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| Sonata Arctica: Silence |
Power Metal
Century Media Records, Spinefarm Records
July 16th, 2001
- ...Of Silence - 1:17
- Weballergy - 3:52
- False News Travel Fast - 5:18
- The End of This Chapter - 7:02
- Black Sheep - 3:42
- Land of the Free - 4:25
- Last Drop Falls - 5:13
- San Sebastian (revisited) - 4:38
- Sing in Silence - 3:51
- Revontulet (Instrumental) - 1:33
- Tallulah - 5:20
- Wolf & Raven - 4:16
- The Power of One - 11:33
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| Review Information |
Release length: 1:02:00
Review posted on March 10th, 2010
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| | Overall Score: 6.5/10 |
 
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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 |
Shortly after the debut album Ecliptica, Sonata Arctica have returned with their second full-length release, Silence. While being far from original, this release is a very well crafted Power Metal that seems to tell various tales that, if you don't overexamine the release, seem to string together into a conceptual offering thanks to some of the lyrics to the songs, as well as the narration that appear on some tracks. However, Silence is still a rather impressive effort that fans of this style will appreciate.
Right off the start, the album kicks into full gear with the heavy "Weballergy", one of only two fast and heavy tracks that seem to push the band thanks to the speed and rather epic elements. While the latter factor fails, this does offer some intensity that many others on here lack. Much of Silence is geared towards either beauty, or melody, and both work in it's favor with exception of the ballads. While the higher, nasally vocals work during the quicker and obviously "louder" efforts, like "Weballergy" and "Land of the Free," it can grow a little grating on slower ones, especially during "Last Drop Falls." "Sing in Silence" does put this clean singing style to work nicely with its pace, but not to the point where it becomes a ballad.
The start of Silence is really where it all happens. As mentioned, there is narration, such as on the introductory track "...Of Silence," as well as the beginning of "The End of This Chapter," which is a conceptual song about a woman being stalked, a premise pretty easy to figure out because of the aforementioned speach, and the closing "The Power of One". At this point, since the narrator happens to be the same person, you'll picture much of the album to go along as a story, but not really woven together. Either way, the smaller tales some cuts depict are still highly enjoyable. Aside that notation, you also have some of the more standout offerings at the start, like the aforementioned "Weballergy", as well as the long paced "The End of This Chapter," and "False News Travel Fast," none of which really become boring.
There's still some good material past "Last Drop Falls," but nothing that really has the same creative impact as the first half of this release, as it's mostly slower paces, or ballads. "Sing in Silence" is a decent track that bleeds into the keyboard instrumental "Revontulet", which doesn't really do much for the album, but does give more of a complete feeling to the end of "Sing in Silence". This could have easily just been included at the end, instead of taking up space on the to make it look like there's more material here then there is, but it doesn't really hurt anything. Aside that, you have the faster "Wolf & Raven," which could have easily been on the openning song, even though there's a brief two second semi-jazz change in the music around two minutes in that will leave you wondering what the hell it was. And then there's "Tallulah", the only ballad on here that is really worth anything because the vocalist doesn't really push himself through, nor does he go after higher notes that don't fit with it like in "Last Drop Falls," making the performance very beautiful and as powerful as earlier offerings.
So if you are just looking for some solid Power Metal, then Silence is worth a spin. There's plenty of material on here that is composed well enough to leave you coming back for repeat spins. While capturing some great melody to their music, and not quite being as heavy or epic as many of today's Power Metal acts are, Sonata Arctica really focuses on writing material that could be considered passionate and beautiful, and for the most part it works. However, Silence is far from a masterpiece, as there are still tracks on here that don't quite live up to the feeling you would get from others like "Tallulah".
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Physical review copy of this release provided by:
Personal funds. |
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