R&P: What do you think of "Sonata Arctica"?

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1995. Their later works contain some elements typical of progressive metal.



Originally named Tricky Beans, the band 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 鈥?Friend 'till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker. In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was drastically changed, 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 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60u-_rw2g鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV7Vs0CXl鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iIv0oYQZ鈥?/a>



Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single, entitled UnOpened was released in Finland, and their debut, Ecliptica, arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release. From late 2000 to late 2001, the band worked on composing and recording their next album 鈥?Silence 鈥?which was released in June 2001. Their third album 鈥?Winterheart's Guild 鈥?was recorded with the help of the seasoned keyboard player Jens Johansson from Stratovarius who recorded the keyboard solos and released in 2003.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpw_tnqOe鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHxLtF-15鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nzwF3j4G鈥?/a>



Reckoning Night was recorded in three months and released in October 2004. Both the single and the EP of this release remained on the top of the Finnish charts simultaneously for over six weeks. 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. On May 25, 2007, Unia was released. The album's first single, %26quot;Paid In Full%26quot;, 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 %26quot;Caleb%26quot; on Unia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeu_VWZzv鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6lo_kssC鈥?/a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eob9izeo-鈥?/a>



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. Singles from this album include %26quot;Flag in the Ground%26quot; and %26quot;The Last Amazing Grays%26quot;. On August 28, 2009, the music video of %26quot;Flag In The Ground%26quot; was released to the web.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWTRoEO >
R%26amp;P: What do you think of %26quot;Sonata Arctica%26quot;?
I'm a huge fan of SA, probably my favorite power metal band.



Some of my favorite tracks...



Blank File

San Sebastian (Revisited)

Wolf And Raven

The Cage

Draw Me

White Pearl, Black Oceans...



I like all of their stuff really and seen them live 3 times, with Jani, and Elias.
R%26amp;P: What do you think of %26quot;Sonata Arctica%26quot;?
I have most of their stuff on CD, favorite is Silence ...Without it I could not live.
I think they're pretty awesome. I am going to see them in concert on April 22nd.
I love Sonata Arctica. I've been into them for a while now and they're probably my second favorite Power Metal band behind Kamelot. I love how they are really great power metal but at the same time don't have a lot of the cheesyness that a lot of power metal has. My favorite song by them is %26quot;Full Moon%26quot;.
Loved them for years now! Favorite song might be Full moon.
They are perhaps my favorite band. At first I didn't like their latest album but all of a sudden I can't stop listening to it. I think my favorite song is White Pearl, Black Oceans or To Create A Warlike Feel.