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| Sonata Arctica: For the Sake of Revenge (Audio Only) |
Power Metal
Nuclear Blast Records
March 31st, 2006
- Intro (Prelude For Reckoning) - 2:16
- Misplaced - 4:43
- Blinded No More - 5:16
- Fullmoon, exctract from ,,White Pearl, Black Oceans, - 5:49
- Victoria's Secret - 5:03
- Broken - 5:26
- 8th Commandment - 3:56
- Shamandalie - 3:54
- Kingdom for a Heart - 4:17
- Replica - 4:08
- My Land - 4:36
- Black Sheep - 4:00
- Gravenimage - 2:23
- Don't Say a Word - 6:35
- The Cage / ,,Vodka/Hana Nagila,, -sing a long - 7:27
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| Review Information |
Release length: 1:09:48
Review posted on March 10th, 2010
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| | Overall Score: 7.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Ecliptica (1999) • Silence (2001) • Winterheart's Guild (2003) • Reckoning Night (2004) • Unia (2007) • The Days of Grays (2009)
Stones Grow Her Name (2012)
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| EP(s): |
Successor (2000) • Orientation (2011) • Takatalvi (2003) • Don't Say a Word (2004)
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| Single(s): |
UnOpened (1999) • Wolf & Raven (2001) • Live at Provinssirock Festival (2001) • Last Drop Falls (2001) • Victoria's Secret (2003)
Broken (2003) • Don't Say a Word (2004) • My Selene (2004) • Shamandalie (2004) • Replica 2006 (2006) • Paid in Full (2007)
The Last Amazing Grays (2009) • Flag in the Ground (2009) • Flag in the Ground (Live) (2011) • I Have a Right (2012)
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| Compilation(s): |
The End of This Chapter (2005) • The Collection 1999-2006 (2006)
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| Live CD(s): |
Songs of Silence - Live in Tokyo (2002) • For the Sake of Revenge (2006)
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| DVD(s): |
For the Sake of Revenge (2006) • Live in Finland (2011)
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| Review |
For The Sake Of Revenge is not the first live album for the Melodic Power Metal act, Sonata Arctica. It's actually the second, and shows a little bit of a pattern. The first live album, Songs Of Silence - Live In Tokyo came out after the act's second full length release, Silence. Now, we have For The Sake Of Revenge, which comes after the band's fourth full-length studio release, Reckoning Night. The only difference is that this release came in CD form with bonus DVD [this disc was provided to me during my days at WSFX as a personal copy, but it did not include the bonus DVD], as well as a seperate purchase having just the latter disc. After roughly seven years since the band's debut, is there really a need for yet another live effort, and is it even worth it?
Sure, it may not be necessary so soon, but it's a nice piece to have if you're a fan. For The Sake Of Revenge features material from all four full-length releases so far, and is a pretty good live recording quality that shows the band's stage presence and talents outside the studio. Pretty much all the songs sound spot on to their original recordings, and the whole set is phenomenal from start to finish without any real change in the quickly established energetic atmosphere of the gig. The vocalist does an amazing job throughout the whole set, never really getting too winded, and able to engage some great crowd response on command. Even on the introduction to the track "Victoria's Secret," he shows a sense of humor by introducing it as "underwear music" in reference to the lady's underwear retail chain of the same name as the song itself. A cheesy joke, but enough to warrant a quick chuckle.
This features plenty of fan favorites, and you can really hear the crowd getting into it with each one. Things are usually a little on the quiet side during the rare few ballad tracks on here, though they do beak the noise by being a bit vocals, or clapping like with the start of the track "Shamandalie." It's the faster cuts like "Misplaced" and "8th Commandment" that really get the best crowd reception. You can even hear the crowd singing these songs, as well as a few others, just a little bit below the music, or the same level depending on how they join in. The audio quality on this release is superb, being pretty clear, and not necessarily through the sound board. The keyboards are as if they are echoing through the venue, as well as some of the singing and spoken word sections in between to keep the crowd going. It's rare, but the latter do sometimes get a little overmodulated, such as during the closing of "Shamandalie" into "Kingsom for a Heart" where the vocalist goes from addressing the crowd normally to shouting, becoming a bit distorted.
The only drawback here are the ballad tracks. Yes, there aren't that many, but there's still enough to really kill the energy in the concert. Had the band put these in a special designated part of the set, one after another at the middle or near the end to act as sort of an intermission for the band to catch their breath, then it would have worked better. While "Replica" isn't quite a ballad track thanks to it picking up prior to the guitar solo, you're going to get tired of hearing these when the pace picks up shortly after a previous ballad song, only to go back into another when you really get into the energy the more upbeat songs give off. The most interesting aspect of the release, however, is the closing track that features the song "The Cave", but then goes into "Vodka/Hana Nagila", meant to be a sing-along to close out the band's set on a fun note. Sadly, there really isn't much to sing along to before it closes out with the ending of "The Cave". It's a nice way to end the show, and doesn't really do any damage to the overall experience, but could have been extended a bit.
Fans of Sonata Arctica will be happy with this release, as For The Sake Of Revenge is a good quality live release that gets you up to date with the more current material and stage presence. Given the pattern, it's likely another live album will hit at some point soon after this review is posted given the formula the band has followed so far, so if you're a one live release kind of listener you may want to hold of. The live set is very entertaining and really leaves you wanting to see them perform in person. The problem is that by "Kingdom for a Heart," the ballads are spaced apart well enough that you'll start to lose interest at the rather repetative set list and music. Had they cut the songs down by maybe two, three max, then this would have been a solid set. But the fact that the group seems unweathered by such a lengthy performance is evidence of a great live personality among the members that knows how to get you riled up for almost every song.
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Physical review copy of this release provided by:
Nuclear Blast Records. |
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