Finnish band Sonata Arctica is an iconic name in the metal scene that has been working continuously for over 20 years, musically the band has experimented over the years starting with power metal and then moving on to more progressive and soft sounds, including two acoustic albums and then returning to their power metal roots with their latest full-length album “Clear Cold Beyond”, released last March. Fresh from Waken and ready to play at Porispere, frontman Tony Kakko granted us an interview where we had the opportunity to ask him more about the latest album, the tour, the writing process and much more.
Tag: sonata arctica
Porispere 2-3.8.2024, Pori(Finland)
Porispere was held in Kirjurinluoto Pori during the first weekend of August. As every year the lineup was varied to please everyone and for metal lovers there was Cradle of Filth, Sonata Arctica, Royal Republic, Battle Beast, Lost Society, Stam1na to name the most famous.
The audience also had the privilege of celebrating the music of Kingston Wall, the legendary cult progressive rock band from the 90s that ended with the death of Petri Walli in 1995, thanks to the project Jylli & Kuoppis – Music of Kingston Wall presented by bassist Jukka Jylli and drummer Sami Kuoppamäki accompanied by Jesper Anastasiadis, Juhani Grönroos, Esa Holopainen and Mikko Von Hertzen.
Another historic Finnish rock band Don Huonot, who celebrate their 35th anniversary in 2024, graced the stage at Porispere after their recent comeback.
A historic moment also for Lauri Tähka, one of the most esteemed and passionate Finnish artists of recent years, who seems to conclude his career in 2024 with some shows, including the one in Porispere. Also Kwan, a Finnish band that saw a boom in the early 2000s and had many famous names as guests on their albums such as Siiri Nordin (Killer), Jyrki 69 (The 69 eyes) and Lauri Ylönen (The Rasmus), returned to the stage with its original lineup this summer.
Closing the festival on Friday was the dj Windows95man, who represented Finland at the last edition of Eurovision with the song “No rules!”
Our reporters Cristina Gregori and Miika Riikonen were on location to take some photos which you can see in the gallery below.
Sonata Arctica- The Ninth Hour
Sonata Arctica keeps on evolving, album after album the sound changes, and “The ninth hour” proves it. The last work of the Finnish band is going to split the opinion of fans and media, this is not an easy listening album and needs time to be assimilated.
“Closer to an Animal” is the first single extract, this melodic song keeps intact the line that Sonata Arctica has taken with “Unia”. The second single “Life”, from which has been released also a video-clip, is pretty catchy and the keyboards and guitar solos are brilliant.
Tracks like “Fairytale” and “Till Death’s Done us Apart” are powerful musical compositions that remind the old works of the band. The flute gives that something more to “We Are What We Are” a beautiful touching ballad.
The longest track is “White Pearl,Black Oceans Part II”, with its 10 minutes, I had expectations for this song, but unfortunately it is not able to enter the heart as the part I. “Rise a Night” is the most powerfull song and the only one which can be liked from all the fans because it mixes the old sound with the new in a good way.
As I said, this isn’t an easy listening album but it’s wrong judge it just from the first listen, the sound is more slow compared to the previous albums but this is the evolution that Sonata Arctica has started long time ago.
What to say about this album? Performance is excellent, production is sublime and the voice of Tony Kakko has never been so theatrical and communicative before.