Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Stratovarius
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2015
Duration: 54:23
Rating: 4/5
Once upon a time, back before Sonata Arctica, Nightwish and Children of Bodom, Stratovarius were already striding proudly across the planet! The champions of the Finnish take on power metal. The band, active since the mid-eighties, is known for the many ups and downs of its career. Considering that Stratovarius have been running for years now without a single founding or original member, it’s downright astonishing how successfully they’ve held on to all the trademarks of the band’s glory days, when Timo Tolkki was calling the shots at Starotovarius. Put simply, in terms of musical expression Stratovarius have managed to survive and endure.
The arrival of Matias Kupiainen as the band’s lead guitarist remains a hugely important moment in Stratovarius’ career. With him on board, Stratovarius kept their heads above water. The revival kicked off with the albums »Polaris«, »Elysium« and »Nemesis«. Stratovarius got better and better from one album to the next, which is why they’re now going through a new artistic rebirth.
Artistically, they’ve reached remarkable maturity and refinement. »Nemesis« was an outstanding studio achievement packed with brilliant compositions. »Eternal« holds on to that inspiration and freshness that has clung to the band in its later years. The band has once again served up a noticeably warmer, more organic production compared to the Tolkki-era records, and here and there it also leans on very effective progressive, metalized passages, like one of the broken-up transitions in Rise Above It. That’s nothing new, but it’s still an element the band once again uses very effectively to shake up the proverbially predictable power metal template its songs are built on. The band also uses backing harmonies (choir vocals) in the choruses more than ever in its career. The bombast is therefore all the more pronounced and emphasized across the album. Stratovarius have once again pulled off some outstanding choruses with real musical catchiness (Lost Saga, Man in the Mirror, Feeding the Fire, Shine in the Dark). This is also yet another album where the band doesn’t hide its flirtation with programmed samples (the verse of Man in the Mirror). The album closes with a mini epic suite titled Lost Saga. A more complexly built composition, full of atmospheric twists, it wraps up the record and delivers one of the new album’s highlights.
Timo Kotipelto no longer necessarily pushes into the high registers like he used to back when Timo Tolkki ruled the band. In his new performance you can tell his voice has dropped over the years, and gotten a bit “thicker” too. He’s also improved his English, with the verses sung with much more correct stress than on the band’s old works. The album once again gets its special charm from moments of unbridled crossfire, with supersonic solos traded between keyboards and guitar. The songs and the album once again have no shortage of dynamite. They’re marked by a strong dynamic flow of events. From the gradual build-up of moods, from verse to chorus crescendo, to hair-splittingly polished “mid-eight” passages, which are an important building block in flipping the mood within the songs.
»Eternal« isn’t as dark an album as its excellent predecessor »Nemesis« (2013). It keeps all of its predecessor’s qualities, and what matters most, all the typical characteristics of the band’s sound and style. Completely reborn, the band is writing and making new music for new times better than ever.
Lineup
Timo Kotipelto – vocals
Jens Johansson – keyboards
Matias Kupiainen – guitar
Lauri Porra – bass guitar
Rolf Pilve – drums
Production
Matias Kupiainen
Tracklist
1. My Eternal Dream
2. Shine In the Dark
3. Rise Above It
4. Lost Without a Trace
5. Feeding the Fire
6. In My Line of Work
7. Man In The Mirror
8. Few Are Those
9. Fire In Your Eyes
10. Lost Saga
