Sonata Arctica - Days of Grays
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CD Details
Artist: Sonata ArcticaEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-09-22
Music Label: Nuclear Blast Americ
Product features:
- SONATA ARCTICA THE DAYS OF GRAYS
- Everything Fades to Gray Instrumental
- Deathaura
- The Last Amazing Grays
- Flag in the Ground
- Breathing
- Zeroes
- The Dead Skin
- Juliet
- No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart
- As If the World Wasn't Ending
- The Truth Is out There
- Everything Fades to Gray
- In My Eyes You're a Giant
Music reviews of Days of Grays
Music Review: An awesome continuation of the Sonata sound
Rating: 5 Stars
Before listening to the new Sonata album for the first time, I had the following attitude: "I love "Unia" just as much as all the previous Sonata albums (I'm a huge fan for 9 years now - since "Ecliptica"). Thus, as far as I'm concerned, Sonata Arctica can't go wrong, no matter what the new album will be like!"
Now, after listening to the album for like 10-12 times, this attitude still persists with some minor scratches. What remains is a mixture of euphoria (mostly) and (a little bit of) disillusionment.
First of all I must say that the last time I heard an intro as enchanting and wonderful as "Everything Fades To Gray (instrumental)" was with "...Of Silence" from the "Silence" album! Incredibly beautiful, melancholic piano strokes and omnipresent, atmospheric keyboard chords - that's exactly what I'm wishing for from Sonata Arctica!
The first, very dramatic symphonic sounds from "Deathaura" directly remind me of Dimmu Borgir but this only lasts until the really talented guest vocalist Johanna Kurkela starts off with the first lyrics of the album. I'm absolutely blown away by this really pompous, magical, fairytale-like, sometimes measured, sometimes fast-paced masterpiece! After some friends had told me the new album would be disappointing, I was extremely positively surprised already at the first listen! There it is again: that uncomparable Sonata feeling! That's why I love this band so much!
With "The Last Amazing Grays", the song that's already been released as a single, the journey continues and I have to say that the song works A LOT better when it's the follow-up of "Deathaura" as it perfectly links to its epic poetry. This midtempo semi-ballad with the wonderful chorus and the melancholic wolf theme definitely gets under the skin.
What now follows is the song that most enemies of "Unia" might consider the only -really- good song: "Flag In The Ground". I personally was thrilled at first, knowing the guys had re-recorded another very good song ("BlackOut") from their demo era (when they were still called Tricky Beans). On the other hand this was exactly the reason why I was a little disappointed. I already expected this one to be the only song in that style - and I already knew the demo version by heart. Still this song is a lot of fun and will satisfy 99% of all the Sonata fans out there. It's easily one of the most powerful songs of the album (it's slightly comparable to "The Cage" or "Black Sheep", I think).
After listening to the now following tracks for the first time, I dismissed them as "boring", "irrelevant" and/or "annoyingly elusive" and thus can understand all the disappointed fans who wrote bad reviews of the album. But that feeling reminded me a bit of my first experiences with "Unia" so that I couldn't simply toss the album into a bottom drawer or something. Particularly as the first tracks had thrilled me that much!
Either way, even after listening to "Breathing" four or five times, one can't deny that it's quite weak. This really slow song simply can't compete with songs like "Tallulah" or "Shy". It's really a pity - I didn't think I'd ever be bored by a Sonata Arctica ballad. "Under Your Tree" from "Unia" already was very close to boredom but "Breathing" lacks substance even more.
Hopes for another "In Black And White" or "The Harvest" came up when I heard the beginning of "Zeroes". Sadly, after the introduction the song loses itself a bit in a chaotic structure. Well... after listening to it some times, the pounding midtempo-hymn sounds more convincing - even though the chorus melody drowns in the rest of the song and doesn't really protrude.
After these two (for Sonata Arctica quite unusual, i.e. weak) songs it's getting better again with "The Dead Skin", "Juliet" and "No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart". At first, these three songs seemed to me as if Tony was merely narrating instead of singing a song because there are hardly any parts that rhyme in a classical way or are subject to a fixed pattern. But it's really worth listening to them many times because "The Dead Skin" and especially "No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart" will get you hooked and provide many parts that will stay in your head for a long time! (The latter actually provides THREE unforgettable hooklines and again contains the breathtakingly gorgeous vocals of Johanna Kurkela - what a blast!) And "Juliet" (even if the vocals start quite promptly) especially thrills with the great symphonic arrangements that carry the "Caleb"-story forward - with a focus on dramatics.
The perpetual organ sound that serves as the ground layer of the following "As If The World Wasn't Ending" reminds a bit of "For The Sake Of Revenge" (the song, not the DVD ;D) but sadly the song suffers the same illness "Zeroes" does: the chorus simply doesn't protrude and sounds trivial. I wouldn't call the song a dead loss as it is catchy nonetheless (if you can call it that; it's a slow song) - but it sounds weak to me, personally.
The powerful sequence which starts the song "The Truth Is Out There" (and returns later on once again to add zest to it) is one of those parts that'll pleasantly stay in your head for a long time. The song may seem a bit chaotic at first - but that's nothing a bit of patience can't resolve. A great song which switches back and forth between semi-ballad and midtempo-smasher.
The only thing that taints the pleasure of the "now-with-vocals"-version of "Everything Fades To Gray" is the fact that Tony's vocals were modified for the most part, so that it sounds a bit as if he was singing out of an old gramophone or something. Who the hell came up with THAT? What's that supposed to be? Of course, the instrumental part stays the same and therefore is as beautiful as in the intro - and surprisingly continues after the length of the intro. But the effect that's been put over the vocals deteriorates the pleasure of listening to this otherwise really beautiful final stroke of the regular tracks of the album.
Regarding the main melody of "In The Dark" (the bonus track for Europe and the USA), the song sounds like a power ballad of the 80s that could as well have been sung by Bonnie Tyler or something. But after a while, step by step, the song turns into a super catchy piece that sounds a bit like a slower variety of "PeaceMaker" here and there. Nothing overwhelming but really solid!
And now it's getting mean - for the non-Japanese, that is, because the two Japan-only bonus tracks "Nothing More" and "In My Eyes You're A Giant" are ingenious uptempo-Sonata-smashers that could as well have been put on "Silence", "Winterheart's Guild" or "Reckoning Night"!! If the band had decided to put these two songs on the album as regular tracks instead of... say... "Zeroes" and "Breathing", the fans of the old Sonata-style would have been well and truly satisfied!!
(Already on "Unia" I thought "I wish they had put the Japan bonus track 'They Follow' on the album as a regular ballad instead of 'Under Your Tree'! It would have been so perfect"!! But this time it's even more grave because the regluar album would have benefited from the speed that's contained in the two tracks!!)
"Nothing More" almost goes in the direction of "Ecliptica", slightly reminding of a slower "Blank File" during the chorus, while "In My Eyes You're A Giant" has strong resemblances of "Paid In Full", only a bit more cheerful! All I can say is: buy the Japan edition (like I did) or buy the tracks separately as download if that's possible somehow! It's really worth it!!!
To sum it up, once can say that "The Days Of Grays" picked up the pompous and epic side of "Unia" and slowed it down a little bit. In my opinion, the album fits perfectly into the Sonata Arctica discography, with its consequent progress but also some small reminiscences of the old days. Even though it contains some disappointing moments. The guys should have stepped on the gas a bit more here and there and could have fiddled with the choruses a bit more.
Nevertheless, I give a total of 5 of 5 stars on Amazon - the majority of the album turned out to be grandiose!! The album needs a lot - and I do mean A LOT - patience until it fully sparks. Even more than "Unia" needed! But it's really worth the "effort"! After several listens "The Days Of Grays" has you hooked and, just as its predecessor, won't let go again.
Description of Days of Grays
Stirring up youth in the hearts of many and acting like a sonic beacon for fans seeking the ultimate adrenaline high, Finland's ambassadors of light and hope have toiled through difficult times long enough to harvest an award-winning career. The Days of Grays is a testament to finding light in the darkness as after years of touring in relative obscurity here in the States, Sonata Arctica have found their place. Taking their cues from traditional and Power Metal bands, arena rockers and a seemingly long-gone time when melody in heavy music was the expectation, not the exception, the band have returned to the faster, chant-friendly, fist-pumping songs they're known for worldwide.Hard Rock & Metal CDs
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