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Well that's good news. I thought this band was on a steady decline since the debut so a bit more intensity could do the trick. Still, using the same old formula leaves them in the same place as Stratovarius which is unfortunate. They used to sound like the fresh alternative with a new take on the same style. After Winterheart's Guild I was already getting sick of the exact same stuff. Even if this is better I don't know if I can handle the exact same formula again.

My expectations are high but considering the underscores by the reviewers I think they'll be met. I do know I can't stop listening to Don't Say A Word, and if the production is anything like on it, then...

For some reason, it took me quite a few listens to get into this one, compared to the others. I don't know if it's the few prog elements I felt in there but it grew on me after about 4 or 5 spins. Now it's actually my favorite Sonata record, right next to Ecliptica. I myself felt Winterheart's Guild was a little bland, except for The Cage, Broken and Victoria's Secret. To me anyway, Reckoning Night was nothing like WG and it's on my top 5 of this year, for sure!

Bottom line: Give this one several spins before you judge it!

Are there guitar solos on Reckoning Night? Or do the keyboards dominate the entire album?

Well there are lots of keys since this is power metal and it's Sonata Arctica after all, but whereas in Winterheart's Guild, Henrik was just going overboard with the acrobatics, I felt this one had a stronger guitar sound than most others and there was much more speedy numbers like Wildfire, which is one of my favs. About solos.. I think there were a few, yes. Honestly, I never really cared about solos escept in a few, precise cases so I'm not the best to ask about solos.

Henrik didn't play on Winterheart's Guild. Tony did all the keyboards with a few solos by Jens Johansson.

Oops! My bad..

Thanks for the correction, Jay. I forgot Henrik went to join Requiem (that's it, right..? I don't really know them) at that time. I did know about Johansson though. Hard not to notice that strato-madness on Champagne Bath!

I've been blown away by every Sonata Arctica release, and this one is certainly no exception. To me, every CD has had something on it that the other ones don't contain. I can listen to every single Sonata CD, and love every minute of it.

Am I the only person who thinks that Ecliptica is overrated? Great album, no doubt. Also showcases Tony at his weakest vocal quality. Ungodly songwriting, but I dunno... I think every Sonata CD has the same quality songwriting... especially in the case of Reckoning Night. And on Reckoning Night, Tony definitely shows that he's nowhere near done raising the bar on his vocal abilities.

Does Misplaced sound a lot like Broken File to any of you?

Let's face the facts, too. Nothing in their formula will change until they decide to do a concept album. Once Tony tackles that, Sonata will EXPLODE!

I like Ecliptica.
I have only heard San Sebastian from Silence.
I do not really like Winterhearts Guild
Should I get Reckoning Night?

@Lukati: Yeah, I was thiking that too! I wonder when they'll be coming up with a concept album? It'd be damn great! As long as it's not something like medieval/fantasy or anything like that!!


@6EN6KI6: Well it's hard to judge for someone else but... I myself love Ecliptica and Silence but never really liked/got hooked on Winterheart's Guild that much. If you only heard San Sebastian from Silence and liked it, try to get Wolf and Raven and Land of the Free and if you like those too, then Reckoning Night will satisfy you, I would think.. on Reckoning Night, the heaviness and speed is cranked up quite a bit compared to WG!

Hi Marty, in the review you say that there is a song that sounds like Uriah Heep cause the Hammond sound. But, Uriah Heep were as a Uriah Heep Clone of second range. The Hammond sounds refer directly to Jon Lord, the Deep Purple keyboard player.

That´s comparation is how to say that a band has got some power influences that make you remember to Morgana Lefay.

Understand me?

Bye

Sure Jon Lord was probably the first to use a Hammond organ in a hard rock setting (except for maybe Vanilla Fudge) but Uriah Heep also had a very "trademark" swirling Hammond organ sound that was very different than the sound of Jon Lord with Deep Purple. Both bands were very influential with Uriah Heep being very underrated (ask Kai Hansen, Arjen Lucassen, Blackie Lawless etc.). The sound of the organ on the track "Misplaced" on Reckoning Night sounds more like a Uriah Heep style than a Deep Purple one especially with the pounding riff that comes after. Uriah Heep was certainly influenced by Deep Purple but both were very unique and important bands. As far as I'm concerned, the classic line-up of Uriah Heep produced about 4 or 5 hard rock classics from 1972 to 1974 with Demons and Wizards, The Magician's Birthday, Sweet Freedom and Wonderworld. They produced more consistently excellent albums than Deep Purple did during that period.

Ok, Marty. It´s you opinnion and I respected them. But let me maintain the doubt about the importance of Uriah Heep. For me, they never recorded a LP at the same level of Fireball, Machine Head or Burn. These LP´s invented the metal.

Bye

Funny....I've had this same debate over the years with several friends of mine. No question, Machine Head and Burn are hard rock classics with every track being excellent......Fireball was good but not of the same calibre and I never really liked Who Do We Think We Are except for a couple of songs. Deep Purple were a huge band whose live shows were legendary but their albums were not all great from start to finish. They had a great bluesy heavy sound but Uriah Heep injected an air of fantasy with their lyrics and extended instrumental passages (Magician's Birthday) and more of a progressive sound that's also been a huge influence on heavy metal. Some would argue that Deep Purple was the more important of the two but I beg to differ. Both bands were very important in shaping the heavy metal music that we hear today. Great discussion.......anyone else care to join in???

Hi Marty:

Maybe nobody joins in this debate cause we are the older people here
But, I love Fireball. It´s got a lot of progressive influences in the last songs. It´s a strange album of Purple in some moment. But songs like "No one fools" or "The Mule" blows up my mind.
For other side, I don´t like "Who do you think..." or "Stormbringer". I think that they are very weak. But, if you talk about fantasy, I should tell you that the first ones were Black Sabbath, Zeppelin or Judas Priest. These groups mixed better the music with the fantasy style.
Purple´s lyrcs were mos influentied bye the old rock´n´roll themes.

Bye

My fav album by them (Sonata Arctica) is Silence. Just love it, and Ecliptica comes not far behind. As for Winterheart's Guild I feel the same as Esiel; I didn't get as hooked! Will Grab a copy of the new album when I get the money:)

And to Gambit:
You say that Fireball, Machine Head and Burn invented metal. I agree with the influence they had, but with the album In Rock Ian Gillian showed himself (imo) to be the first true heavy metal singer ever! He was just awesome in the good old days before Coverdale and Hughes turned Deep Purple into some funky crap. (I do love Burn though. Hehe) In Rock was Deep Purple's most grounbreaking album and made them one of the most important bands withing the genre. Uriah Heep did some excellent albums too, and Byron also revealed himself to be amongst the first with a metal voice. Uriah Heep was somewhat more progressive than Deep Purple, and I would say that they along with (though not to the same extent as) Rush made the foundation for what was later to become the Progressive metal.

Without a doubt, Silence is this bands best album. Each song is so perfectly crafted, it's incredible. Ecliptica is good but I feel that the speed is all that album has to offer. The melodies are catchy and the songwriting is good but Silence just has a whole other level of depth. Ecliptica is superficial while Silence is deep.

Now with WHG and this release we see a mixing of the two. I really disliked WHG at first but repeated listens changed my mind. That album is just ok in terms of music but what really shines is Tony. His vocals and lyrics are the best of any album there. The new album is good because it brings back much more of the hard rock sound which has been neglected since Silence.

Yes, it brings back the Queen-inspired bits here and there. I got the album yesterday, and the only piece that actually causes me any trouble to listen to is Ain't Your Fairytale.

I agree with Jay about Silence and Ecliptica. If you can't tell by my horrendrous taste (the way I can't stomach Ain't Your Fairytale properly), I don't like speed. Don't get me wrong, I liked Ecliptica, but I don't understand why some fancy Blank File.

Would I get mobbed if I said I didn't like Ecliptica much? I definitely like Silence and, yes, Winterheart's Guild better (I still don't understand why people don't like WG). I'm really pumped about this new album! Anyone know when it will hit North America?