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Review: Sonata Arctica - Clear Cold Beyond
Sonata Arctica
www.sonataarctica.info
Clear Cold Beyond

Label: Atomic Fire Records
Year released: 2024
Duration: 50:55
Tracks: 10
Genre: Power Metal

Rating:
1/5


Review online: March 13, 2024
Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 3.59/5 (71.82%) (22 Votes)
Review

Sonata Arctica have to be one of the most egregious cases of a band coasting on their reputation. This is a band that burst forth with their first two albums in 1999 and 2001, hitting right when the Power Metal wave was cresting in Europe. Ecliptica and Silence were poppy little albums that got past that by being unbelievably catchy and having solid songwriting under the bombast. Pretty much everything they have done since then, however, has been crap. Sonata Arctica are one of those bands who try to hype up every album with "this is a return to the roots," but it never is.

So this is another Sonata Arctica album that has sharp playing and polished production, but nothing else. The songwriting is annoying when it is not just rote and tedious. It is just barely a Power Metal album, with very little metal and almost no power on display. Singer Tony Kakko was once a highlight with his smooth voice and hooky vocal lines that were good even when the music wasn't. He doesn't even sound like the same person anymore, and his nasal, strained voice is painful to listen to. He might get away with it if he had good melodies to work with, but he sounds like he doesn't care, and hasn't cared for like twenty years. This is just a lump of half-baked musical ideas and nonsense lyrics topped off by vocals that are barely adequate. Shapeless and valueless.

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More about Sonata Arctica...
Review: Clear Cold Beyond (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Ecliptica (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Ecliptica (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
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Review: Ecliptica - Revisited (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: For the Sake of Revenge (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: Pariah's Child (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Reckoning Night (reviewed by Christopher Foley)
Review: Reckoning Night (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Silence (reviewed by Christian Renner)
Review: Sonata Arctica Tour 2014 (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Stones Grow Her Name (reviewed by MetalMike)
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Review: The Days of Grays (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: The Days of Grays (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: The Days of Grays (reviewed by MetalMike)
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Review: Unia (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
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Interview with keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg and bassist Pasi Kauppinen on September 9, 2014 (Interviewed by MetalMike)
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