85%
Sonata Arctica—Ecliptica (1999)
Details
Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, by Ahti Kortelainen. Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios. This is the 2008 remastered edition.
Band
- Tony Kakko—Vocals and keyboards
- Jani Liimatainen—Guitars
- Janne Kivilahti—Bass
- Raisa Aine—Flute on “Letter to Dana”
- Tommy Portimo—Drums
Tracks
- Blank file
- My land
- 8th commandment
- Replica
- Kingdom for a heart
- Fullmoon
- Letter to Dana
- Unopened
- Picturing the past
- Destruction preventer
- Mary-Lou
- Letter to Dana (returned to sender)
Review
Sonata Arctica are a Finnish power metal band, from Kemi near the southern border with Sweden. This was their debut album; they have since released a further eight full-length albums including the 15th anniversary edition of Ecliptica in 2014.
This is very much a power metal album in the family of Helloween. It is boppy, it is poppy, it’s melodic with shredding guitar solos, and plentiful and fast chord changes, and soaring, high tenor vocals.
There is a youthful innocence and excitement about this album which gives it a certain charm.
For some reason the song “Letter to Dana” (which was apparently named after the X-Files character Dana Scully) feels like the centre-piece of the album, not least because the final track has a reworked version of the song which curiously omits the first two verses. “Dana, my darling, I’m writing to you / Cause your father passed away, it was a beautiful day / And I don’t want to bother You anymore / I used to hope you’d come back / But not anymore Dana.” It is a bittersweet tale of a lost love.
The album closes with “Mary-Lou” a strong rocker of a song, and the “returned to sender” version of “Letter to Dana”.
Conclusion
Did I mention that it reminds me of Helloween? It does. A lot. But without the silliness.
It will be interesting to see if I choose to listen to this album again. I rather like it but I don’t really listen to much Helloween these days, wheeling it out every now and then to relive wasted days in the prefect’s common room at high school!
Review score: 85%