Sonata Arctica – The Days Of Grays (2009)

Sonata Arctica is a band that has been constantly changing since its formation back in 1999 and have consistently released quality album no matter what changes they make to their sound.

“The Days Of Grays” is the band’s latest release and it’s very bombastic and emotional in nature, Tony Kakko is probably one of the best metal singers these days, and in this album he has another killer performance that will surely satisfy all of the band’s fans. His vocal range is amazing as always and his ability to transfer emotions into the lyrics and music is unrivaled.

These Fins manage to create another majestic album that is backed by a very impressive production that immortalizes every track. Featuring a galore of synthesizer classical arrangements the band sounds at its best, and “The Days Of Grays” is an amazing musical experience that will take the listener through a dramatic experience from start to end. And while the band’s albums production is one of their stronger features, it’s also their downfall in my opinion, since after hearing their albums and hearing them live it was like two different bands. All their arrangements are majestic on the CD but can’t fully be appreciated or even portrayed in the live setting making my experience watching them live a very disappointing one.

That being said, the quality of the music of this album is great, I must say it’s one of the best I’ve listened this year. The guitar work is less prevalent than in other releases but is still top notch, the drumming is super tight and well constructed, providing the perfect backdrop for the tracks in this album. Like I mentioned before the synthesizer classical arrangements is what makes this album stand out as well as the nice alternation of male and female vocals featured on tracks 2 and 9 provided by Johanna Kurkela.

Sonata Arctica sure knows how to make great music, their song writing abilities are very good, as well as their vocal layering gives that epic feeling to the music unlike any other band does in the Power Metal genre. Expect to be blown away by this release and if you are a fan of the band you will not be disappointed in one bit.

Release: September 22, 2009

Country: Finland