Sonata Arctica are a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works (most notably The Days of Grays, Unia and a few tracks on Reckoning Night) contain several elements typical of progressive metal.
Biography
Formation and early years (1996–1999)
The band was founded by
Marko Paasikoski,
Jani Liimatainen and
Tommy Portimo in Kemi at the end of 1995 (
Tony Kakko and Pentti Peura joined in early 1996). Originally named
Tricky Means, they played
hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three
demos which were never sent to any recording label —
Friend 'till the End,
Agre Pamppers and
PeaceMaker.
In 1997 the band changed their name to Sonata Arctica, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.
In 1999, the band recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed, during which the band changed its name to Sonata Arctica.
Ecliptica and Silence (1999–2002)
Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled
UnOpened was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon after, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut
Ecliptica arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave critics from the specialized press.
Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began looking for a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.
In the beginning of 2000, Sonata Arctica was chosen to support the well known power metal band Stratovarius throughout their European tour. Marko Paasikoski returned to the band to play bass in the wake of Janne Kivilahti's departure after the tour.
From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album — Silence — which was released in June 2001. An extensive tour followed, which included concerts throughout Europe (together with Gamma Ray) and Japan. In 2002 Sonata Arctica made its first incursion to America, putting on shows in Brazil and Chile. According to some of the musicians from the band, it was one of their best tours to date — the other being the Japanese tour from 2003. A live album entitled Songs of Silence was also released that year, consisting of gigs from their tour in Japan. By the end of 2002, Mikko Härkin left the band due to personal reasons.
Winterheart's Guild (2003)
Their third album —
Winterheart's Guild — was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player
Jens Johansson from
Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos, while Kakko took care of the basics. The album was released in 2003.
In the search for another keyboardist, the band received many applications and two of them were invited for auditions. Since they were well aware of the candidates' ability, the band decided to pick the new member based on personality. To this end they spent a night drinking with each of the potentials in order to find out which one would fit best into the band's personality and mentality. Henrik Klingenberg was eventually chosen and joined the band in time to take part in the tour that followed the release of Winterheart's Guild. Most of the concerts on the tour were sold out.
With the end of their contract with Spinefarm Records, the band received invitations from most European recording labels, and eventually opted for Nuclear Blast.
Reckoning Night (2004–2005)
In early 2004, the band was chosen as the opener for
Iron Maiden's Japanese tour. Additionally, Tommy Portimo became a father; his wife gave birth to a baby girl in March.
Reckoning Night was recorded in three months and released in October. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. A promotional tour was to follow, but Sonata Arctica was invited by the popular
Nightwish to join their European tour, and thus made a change of plans. The concerts that followed were played for audiences of over ten thousand people.
In early 2005, Nightwish invited the band to open the concerts of their North American tour. This tour eventually got cancelled, but the members of Sonata Arctica opted to still make a short tour, playing concerts in Canada and in the USA. And before, Sonata opened a big Nightwish's show at the Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, in October 21, 2005.
For the Sake of Revenge and Winterheart's Guild video game (2006)
In 2006, the band released a live CD and DVD entitled
For the Sake of Revenge, which was recorded in
Tokyo in February 2005. Then, Spinefarm Records released a compilation album in order to get the most out of their contract with the band, since Sonata Arctica changed their recording label. The compilation is entitled
The End of This Chapter and was released in Japan in August 2005 and in Europe on May 2006.
A computer video game is also planned based on Sonata Arctica characters and music. The name of the game will be Winterheart's Guild, like their album. The game will be developed by Zelian Games, and will be an Action-RPG in a style between Fallout and Diablo. Further details or a release date are not yet available, but a demo was shown at the Leipzig video game conference in 2006, featuring Henrik Klingenberg as the playable character. As of December 2006, the band began recording their fifth studio album.
Unia (2007–2008)
On May 25, 2007,
Unia was released. The album's first single, "
Paid In Full", was released on April 27, 2007. Interestingly, the cover for
Unia features a barely perceptible image of a person's hair and eyes looking out through a crack in the background in the lower right-hand corner. It is likely an allusion to the person in the song "
Caleb" on
Unia.
On August 6, 2007, the band announced on their website that guitarist Jani Liimatainen had been asked to leave the band due to problems related to his conscription. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen who had already filled in for him in the band's Finnish and Japanese shows during the spring and summer.
In October 2007 Sonata Arctica headlined the ProgPower USA VIII. Later the band supported Nightwish across their 2008 tour of United States and Canada and headlined at the shows that Nightwish cancelled due to Anette Olzon's sudden severe sickness.
In 2008 Tony Kakko collaborated with English Singer/Songwriter and arranger Mark Deeks to perform choral arrangements of some of the band's works at a special one off concert at The Sage Centre in Gateshead.
It was announced on September 4, 2008 that the band's first two albums would be re-released by Spinefarm UK on October 6th.
The Days of Grays (Since 2009)
::
Main Article: The Days of Grays
Sonata Arctica's latest album was released on September 16th 2009 in Finland and September 22nd in the USA. Henrik stated that the new album will be in the same vein as
Unia, but not as complex and darker.
The band also recently toured with DragonForce for the third U.S. leg of the Ultra Beatdown tour, and will be touring the US "two or three times," as well as doing a European tour and Asian tour covering Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Japan. They are currently engaged on an Australian tour with Ensiferum and Melbourne band Vanishing Point.
The band attended Bloodstock Open Air 2010 on 14th August 2010.
In April 2010, Sonata Arctica embarked on their USA and Canada Headlining tour for The Days of Grays.
Influences
In a 2007 interview with C.B.Liddell, Tony Kakko cited the English rock band Queen as his biggest musical influence.
"A lot of people seem to mention a Queen influence in our music," he said. "Queen have always been the biggest band for me."
Members
Current
Tony Kakko
*Vocals (1996−present)
*Keyboards (1996-2001, 2003, 2007-present)
Elias Viljanen
*Guitars (2007−present)
*Backing vocals (2007−present)
Marko Paasikoski
*Bass guitar (2000−present)
*Backing vocals (2000−present)
*Guitars (1996-1997)
Tommy Portimo
*Drums (1996−present)
Henrik Klingenberg
*Keyboards/Keytar (2002−present)
*Backing vocals (2002−present)
Former
Pentti Peura
*Bass guitar (1996−1998)
*Backing vocals (1996−1998)
Janne Kivilahti
*Bass guitar (1998−2000)
*Backing vocals (1998−2000)
Mikko Härkin
*Keyboards (2000−2002)
*Backing vocals (2000−2002)
Jani Liimatainen
*Guitars (1996−2007)
*Backing vocals (1996−2007)
Guest musicians
Raisa Aine − flute (on "Letter to Dana")
Nik Van-Eckmann − spoken passages (on "...of Silence", "The End of This Chapter", "Last Drop Falls" and "The Power of One" from Silence and "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." and "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night)
Timo Kotipelto − vocals (on "False News Travel Fast")
Renay Gonzalez − spoken female passage (on "The End of This Chapter")
Jens Johansson − keyboard solos (on "The Cage", "Silver Tongue", "Victoria's Secret" and "Champagne Bath")
Peter Engberg − acoustic guitars, bouzouki, chromaharp, cavaquinho and Q-chord (on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan")
Johanna Kurkela − female vocals (on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart")
Discography
Studio albums:
Ecliptica (1999)
Silence (2001)
Winterheart's Guild (2003)
Reckoning Night (2004)
Unia (2007)
The Days of Grays (2009)
Cover songs
"Black Diamond" − Stratovarius (live, short clip in Stratovarius - Infinite Visions VHS/DVD)
"Speed of Light" − Stratovarius (in the end of "False News Travel Fast" in Songs of Silence)
"Fade to Black" − Metallica (Victoria's Secret, Takatalvi)
"Wind Beneath My Wings" − Bette Midler (Orientation)
"Die With Your Boots On" − Iron Maiden (Last Drop Falls, Orientation)
"World in My Eyes" − Depeche Mode (Don't Say a Word)
"Two Minds, One Soul" − Vanishing Point (Don't Say a Word)
"Still Loving You" − Scorpions (Takatalvi)
"I Want Out" − Helloween (Takatalvi)
"Out in the Fields" − Gary Moore (Paid in Full, Unia)
"Silent Jealousy" − X Japan (live)
"Crash & Burn" − Yngwie Malmsteen (live)
"Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" − Sentenced (live)
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" − KISS (live)
"Smoke on the Water" − Deep Purple (live)
"Child in Time" - Deep Purple (live)
"Gaston y'a l'téléfon qui son" − Nino Ferrer (live)
"One" − Metallica (live)
"We Will Rock You" − Queen (live)
"No More Tears" − Ozzy Osbourne (live)
"Hava Nagila" ("The Cage"/"Vodka", "For the Sake of Revenge")
"Master of Puppets" − Metallica (live)
"The Trooper" − Iron Maiden (live)
"Emerald Sword" − Rhapsody of Fire (live)
"Cowboys From Hell" - Pantera (live, Jani Liimatainen's Young Guitar DVD and Into The Storm bootleg DVD)
"Metropolis" - Dream Theater" (live)
"Total Eclipse Of The Heart" - Bonnie Tyler" (live)
References
External links
Sonata Arctica's official website
Winterheart's Guild video game
Category:Finnish heavy metal musical groups
Category:Finnish power metal musical groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1996
Category:1990s music groups
Category:2000s music groups
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![Sonata Arctica - Blank File [Album: Ecliptica -1999]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110619095411im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/SZ3Lc0VovrQ/0.jpg "Sonata Arctica - Blank File [Album: Ecliptica -1999]")
![Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica - Replica [Live] (1999)](http://web.archive.org./web/20110619095411im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gAzI7hYuuo0/0.jpg "Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica - Replica [Live] (1999)")
