Released: March 8, 2024 on Atomic Fire Records
Production: Sonata Arctica
Length: 59:29 min.
Genre: Quasi power metal
“Tony with His Fingers Crossed”
In the review of Sonata’s Bucharest gig I mentioned that Tony had been teasing us with a new album, supposedly packed with first-rate power metal and landing in spring. He backed up his words with the excellent First in Line, which has already been ruling that music channel we all know, and they’ve played it live too.
Spring is here, and so is the album Clear Cold Beyond. Did Tony keep his promise? Yes and no. How is that possible, you ask? More or less, it was all clear after the next two teasers Sonata dropped on that same channel: Monster Only You Can’t See and Dark Empath.
But let me start with the album as if we’d never heard any of the teasers except First in Line.
The album hits uncompromisingly hard with First in Line, the best thing Tony has penned since Flag in the Ground way back in 2009. A super-fast power “rocker”, sweet, way-too-sweet melodies, a chorus brimming with worry for humanity’s future, volleys traded between Henrik on keys and Elias on guitar, and of course the tireless Tommy on double bass drums. Oh, and Pasi is thumping away dully somewhere in the back too. Tony really is a master. If only he wants to be.
The next one, California, keeps up the same pace, somewhere in the vein of Victoria’s Secret from the Winterheart’s Guild album (2003). The only flaw is a slightly bland chorus, but who’s complaining? Maybe we’re on our way to a new Sonata power metal masterpiece?
And… no. The trouble starts already with the next little number, aptly named Shah Mat. The relentless rattling of the double bass drums gets interrupted by weird moments of syncopated rhythms, arrhythmic guitar phrases and Nightwish-style choirs. Sound familiar? Yeah, something like the last 15 years of Sonata’s career, maybe? We carry on in that style with the aforementioned Dark Empath, which continues the saga of the disturbed stalker that began so gorgeously darkly on the album Silence (2001) with The End of This Chapter. Tony has tried to revive and rework the story several times, mostly without success. The weird, pseudo-progressive attempts to mash power metal together with pop and the enthusiasm of a 32-year-old who buys proof of aliens on our beloved Earth off the dark web from his mom’s basement are rounded out by the aforementioned Monster Only You Can’t See, Teardrops, the title track Clear Cold Beyond and the bonus track A Ballad for the Broken.
This time’s cover deserves a special mention, because Tony has come up with nothing less than Toy Soldiers, the only hit of American singer Martika. Props for the effort (Sonata Arctica are masters of covers), but that song is simply NOT material for a metal cover. Even one from mom’s basement …
The album’s pair of unexpected gems can be found somewhere near the end. Probably the best track on the record is the heart-wrenching ballad The Best Things, where Tony takes us back to the ballad days of the first three albums, truly sung and played from the heart. The melody is super syrupy, Tony’s delivery overly pathetic, but do we want anything else from Sonata’s ballads? The second gem is, totally surprisingly, Angel Defiled, which in theory contains all the ingredients behind the ear torture of the last six Sonata albums. Despite the strange melody and really cruel lyrics, the thing works. Thanks to an interesting instrumental and the huge energy it gives off. Mandatory listening!
The production is, to put it mildly, fantastic, which shouldn’t come as a surprise when the name Mikko Karmila from Finnvox studio comes up.
I noticed that Elias got to let loose this time, because the album is full of interesting and inventive guitar passages (the chorus of Only Monster You Can’t See). That’s a good sign for future Sonata creations, because until now Elias has stayed in the shadow of the original guitarist and fan idol, Jani Liimatainen.
This review wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Tony’s lyrics. Only two possibilities come to mind:
- The fact that English isn’t Tony’s native language keeps him from properly expressing everything that’s buzzing around in his head.
- Tony’s command of English is so advanced that I simply can’t follow his lyrics.
If the first one holds, Tony needs to take a good look at himself and his lyrics, and if it’s the second, then sadly I’m the one who needs to take a good look at myself …
Tony is as excellent on vocals as ever, Tommy as boring on drums as ever, Henrik does whatever Tony tells him to, and Pasi plays bass in the background.
Sound- and style-wise, the album is the missing successor to Reckoning Night (2004), from before Tony staged career suicide with the album Unia (2007). For me personally it’s also the first album since Reckoning Night that I can listen to all the way through without major digestive trouble. Sadly, at this stage of Sonata’s career, that doesn’t mean all that much, and it doesn’t guarantee a good album, let alone an excellent one.
Why the crossed fingers in the title? Listening to this album, you get the feeling Tony was thinking something like this: “OK, the fans want a return to the power metal of the first three and a half records. Fine, they’ll get it, but I’ll slip in such a dose of weird progressiveness that they won’t know what hit them.” If you don’t get it, just listen.
Judging by the setlist Sonata Arctica are playing on their Finnish tour for the album release, no better times are in store for us. Too bad.
Sweet treats: First in Line, Angel Defiled, The Best Things
6/10
Author: Igorac
Tracklist:
1. First in Line (5.22)
2. California (4.25)
3. Shah Mat (4.08)
4. Dark Empath (6.05)
5. Cure for Everything (4.41)
6. A Monster Only You Can’t See (5.56)
7. Teardrops (4.57)
8. Angel Defiled (4.44)
9. The Best Things (4.52)
10. Clear Cold Beyond (5.45)
11. A Ballad for the Broken (4.50)
12. Toy Soldiers (Martika cover) (3.44)
Musicians:
Tommy Portimo – Drums
Tony Kakko – Lead vocals, keyboards
Henrik Klingenberg – Keyboards, backing vocals
Elias Viljanen – Guitars
Pasi Kauppinen – Bass
Technical crew:
Mikko Karmila – Mixing
Svante Forsbäck – Mastering
Niko Anttila – Cover art
