Armoury Records
2011
1. Darkest Hours
2. Under Flaming Skies
3. Infernal Maze
4. Fairness Justified
5. The Game Never Ends
6. Lifetime In A Moment
7. Move The Mountain
8. Event Horizon
9. Elysium
Stratovarius are a band who have sort of found a new life recently. Their last album marked their first without band founder/primary songwriter Timo Tolkki and the funny thing is that most fans weren't at all sad to see him go. Usually a main guy like that leaving would mark the death of a band, but instead it's been a sort of rebirth. Most would agree the band's songwriting and credibility had been suffering under Tolkki with his derivative songwriting and insane antics.
Their last Polaris wasn't even close to a style shift, but it did seem a little fresher with the arrangements and riffs not reminding so sharply of past material. This new one mostly follows in that vein. The songs have their own flavor, but the band is still distinctly within it's comfort zone. Honestly, I'd love this band to get a little More adventurous with their songs because they're just not breaking out and making an album that wows me at this point. It's all very expected. That being said, this is a pretty decent album aimed at bringing their familiar/patented sound to their fans. Not such a bad thing. The one leap they really do take here is going for a mega-epic 18 minute song which is I believe their longest to date. There really isn't enough good ideas or substance to this one to keep my attention for 18 minutes though and it just strikes me as overlong. Not terrible, but this could have easily been cut down.
Basically, this is the Stratovarius you know and if you liked the last album than you're likely to enjoy this too. No big departures, no big stylistic leaps... just Stratovarius. Maybe a little less neoclassical than some earlier stuff, but pretty much the same melodic, flowing power metal. Very comparable to the last album.
Highlights: Darkest Hours, Lifetime In A Moment, Move The Mountain
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Under Flaming Skies
3. Infernal Maze
4. Fairness Justified
5. The Game Never Ends
6. Lifetime In A Moment
7. Move The Mountain
8. Event Horizon
9. Elysium
Stratovarius are a band who have sort of found a new life recently. Their last album marked their first without band founder/primary songwriter Timo Tolkki and the funny thing is that most fans weren't at all sad to see him go. Usually a main guy like that leaving would mark the death of a band, but instead it's been a sort of rebirth. Most would agree the band's songwriting and credibility had been suffering under Tolkki with his derivative songwriting and insane antics.
Their last Polaris wasn't even close to a style shift, but it did seem a little fresher with the arrangements and riffs not reminding so sharply of past material. This new one mostly follows in that vein. The songs have their own flavor, but the band is still distinctly within it's comfort zone. Honestly, I'd love this band to get a little More adventurous with their songs because they're just not breaking out and making an album that wows me at this point. It's all very expected. That being said, this is a pretty decent album aimed at bringing their familiar/patented sound to their fans. Not such a bad thing. The one leap they really do take here is going for a mega-epic 18 minute song which is I believe their longest to date. There really isn't enough good ideas or substance to this one to keep my attention for 18 minutes though and it just strikes me as overlong. Not terrible, but this could have easily been cut down.
Basically, this is the Stratovarius you know and if you liked the last album than you're likely to enjoy this too. No big departures, no big stylistic leaps... just Stratovarius. Maybe a little less neoclassical than some earlier stuff, but pretty much the same melodic, flowing power metal. Very comparable to the last album.
Highlights: Darkest Hours, Lifetime In A Moment, Move The Mountain
Rating - 3.5/5
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