STRATOVARIUS — Elysium (review)

Album · 2011 · Power Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-07-04
Diogenes

Comeback albums are a funny thing. Everyone gets hyped, hyped, hyped up about band X either releasing their first album in Y years or ceasing to suck for whatever reason. The album gets released, people fawn over it for a couple of weeks, and then, in most cases, they realize that it isn’t as good as they expected it to be. DARN! This is why you stay away from Blabbermouth, people!

Anyway, Stratovarius’ so-called comeback album Polaris followed more or less the same course. I was a victim, too. Hearing a band famous for playing melodic power metal, um…actually playing melodic power metal again after losing their main songwriter/guitarist was satisfying enough, but the energetic manner in which they did it was remarkable. Unfortunately, Polaris kind of lost its luster for me after a while, as half of the album was completely forgettable, with the other half being good but not a true return to glory. The band was written off as “nothing without Timo Tolkki”. This is why I was so surprised to hear Elysium, and just how damn good it is. Stratovarius have finally rediscovered themselves, and the result is what I consider to be the power metal album of the year so far.

First of all, let it be known that this is not “Episode II” or “Visions II” or whatever you may have been hoping for. It has become abundantly clear that Tolkki was the mastermind behind most of the 90s Stratovarius catalog, and if you want to hear him continue to recycle riffs and play the same solos over and over again, go listen to Symfonia. Make no mistake, the band name is still Stratovarius, Timo Kotipelto is still on vocals, and they are still playing power metal, but Elysium is an entirely different beast.

Opener Darkest Hours should grab your attention immediately. Stratovarius album openers are usually catchy, inspiring, and really memorable. Check, check, and check-a-rooni. Kotipelto belts out the chorus with so much feeling that I can’t help but smile:

“When all my hope is gone, I’m waiting for the dawn, I raise my head and find my own way out of the dark. I’ve left my past behind, I’m reaching for the light, I’m not afraid to live my life-I’ll take what is mine. I’ll make my way through the darkest hours of my days!”

Cliché? You betcha. But it works, because the song is so simple and yet well-written. And let me tell you, that’s going to be a recurring theme throughout Elysium.

Let’s talk more about the songwriting, since that’s what makes Elysium what it is. With Tolkki out and the current lineup using Polaris as something to build on, Stratovarius wrote this album as a band. Yep, with more than one songwriter. How about that? And look, the material is varied and interesting! Wow! You have Move the Mountain, an emotional ballad that also happens to be the first Stratovarius ballad in a while that doesn’t completely suck. Fariness Justified is a slower song that builds up in the verse to an epic chorus. And fear not, because there is plenty of faster power metal goodness here to go around. Event Horizon is the one that most closely resembles the band’s older material, with the impeccable Jorg Michael (fresh off a bout with cancer) laying down the double bass like it’s 1996 and Jens Johannson sprinkling his patented keyboard magic overhead. The Game Never Ends, Under Flaming Skies, and Infernal Maze round up the faster songs, with more keyboard-guitar duels and catchy choruses. If a problem on Polaris was that there weren’t enough fast songs, it’s been fixed on Elysium; there’s plenty of shredding that will please fans of the band.

Still, as solid as the first 8 songs are, the best part of Elysium is, without a doubt, the title track. An 18-minute epic, it’s divided into three suites, and proves that new guitarist Matias Kupiainen has more than earned his soup as Tolkki’s replacement. He wrote it, and man, can he play it. Simply put, there is no way that Tolkki can write a song like this. None. It is an emotional roller coaster, with Kotipelto putting forth his best effort in a long time. And the best part is, none of the 18 minutes are wasted. It isn’t some gigantic guitar solo or 7 minutes of music with 11 minutes of ambience. Nope. It’s the best song Stratovarius has written this side of the new millennium, bar none, and it might be worth a star and a half on its own. It’s that good!

I really can’t stress enough how magical Elysium is. Is it the best power metal album EVER? No, of course not. But it shows the rebirth of a once-great name, from a one-man project to a fully-fledged BAND. Even in their heyday, Stratovarius were never this cohesive. Elysium not only gives us an excellent album to listen to now, but something to look forward to in the future; Stratovarius is alive and well, perhaps more so than it’s ever been.