SONATA ARCTICA — Silence (review)

SONATA ARCTICA — Silence album cover Album · 2001 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
RuneWalsh2112
It didn't take long for Sonata Arctica to release their sophomore album with more music, improved musicianship while leaving the rest of things in status quo.

The biggest change that was audible on "Silence" (no pun intended) was the addition of new musicians to the band roster. Most importantly, the addition of the keyboard wunderkind Mikko Härkin who single-handidly created the blueprint for the band's fast pace keyboard-dominated sound for many year to come, but also made some fans and critics speculate whether Sonata Arctica could be considered a progressive metal band! Personally, I would never classify this style of strong melodic metal as anything other than pure Power Metal but I would be lying if I completely ignored the fact that the band has a few progressive tendencies in their sound. These tendencies would eventually manifest themselves on great compositions like "White Pearls, Black Oceans..." but now I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Unlike the debut album which featured quite a few classic Sonata Arctica tracks, "Silence" has marginally fewer of such classics but the ones that are here definitely outmatch pretty much anything from "Ecliptica"! Songs like "Weballergy", "Black Sheep", "San Sebastian (Revisited)" and especially "Wolf & Raven" are all big concert favorites that are still constantly in the band's repertoire.

In conclusion, I actually regard "Silence" as the band's true debut album since this was where they actually began to experiment with their sound. The end results might not be as exciting for the true fans of Power Metal, but those who are a bit more open-minded will note that the material that works is actually miles ahead of the amateurish approach that was so striking on "Ecliptica". Things would get marginally better on the next two releases!

***** star songs: Wolf & Raven (4:17)

**** star songs: Weballergy (3:51) False News Travel Fast (5:18) Black Sheep (3:42) San Sebastian (Revisited) (4:37) Revontulet (1:32) Tallulah (5:20) The Power Of One (11:39)

*** star songs: ... Of Silence (1:17) The End Of This Chapter (7:01) Land Of The Free (4:24) Last Drop Falls (5:13) Sing In Silence (3:51)
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