Artist: Sonata Arctica
Label: Century Media
Release Date: 2001
Rating: 3.5 Skulls
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Title: Silence Artist: Sonata Arctica Label: Century Media Release Date: 2001
Rating: 3.5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Equinox (10/10/01):
After being totally and utterly enchanted by their 1999 debut release Ecliptica, I had envisioned grand things from Sonata Arctica. Their sophomore release, Silence arrived with much anticipation and fanfare, and I couldn't wait to dive into this Finnish five-piece's newest opus. I was wholly expecting something even more energetic, fresh and memorable than their debut, and, in some ways, this long-awaited second album delivers. However, it seems that for each bright spot heard on Silence, there are three spots where it falls flat on its face.At first, this album sounded like it would be a winner. "Weballergy" charges out of the gates with a very real passion, complete with all the band's trademarks: sweeping, energetic double bass drumming, horserace guitar riffs, proud, bold keyboards (strangely reminiscent of Europe in their prime) and, of course Tony Kakko's soaring, wonderfully catchy vocal choruses. Come to think of it, this album starts off much like the debut did, and the opener here is right on par with Ecliptica's Track One: the amazing "Blank File". And, like "Blank File", this one deals with the internet as well, which seems to be a recurring theme in the band's songwriting. Without a doubt, this tune ranks right up there with "Full Moon" and the aforementioned "Blank File" on my list of favorite Sonata Arctica songs. It seems from this point on, though, the album starts to slowly but steadily deteriorate.
"False News Travel Fast" follows the opener, and is another satisfactory tune in its own right, though not nearly as good as the electric opener. Sure, the musicianship is still there, but the song structure just isn't as exciting. There are a few other decent tracks scattered about 'Silence'; "Black Sheep" attempts to bring the album back, opening with a firestorm of a riff and some excellent melodic keyboard/guitar interplay, cruising into another sweet vocal chorus and a series of frenetic (but technically proficient) guitar solos. This very upbeat track attempts to revive the album and restore the it's strength, but it really only acts as a salve, and it's effects are temporary and soon wear off. "Wolf & Raven" and "San Sebastian (revisited)" are the other two tracks of note here, good songs in all aspects which closely follow the patented S.A. formula. (I must also note that the group chants of "Hey! Hey!" in the middle of "Land of the Free" are pretty cool too!).
The downfall of this CD is surely the trio of ill-conceived power ballads. "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "Tallulah" are all weak and unexciting, with boring, simple soft-rock piano accompaniments, sappy vocals and vapid Rock 101 beats. These three songs fail everywhere the band's previous (and truly powerful) power ballad, "Full Moon" succeeds. These particular songs are simply not catchy or memorable in the slightest, and SA are capable of much, much better than this. Perhaps they were rushed in the studio? Still, with a total of thirteen songs on the CD, they could have just as easily left these duds off of the album. Or, maybe these were supposed to be their "radio hits"? I don't know…If any of these songs were on my radio, I'd quickly switch the station…to just about anything else I could find.
I guess, to sum up this album in a nutshell, the opener is absolutely blazing, and there are a few phenomenal tracks here and there, but the bulk of the release is either uninspiring or plain and ordinary sounding. It seems the band put all of their effort into the first song, and most of the remainder of the songs are almost like filler. The good songs are extremely good, but the bad songs are horrible, and there's a huge drop in song quality after the first song. Silence is worth the price if for the opening track alone, but as a whole, I don't think this one comes close to topping Ecliptica. A strong effort, no doubt, but watered down by too many mediocre songs.
Reviewed by Solomon (10/10/01):
Aside from maybe a few snips of their last record, Ecliptica, and a rather nifty cover of The Scorpions' "Still Loving You" off the Nuclear Blast tribute, Sonata Arctica were a mystery to me before spinning Silence. First off, I have to say Silence has a terrible album cover. Sheesh, I could've drawn that little caveman dude in the background! Okay, I just had to get that out and the music, thankfully, is better than the package. I'm not too familiar with the current crop of European power metal bands that are flooding the planet from places like Finland and Italy (Italy, metal?), unless you want to forget those black/death garnishes and include Children of Bodom and In Flames. Anyway, I can't do the whole compare/contrast thing with the likes of Stratovarius, Labyrinth and Rhapsody, if that's appropriate, but I've walked away with a greater appreciation for the melodic power metal movement, sort of.Hell, "melodic" is an understatement. Silence has more uptempo, happy, "fa-la-la," sing-along choral work than a church service on speed. Even though my tastes tend to gravitate towards the gothic and romantic, I can get into more uplifting music, whether it's J.S. Bach or King's X and, hey, you have to admit In Flames is pretty peppy much of the time. Still, Silence never really hits a home-run in my mind. I guess I'm just biased, but I wish the band spent at least a little more time getting down in the gutter: a little heavier here, a little darker there, you know? All in all, you can't knock these guys down too hard. Silence is still an inspired work, with plenty of chops to go around. "Revontulet" is arguably the best track on the record, with 1'32" of aggressive keyboard/guitar gymnastics that should've been exploited more often on this record. Yes, picker Jani Liimatainen and plunker Mikko Harkin provide plenty of Yngwie action. Aside from that, "False News Travel Fast" and "The End of This Chapter" are my two favorite songs. Both feature very attractive vocal melodies, and the latter has a leaden, chugga-chugga drive that gives Silence some needed weight, as well as featuring a gorgeous piano outro. "Chapter" has a particularly catchy lyric. I went around all week at work singing "While you are sleeping/I steal your earring...." It seems weird, but listen to it and you'll see why it sticks in your head next to those all those other voices up there. Speaking of voices, the biggest lesson to learn here is Tony Kakko has one huge pair of... lungs. Kakko delivers one of the best vocal performances I've come across this year, and this record is worth trying just for that.
Okay, so I'm not totally sold on this type of music, but ya learn sumpin' every day. It's not my favorite, but Silence is a well-produced slab of sunshine metal on a rainy day. Power metallers, check it out...
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