending speed within the framework of the duelling guitar and keyboards and excelling vocals along the way. This is followed up by the change up of "Winter Skies", which combines similar feelings of good tidings from the preceding track, with a quiet, almost tranquil period in the middle of the song that stretches for about a minute of just quiet keys. It doesn't really work for me. In fact in quite annoys me. But those parts of the song that precede and follow this period of inactivity are enjoyable enough.
"Forever is Today" starts off with the perfect combination of solo guitar work and keyboards, before blazing away through the song in exquisite style. This is the kind of track that has always been my favourite from Stratovarius, and for me they just haven't come along enough. This is a beauty though, and the fact that it is written by newcomer Porra is a real pleasure. "Higher Ground" which follows this also comes across in a similar pleasing way, with speed and music that moves at a clip that the best Euro speed/power metal attacks at.
"Somehow Precious" is the first backwards step the album takes. It reverts to the slow drudgery of the power metal ballad, stripping all speed and most of the musical instruments out of the song to leave the mournful vocals to take centre stage, and drag the album back into the clichéd territory that other albums of this genre tend to do. It isn't a complete loss, but it really saps my enjoyment out from this point of the album.
What comes next are three songs all written exclusively by Porra, and they are somewhat bereft of the confidence I had showed in his material from earlier in the album. "Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk" and "Emancipation Suite Part II: Dawn" are very much of the progressive rock nature of the 1970's, and if taken in that nature can be listened to and enjoyed on that level. What drives me to distraction is the difference in nature between these two songs and the rollicking fun of the tracks on the first half of the album. Still...
After all of the good work that is done on the early tracks of the album, the disappointing aspect for me is the way the closing track on the album comes across. "When Mountains Fall" is that stereotypical power ballad, the kind that makes my skin crawl, and the kind that for me destroys the mood of an album in an instant. Seriously, why would you want to finish an album on this depressing, soul destroying note? It continues to be beyond my comprehension, and here it really drags down the final analysis of the album for me.
So for me, Stratovarius continue on their quest to annoy the hell out of me with their music. There is no doubt that they enjoy the music they produce, and that it sits comfortably in the melodic range that they wish to be in. It's just that, for my music tastes, they continue to be just lacking a couple of elements that would take them to that higher level, and become an essential band in my collection. Again here they have produced some excellent songs and music, and their musicianship is unquestioned, but at the end of the day - despite the fact that this was their best release for some time when it came out - they are just not quite able to jump from good average to superior. However, apart from all of that, this is still worthy of a listen to those who may be wondering what it is that Stratovarius are about.
Rating: "Your fate is what you make of it, so seize your day" 3.5/5.
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