Full of fast riffs, pounding double bass, excellentguitar and keyboard solos, and some of the best vocalsin power metal, Sonata Arcticadeserve every right to be one of Finland'sfinest. They have seven fulllength releases to their credit, each anessential piece of powermetal history. The five piece outfit hails fromFinland, and plays power metal,similar inthe vein of Stratovarius, though many consider them much better. Must have for every melodic metal fan.Burning through a couple of different names, some odder than others (including the ever hilarious Tricky Beans), the group thatwould be knownasSonata Arctica decided on this name, and have been going strong ever since. 'Silence' is one of the best albums of this year, for sure. And there's also a stand out mid-tempo 'Sing In Silence' with very unusual for Sonata Arctica sound and strange lyrics. Here you will also find the first Sonata Arctica instrumental track, 'Revontulet' and the longest and the most impressive song, 'The Power Of One', which brings up some serious topics. The album also contains a 'revisited' version of San Sebastian, but there really isn't one hell of a difference from the original. At the same time it doesn't sound like a standard euro-power - it's much more diverse, with tons of fresh ideas and very wise lyrics It has everything that I expect from a power metal album - powerful ultrafast tracks with kick-ass double-drumming, a couple of really nice and emotional ballads and a sign of high-quality all over it.

Though after the first listening I was, like 'What the hell? This is not half as good as Ecliptica!' now it has really grown on me. Why I talk about this? Because it's the only weak point of this flawless in every other way album. Unlike 'Ecliptica', which kicks off on the very first second, this album has an intro - well, actually even too many of them, because there's an intro for 'The End Of This Chapter', for 'Land Of The Free' and 'The Power Of One'.

Sonata arctica silence album cover