Review Summary: The album that brought Sonata Arctica onto the scene. And what a debut it was!
Sonata Arctica first burst onto the scene in 1999 after many years before this going through band reshuffles and attempts to become noticed in the crowded music world. But, finally and thankfully, they exploded onto our speakers with 'Ecliptica', their debut full length and a very polished one at that. They have quickly become one of the most successful power metal bands in history and one of the most successful Finnish artists since then. Enough of that, thought. Onto the album review proper.
The beautiful thing about this album is the sheer power. The album knows how to pack a punch and opens on the rolling drums of "Blank File". From here on in, we are made fully aware as listeners of what the album plans to do. What Sonata Arctica do is fast, very fast. Their musicianship is skilled and at times impressive. However, thats not to say that this is all the band offers.
Also on this album are the ballads of "Replica" and "Letter To Dana". At times, though, these songs seem out of place but are a welcome change of pace for the album. Whilst these ballads are beautifully realised, it is the fast stuff that really works for SA. Kingdom For A Heart with its blisteringly fast pace and frantic keyboard is a highlight of the album and demonstrates their musical moreso. As if we needed anymore demonstration of their ability. Full Moon is one of the catchiest songs not only in the power metal world but in general music, with the soaring chorus and chat along vocals of "Run away, run away, run away".
However, whilst they show a keen ear for a good tune, they also show a rather poor skill at writing decent lyrics. The lyrics at time are poor and cheesey, and only in power metal would this be acceptable at all. At times the language is poor and their use of English isn't great, but you can forgive them as they are not Englishmen themselves.
Tony Kakko's vocal work is very well done for a power metal band. He effortlessly drifts from baritone to falsetto and back again, often in the space of one bar, demonstrating deft use of his vocal chords, or as he calls it-"vocal masturbation." The keyboard and guitar duel solo work on this album, as on their other works, are as skilled as you would expect and the guitar parts especially are satisfyingly 'widdly'. The bass and drums are not particularly outstanding but they complement the music well, and a noticeable bass scale occurs near the end of 'Replica'.
All in all, Sonata Arctica demonstrate to us what music is about. It's about enjoyment and loving what you do, and SA certainly seem to do that. At times this comes across as showing off, but it is a joy to listen to such well created songs. Ecliptica may not be the defining album of SA's commendable career, but it is certainly a band that showed promise and in itself was very well made. This paved the way for SA to unleash their other works upon us to our delight. Fans of power metal will love this. It doesn't push the boundaries, it just does what it does very well. However, those who are not fans of this genre will want to avoid this at all costs.
Like Wolverine once said on the big screen, "I am the best at what I do", and this is also true of Sonata Arctica. They are surely some of the best at what they do, and what they do is incredibly catchy power metal.
4/5
Songs to download
- Full Moon
- Kingdom for a Heart
- Letter to Dana
