SONATA ARCTICA - WINTERHEART'S GUILD
Century Media - 2003
By Rodrigo Escandon
Winterheart's Guild is the latest release by
Sonata Arctica and prior to this release I had disliked their debut album
Ecliptica but enjoyed their second album
Silence quite a bit and was highly looking forward to what the Finns will deliver this time around. With this newest album,
Sonata Arctica has continued to mature in sound and songwriting and have crafted their best album to date.
It all starts with signer Tony Kakko who has totally let go of his high-pitched range and uses a lower, more natural and controlled voice this time. Occasionally he will hit the high notes but those even sound better than before. Overall Tony's performance raises the level of the band since I thought it was the weak link that the band previously had.
Musically, the infectious combination of Jani's guitars with Henrik's keyboards coupled with the backbone of Marko's bass and Tommy's drums,
Sonata Arctica have managed to create a perfect blend of melodic and catchy fast-paced songs and emotional and stirring power ballads. Both types of song's are played with the same power, emotion and conviction that
Winterheart's Guild never misses a beat. The transitions of having the ballad "The Misery" sandwiched between the two speedy songs "Silver Tongue" (superb chorus) and "Victoria's Secret" (beautiful keyboard melodies) works perfectly. It keeps the listener guessing on what?s coming next and frankly an album that keeps it fresh every single time you listen to it is a very good thing in my book.
Not to be missed are the tradeoffs between guitar and keyboards and occasionally the bass will get a chance to play along. "The Cage" opens with an awesome keyboard melody and then both guitar and keyboard go at it during the middle part. "Champagne Bath" opens with a guitar lead but it's a cool keyboard part that starts at 2:15 that takes the song to another level.
All these songs mentioned and I haven't even talked about my favorite song "Broken" which is a mid-paced song that just caught my attention from the first listen. With its driving bass and drums, background keyboards sounds, a marching -type guitar riff and the great singing by Tony this song is just totally different to everything else found on the album.
Sonata Arctica is truly a band that has gotten better with time and if that continues to be the case, great things can be expected in the future. For now,
Winterheart's Guild will continue to dominate my current playlist.
Century Media Website
Sonata Arctica Official Website
