SONATA ARCTICA — Ecliptica (review)

Album · 1999 · Power Metal

4/5 · 2020-08-09
siLLy puPPy

SONATA ARCTICA emerged at the turn of the millennium with its debut release ECLIPTICA to great fanfare with its highly refined neoclassically infused power metal sound and has been cranking out albums ever since this first offering was released in 1999. After beginning under the rather unexciting name Tricky Beans which morphed into Tricky Means, this dramatic band led by vocalist / keyboardist Tony Kakko got its start in the far northern city of Kemo, Finland which sits near the Arctic Circle making SONATA ARCTICA probably the most famous metal band to emerge from the frigid lands of perpetual aura borealis light shows.

ECLIPTICA is a typical power metal album inspired by the countless bands that came before such as Stratrovarius, Helloween, Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray with super catchy pop infused melodic hooks, high octane guitar and keyboard workouts based on classical musical traditions and over the top operatic vocals. Considering Tony Kakko has described this debut as an extension of the demo where the band didn’t really know what it was doing at this point, it’s quite surprising that the album is as tightly woven and professionally executed as it is however Kakko has personally always been unhappy with this album and even took the sacrilegious act of re-recording the entire album for a 15th anniversary edition.

Since ECLILPTICA has been re-recorded almost all reviews center around the updated version but personally i find the original recording more in sync with the band’s sound and although the recording quality wasn’t as sophisticated as when the band was more popular, the delivery of the tracks seems to be forced since 15 years later the musicians had moved on and it was sort of like trying to relive past events and seems awkward. Add to that the original ECLIPTICA was the only album to feature bassist Janne Kivilahti so in a way this is one of those smooth moves which erases a previous band member’s contributions from the canon however it’s most like that the original Spinefarm label was problematic and the band wanted to reissue the album on Nuclear Blast so only a re-recording was possible. Whatever the case i suggest you stick to the 1999 version if possible.

While SONATA ARCTICA’s debut release may not be outstandingly original in the world of neoclassical power metal, it was nonetheless excellently performed with the expected mix of high octane speed metal and the tamped down ballads. Personally i prefer the following albums “Silence” and “Winterheart’s Guild” which show greater artistic developments but for a traditional sounding power metal album, ECLIPTICA is definitely a worthy one. Power melodic songs fortified with perfectly performed instrumental sections topped off with Kakko’s powerful emotive vocal. While some power metal can sound cheesy, SONATA ARCTICA avoided the pitfalls that can result in crafting overweening pomp and awe based on saccharine pop hooks. Kakko’s effortless transitions from falsetto to tenor vocals is one of the album’s strongest aspects but the instantly accessible Stratovarius inspired classical power metal hooks are quite pleasant as well.