The release
of Sonata Arctica’s ninth studio album The Ninth Hour is definitely a highlight
of the year for me! I was a little nervous about this one. Their last two
releases weren’t exactly worth their while on the long term, so I could only
hope that my favorite Finns still knew how to create good music, But it is hard
to remain skeptical once the first tunes of The Ninth Hour reach my ears,
because Tony Kakko and his pack have done it again: the grin on my face while
listening to this gem is inerasable!
De ball
opens with the single Closer to an Animal; a no-nonsense song with a nice flow
and very satisfying melodic twists and turns. Generally speaking a very relaxed
start of the album. With the lyrics handling the theme of our role on this
earth and what we do with it, it forms a nice introduction to the subject of
The Ninth Hour, that mostly deals with environmental pollution and other fucked
up things we do to our planet and the stubbornness of mankind that refuses to
do anything about it.
But
thankfully this album is not all about the big mean people species. Life is a
merry song that invites to lalala along with it. No heavy lyrics, just a good
old sing-along chorus about living life and singing with friends. How happy can
a song get? A little cheesy here and there, but hey, you gotta have a good
guilty pleasure. Or as Tony himself admits: “It is a dumb thing to say but the
fact won’t wane away.” And that, my friends, is the truth!
Tony
Kakko’s sarcastic and satiric traits are exposed in Fairytale. Sonata’s
reaction to the current presidential elections in America. When it comes to the
music, there are a lot of elements that will please a lot of fans from the old
days. A nice and speedy pace, a starring part for Henrik Klingenberg and his
keytar and a chorus that digs in your brain in no time and stays there.
Nightwish’
Troy Donockley has been called tot the stage to add his part to the bittersweet
We Are What We Are. And indeed, while
listening tot the intro you would get the impression that you’re listening to a
Nightwish song, but the characteristic sound of Elias Viljanen strumming his
guitar tells us who this song belongs to. Another anthem for the improvement of
the world with some very honest but tough lessons about us as a species.
The
notorious stalker saga, up till now composed of
the classics The End of this Chapter, Don’t Say A Word, Caleb and Juliet
gets another installment with Till Death Done Us Apart. It reminds a lot of
Juliet and it has these fantastic, maniacal elements
“Ding-dong
ding-dong, and everything did go wrong…”
Tony shows
his psycho traits once again and Sonata delivers another impressive chapter.
One of the more complex songs on the album, with quite some heavy parts and genius
melodies.
After their
debuting hit Fullmoon we finally have another werewolf song, titled Among the
Shooting Stars. Though pretty entertaining, I think it is one of the lesser
songs on an otherwise genius album. Quite a safe recipe for Sonata’s doing and
it kind of just rumbles along low and slow.
Rise a
Night is another small party with all the good stuff of old and new Sonata
styles. Clearly written to shut up all those crybabies that are whining for
years for the return of the double kick drum. They certainly succeeded in this,
with a song that is driven by Tommy Portimo’s fiery feet and Elias’ blazing
fingers. Throw in a keyboard-guitar battle solo, and a pounding breakdown near
the end, and Sonata proves to be headbang worthy again!
Fly,
Navigate, Communicate is a very interesting two-headed beast. In the first half
it’s not really clear in what direction this song wants to go. It builds up
with a mellow melody as base, with the occasional drum peaking here and there.
Halfway the whole thing explodes into a power party where Tony even shows of
some quite brutal screams. Other than that, Tony comes chiming out of all the
corners of his vocal range and that only adds to the wild brilliance of this
remarkable song.
After the
touching What Did You Do In The War Dad from previous album Pariah’s Child, the theme of war and children
continues with Candle Lawns. A moving story about two friends and veterans of
which one leaves the other to learn his son to live with what the war has taken
from him. Daddy isn’t coming home, only a box containing a Purple Heart. Again
beautifully and tragically displayed by Tony’s emotion filled voice, soaring
guitars and lyrics that touch you in places rarely touched.
The
tragical and among Sonata fans so dearly loved story about a lighthouse keeper,
a ship and a forbidden love gets a sequal with White Pearl Black Oceans II – By
The Grace of the Ocean. Delightfully nostalgic when the song opens with the
familiar tunes of the chorus of the Reckoning Night classic, and continues to
greet the listener with the new stuff. Where part 1 ended with the death of the
two protagonists, they are revived here for a second act. Though musically
phenomenal, I think it’s a tad bit forced. Why bring back the dead for a cheesy
happy ending while the blunt, dark ending of part 1 was exactly one of the
thins that made the story so great?
If we look
at the music there is no shame in calling it epic, and definitely on par with
what we expect from such a loved saga, but a little on the slow side. The ghost
of WPBO part 1 comes haunting trough the synths from time to time, and that
gives a great atmosphere to this part as well. It winds and twists its way on
the symphonic path that was paved by songs like Larger Than Life.
The
festival ends where we started it: with On The Faultline, Closure to an Animal.
The melody is mostly the same as the opening track, but this is a slower, more
melancholic and personal version. Where Closer to an Animal dealt with humanity
as a whole, this one has its focus on the individual person. A person that
can’t seem to find a balance between life and love, and wanders lonely on the
fault line in between. The added echo effect on Tony’s vocals underlines the
words “Am I the only human here.” In a very smart, artistic way. It also has
this peculiar Queen or David Bowie-like feel to it.
A sad
sounding whistle puts an end to The Ninth Hour. An album that really pleasantly
surprised me with depth, chaos and brilliance that Sonata seemed to have lost
the last few years.
The mix,
again done by bass player Pasi Kauppinen, still has room for improvement. With
his last endeavor we had Tony floating loosely from the rest, but with this one
the vocals often drown under a thick layer of bass and guitars. But this is not
nearly as big as a nuisance as his previous works.
