Wow! This is really GOOD stuff! . Winterheart's Guild(2003). Sonata Arctica's third studio album.    Unlike most people on this site apparently, I DON'T hate power metal. I'm not one who slags the whole genre off upon the discovery of other music like progressive rock and other styles like a lot of people do. When I first came across the genre years ago, I was in heaven. There were a lot of really cool albums by bands like Stratovarius, Labyrinth, Dream Evil, Blind Guardian, Primal Fear, Hammerfall, and others that brought forth the nostalgic sounds of some of my favorite 80s metal bands, though with the benefit of modern production technology. Sure, the subject matter among many of these bands can come across as goofy (almost bearing a Manowar quality at times), but most people seem to miss the point that none of it is meant to be taken seriously.    Of course, my interest in Power Metal has waned since then, but only because after a while, most of the bands I came across started to sound a lot alike with very little to separate them apart from others and make me want to come back for more. It seemed like all the bands had the same machine-gun double bass drumming, Malmsteen-inspired guitar solos, harpsichord keyboard soloing, and Geoff Tate-inspired singing. In short, I needed more _variety_.    Thankfully, bands like Sonata Arctica, Kamelot, and Nightwish are around to show the rest how to make a good, memorable band.    To me, Sonata Arctica sounds like a bigger, better, more realized Stratovarius. I'd known about the band for a while, and I've always loved the song 'Power Of One' off of Silence(2001) which was my first introduction to them. I finally saw one of their albums in the store the other day, and since I'm always looking for good music, I figured "why not?". After listening to this album several times now, I can honestly say that this was one of the best purchases I've made all year. While I do like Stratovarius, the problem I had with them is that their albums would have a couple of really outstanding songs on them, followed by several by-the-numbers tracks which they've formulated to death over and over again. Sonata Arctica has no problems like this. This band takes Stratovarius's sound as a main template, and infuses their own creative songwriting melodies and lyrical topics into it, creating a very memorable and varitable collection of songs. Their singer has that familiar Finnish accent, though it's combined with a real passionate performance. The guitarist always seems to play the right riff at the right time, varying it up from soulfull crunchy riffs to great solos that bring Glen Tipton of Judas Priest to mind. Keyboards go from solo-esque battles to goosebump-inducing atmospheric passages that compliment the melodies.    Picking out favorite tracks on this album is a very difficult thing to do, but the ones that seem to stand out the most are 'APBE', 'Gravenimage', 'The Cage', 'Silver Tongue', 'Champaign Bath', and 'Broken'. 'APBE' and 'The Cage' are two of the fast speed metal tracks, while 'Gravenimage' and 'Broken' both sport unique, melodic overtones to them. 'Champaign Bath' is fast, fun metal that takes you for a hellova ride. Then there's two nice ballads to top the album off: 'The Misery' and 'Draw Me'. These ballads thankfully aren't syrup-drenched like a lot of ballads can get. There aren't any bad tracks in the bunch, and there's something to please anyone that is looking for variety.    Replayability: High. Makes for a perfect power metal fix.    WG proved to be a great starting point for me, and I highly suggest anyone else who sees this album in the stores to give it a shot. They also have a new album out, Reckoning Night(2005) as well as two earlier albums, Ecliptica(1999) and Silence, which many consider their best work. If WG is any indication, then I can't wait any longer to hit up on the other albums. One of the lyrics in the song 'Gravenimage' asks "Can I still recognize a beautiful melody?". Yes, you certainly can, and you're certainly one of the best bands in the business at it.     Other recommendations:  -Any other Sonata Arctica album. ALL are outstanding. (judging by the soundclips)  -'Visions' by Stratovarius  -'Epica' and 'The Black Halo' by Kamelot  -'Oceanborne', 'Wishmaster', and 'Century Child' by Nightwis
Output: POS