Sonata Arctica - The Days Of Grays review
| Band: | Sonata Arctica |
| Album: | The Days Of Grays |
| Style: | Power metal |
| Release date: | September 2009 |
Disc I
01. Everything Fades To Gray
02. Deathaura
03. The Last Amazing Grays
04. Flag In The Ground
05. Breathing
06. Zeroes
07. The Dead Skin
08. Juliet
09. No Dream Can Heal A Broken Heart
10. As If The World Wasn't Ending
11. The Truth Is Out There
12. Everything Fades To Gray [full version]
13. In The Dark [limited edition bonus]
14. In My Eyes You're A Giant [Japanese and US bonus]
15. Nothing More [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [limited edition bonus]
01. Deathaura [orchestral version]
02. The Last Amazing Grays [orchestral version]
03. Flag In The Ground [orchestral version]
04. Juliet [orchestral version]
05. As If The World Wasn't Ending [orchestral version]
06. The Truth Is Out There [orchestral version]
07. In The Dark [orchestral version]
The last five years have been testing ones for Sonata Arctica having run the wave of hype and enthusiasm raised by the first couple of albums dry. Critics have had a blast with the band in recent years, with none more victimised than the band's last output Unia. A couple of years ago Sonata Arctica looked like a shadow of its former self, but right now with the release of album number six, The Days Of Grays has shone a ray of light.
By no means is The Days Of Grays a return to the sound, style and form of the first four records. If you expect an hour of frantic double bass pedalling then look elsewhere, but what The Days Of Grays is, is Sonata Arctica at their most mature and adventurous yet. The Days Of Grays is not a grey album, it is in fact quite black and white, an album of two halves in a sense.
On one side we have some energetic, up-tempo and frankly refreshing numbers such as the opening trio of songs "Deathaura", "The Last Amazing Grays" and "Flag In The Ground". "Deathaura" is Sonata Arctica like never before; bombastic symphonies, unusual song structure and a helping hand of some female vocals kick the album off in quite a Nightwish fashion. The album does have some pace outside of these three songs, but the second half of the album presents us with the other side to the album.
On the other side Sonata Arctica draw slightly from their Unia influence in providing slower songs with less conviction than the first part of the album. The Days Of Grays is a reasonably long album, and some of these songs do drag the album down such as the slightly morbid "Breathing".
The good news is that unlike Unia, the band have provided top quality songs that are a little more modest in pace. The Days Of Grays is probably the first time the band have consistently done this, with the help of songs like the closing trio "As If The World Wasn't Ending", "The Truth Is Out There" and "Everything Fades To Gray", not forgetting the fantastically dark "Juliet".
Again Tony Kakko is the shining star of the album delivering possibly his most diverse performance yet. The Days Of Grays is the darkest album Sonata Arctica has ever put out, touching grey subject areas such as death and relationships gone wrong, subjects that no one likes to take time to think about. It may however take time to appreciate The Days Of Grays and its full potential, it is after all the most ambitious project the band have undertaken. Give it the chance though and you won't be disappointed, Sonata Arctica have found new life.
--
Heavy metal / Power metal
Nuclear Blast
Finland
Length: 59:20
Rating:
8.9
8.9
|
Rating: 8.9 |
The Days of Grays is an album that was eagerly anticipated by the public, mostly due to the fact that some reviewers, who got to listen to it beforehand, labeled it as an album halfway between Unia and Reckoning Night. But I'd disagree with that-it's between the two albums only in terms of complexity. Musically, it's again a whole new Sonata Arctica. Don't worry though, the elements that make the very soul of the band are still more or less present and I shall discuss them below. Read more ›› |
Comments page 2 / 3
| BlankFile Posts: 686 From: Portugal |
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| -Mayhem- Posts: 63 From: Finland |
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| Fat & Sassy! Posts: 3857 From: USA  |
Written by -Mayhem- on 20.09.2009 at 08:32 No offense, but just because there are a lot of people agree with you doesn't mean shit. It's like that with every frickin' release. Some people like an album. Some don't. :/ But I WILL argue that most Sonata fans like Ecliptica. And really, I don't really give a damn either way. I'll will still rock-out-with-my-cock-out to Full Moon, Replica, and Letter to Dana any night. >:[
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| Enissa Posts: 815 From: Greece  |
I must say that Sonata Arctica really surprised me with this album, they get more & more Progressive than ever, which I think is Awesome, cause they will lack of originality if they still duplicate their first 4 albums. I think Unia isn't good as well, but the Days of Grays is much & much better... High Orchestrations, some Female parts, some good riffs & so... maybe the album does have some weak points, but still has its quality.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands  |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 17.09.2009 at 23:39 Not in Euro Flowery Power Metal 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| santiagomp Posts: 10 From: Germany |
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada  |
Written by santiagomp on 20.09.2009 at 17:09 Only problem with such mentality is it leads to lack of criticism and the stupid thought that "everything new is great and better than before", even when in fact it's completely crappy. Change doesn't always mean evolution and improvement. Many times it's more like devolution and changing for the worst. Or becoming softer and more mainstream for $. And there's no merit in bands who try to change only for the sake of change and end up failing miserably. Also, I have the impression a change in style for a band sometimes is no more than a way they try to hide their lack of inspiration. Real evolution is the ideal situation but, that being said, stagnation will always be better than devolution. At least it ensures it won't turn to crap.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Fat & Sassy! Posts: 3857 From: USA |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 20.09.2009 at 20:51 Agreed, but I think "a lack of inspiration" is why Sonata is making the kind of music they are now. The band was tired of the music they were making before, and recently they changed to fix that problem. If they didn't, their music would be uninspiring, because they would not be enjoying making it. 
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada |
Written by Fat & Sassy! on 20.09.2009 at 22:04 I don't know for Sonata. I never liked this band and don't listen to it. I checked the review only by curiosity and because it's new. I was talking in general and not about Sonata. So, in fact, they're another of those PM bands tired of PM? It's quite common nowadays, it seems.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Fat & Sassy! Posts: 3857 From: USA |
Written by Lord_Regnier on 20.09.2009 at 23:01 Pretty much. I can only take so much power metal until it starts irritating me (Not the cheese. Just the repetition). I mean, I don't want to know how people can listen to power metal and ONLY that. Sonata Arctica has always have a light prog side, and I think they are leaning towards that side more than ever now.
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| Crème fraiche Posts: 692 From: USA  |
Good review Baz! Sums it up perfectly I think its much better than Unia, and more mature! The only song i have to skip off this album is Zeros. Such a horrid song lol. Other than that, it's very refreshing to hear Sonata Arctica tone it down and try something new!
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695 From: Sweden  |
If it's (much) better than "Unia" I'll probably be pleased. 
---- 
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| Raiden Down Under Staff Posts: 8292 From: Australia  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 20.09.2009 at 14:42 Haha well they've already dealt with this on Silence. Just listen to the song "Last Drop Falls".
---- "Scream for me Melbourne!!!!" - Bruce Dickinson "I don't see any god up here" - Yuri Gagarin (while in orbit, 1961)
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| Jason W. Razorbliss Posts: 3523 From: USA  |
Ahh... well I tried, but I guess if it isn't like "Gravenimage" or "The Cage," this band just does not do it for me.  Oddly enough, I liked Unia better than this one...
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| RainFillsRivers Posts: 31 From: USA  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 18.09.2009 at 20:22 Haha my oppinion has been altered thats for sure. Personally, everything before this album is pure gold. Ive been listening to sonata for a while and this is the honest to goodness first time ive ever had a negative oppinion about any of thier work
---- - Wrainth
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada |
Written by Irritable Ted on 23.09.2009 at 00:05 I'm not sure if you'll believe me or not but I know some people who still deny Edguy went commercial, mainstream and pissed on their original fans. Fanboyism can cloud people's judgement so much at times. As for me, I totally agree with you. Also, I think Edguy is now a shitty pop rock band for girls who have more interest for musicians' cocks than for quality music.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| Baz Anderson Posts: 13237 From: UK  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 23.09.2009 at 00:05 And that is how everyone should be. Shame it isn't like that!
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| DrM DreaMutilated Posts: 131 From: Israel  |
Fantastic review Ben! And I do agree with you "The Shape 1973" - though came to realize that only recently. That's why I stopped listening to Porcupine tree (bored to death), increased my volume of Dream Theater (was always one of my favorites) - and returned listening to Sonata Arctica. Come to think of it, I can't really recall why I did stopped listening to them anyway...
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| BlankFile Posts: 686 From: Portugal |
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| Derwood Posts: 511 From: Canada  |
Baz, I find it interesting that you give pretty high praises to this and rip Ex Deo a new one. This album is far more generic and uninteresting than Ex Deo's release. There is absolutely nothing original or creative to be found on this album. It sounds just like pretty much every other European power metal release I've heard this year. To each their own, obiviously. I prefer melodeath to power metal and your preferences run the other way, but if you are going to lambaste a band for being uninspired and bland, you should be consistent in your approach, especially as an official MS reviewer. This release is at best every bit as uninspired and bland as Ex Deo's.
---- You can't fight evil with a macaroni duck!
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| Fat & Sassy! Posts: 3857 From: USA |
Written by Derwood on 24.09.2009 at 21:32 Yeah, I beg to differ. I think that the keyboard work is, at times, very interesting. Especially Flag In the Ground. They melodies are layered very nicely. Also, I find the album to sound very (for lack of a better phrase) pretty-sounding and inspiring. But like you said, each is to his own. Yeah, so I finally got around to concentrating on listening to this album, and I don't understand what everyone is bitching about. This album is nowhere near "terrible". Everything about this album from melodies to song composition is rock solid. Yeah, but I do agree with the song Zeros being bad.
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| Baz Anderson Posts: 13237 From: UK |
Written by Derwood on 24.09.2009 at 21:32 Well thanks for the comment, but your opinion is just as valid or just as dismissible as mine. I do like melodic death metal, it isn't a case of reviewing something I am clearly not going to give a chance to. You found this album uninspired and bland, I didn't. I found Ex Deo uninspired and bland, you didn't. Opinions, opinions... you have to understand that any reviewer, official or not, has a subjective opinion that inevitably influences reviews.
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| Dane Train Beers & Kilts Posts: 8902 From: USA  |
Does this album have a love ballad about a werewolf? No? Fuck it.
---- (space for rent)
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| Fat & Sassy! Posts: 3857 From: USA |
Written by Dane Train on 25.09.2009 at 05:33 HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! XD That was so fucking raw. Best post of the year! Full Moon is on the sky, and heeee's not a maaaaaan anymore! >:[
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| Elio Red Nightmare Posts: 4920 From: Italy  |
Ugh, this album is terrible, maybe a bit better than Unia but that's it.
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| Derwood Posts: 511 From: Canada |
Written by Baz Anderson on 25.09.2009 at 03:16 Heh, I guess I didn't express myself very clearly. Melodeath and power metal are both genres that seem to have hit the saturation point in terms of the sheer volume of material available from the ridiculous number of bands working in them. What I was really trying to get at is that there isn't much originality to be found in either simply because there is so much out there. When I listen to a new album from either genre, I expect it to be pretty generic, though that doesn't mean I'll find it dull. I was commenting that in your reviews of two different albums that both suffer more from genre overload than anything else, you really take one band to task for a lack of originality while giving the other a free pass even though neither one has much to offer in terms of originality. But again, opinions are like assholes and I have no trouble agreeing to disagree.
---- You can't fight evil with a macaroni duck!
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| insanity.peppers Posts: 193 From: Australia  |
What a boring album. Tony doesn't seem to know there's a difference between progressive and bland, wanky bullshit.
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469 From: Canada |
Written by Derwood on 26.09.2009 at 05:07 So true about Powermetal. The genre is oversaturated. And what makes things a hundred times worse is it's oversaturated by crap. It's always the same kind of lame and mediocre soft music, barely metal. Mid-tempo or slightly uptempo (often full of ballads too), predictable and bland. And with whiny, sleep-inducing vocals without any balls. The good melodic speed metal of old is dead and has been replaced by this accessible, mainstream-oriented, radio-friendly bullshit that most of the time doesn't even deserve to be labeled as metal because many parts sound almost like pop music. I liked PM until the mid-90s (maybe the late 90s) but each time I hear Euroflowermetal these days it makes me want to jump down a bridge. Lots of bands are atrocious beyond any common sense. Powermetal is a joke nowadays. And not a funny one.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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