Sonata Arctica – Clear Cold Beyond

Sonata Arctica - Clear Cold Beyond Power metal fans rejoice! Finland’s Sonata Arctica is back and they’re at the best they’ve been in a long, long while.

All the way back in 1999 when Sonata Arctica released their debut album Ecliptica, they delivered a high octane and rather straightforward platter of pure power metal. On the albums that followed up until Reckoning Night, they honed that style but kept true to their roots. From 2007’s Unia onward, the songwriting became increasingly progressive and outlandish, resulting sometimes in downright weird tracks like Cinderblox or X Marks the Spot (from Stones Grow Her Name and Pariah’s Child, respectively). I’m in a minority when I say that I love the band’s stranger side, the majority of fans keep yearning for the power metal days of olde.

Tony Kakko has promised a few times that the next album would be a return to that sound, only to deliver two speedy songs up front as singles and then eight other in a more progressive, experimental side. I’ve still enjoyed all their albums except for their last one and was extremely wary of what the band would do next. So colour me surprised when I found out that Clear Cold Beyond is probably their strongest and most consistent effort since 2004’s Reckoning Night. The bulk of the material is fast-paced and absolutely bursting with life and it really seems that Kakko has found his power metal muse again.

Clear Cold Beyond shifts into gear with the terrific one-two punch that is First in Line and California. Both are speedy tracks that are driven by fast double-bass drums, furious riffing and some wonderful solos. The vocal harmonies are out of this world, as they are so often with Sonata Arctica, and filled with lots of tiny details that will make you sit up and take notice. The pace continues in Shah Mat before dropping a gear with the more complex Dark Empath. The following Cure for Everything is probably my favourite track on the album. This is the band firing on all cylinders. The chorus is wonderful, the underlying guitars are meaty and the riffing is heavy. And on top of that, again, are layers and layers of vocal harmonies. It’s wonderful stuff.

The first real surprise on Clear Cold Beyond is A Monster Only You Can’t See, a strangely melancholic track that constantly shifts and turns in pace over the course of six minutes. It’s a complex, progressive piece that takes a while to get into, and although it has grown on me a lot, it’s not for everyone. Angel Defiled is another faster track, with the vocals sounding totally unhinged; Kakko screams and throws about fits of maniacal laughter throughout and it’s great. It’s sandwiched between the two ballads Teardrops and The Best Things. The latter is another clear favourite for me, built around a wonderful keyboard melody that keeps modulating to different keys towards the end, before the curtain closes with the title track, which is ironically enough the only song that doesn’t fully convince.

In the end though, Clear Cold Beyond is a stellar return to form for Sonata Arctica. It features everything I love about the band; a lot of fast bangers, that tinge of melancholy only Kakko can weave into otherwise pretty uplifting sounding songs, and those otherworldly vocal harmonics that are so typical for the band’s sound. At fifty minutes it’s concise enough, although it would have been better if the title track had been left on the cutting floor. It’s a small niggle but it’s the only minor dent on an otherwise brilliant album.

Label: Reigning Phoenix Music

Buy it here: https://shop.sonataarctica.info/

Track listing: