Reviews for Sonata Arctica

Just Perfect.
I hear A LOT of music, and I have to say that Sonata Arctica is in my opinion one of the best metal bands nowadays. Their music has plenty of varieties.
They're perfect in what they do.
Tony Kakko's voice is, in my opinion, one of the best I've ever heard. His vocal range is incredible, he can reach really high notes, and low too.
Their lyrics are poetic and beautiful.
I have to say that I'm in love with this band. Just that. I hope you share this passion too.

I'm not going to lie. My first introduction to this band was through Adamwestslapdog's Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Abridged series on YouTube. Ever since then, my collection of Sonata Artica songs has grown steadily. It was actually a shock to me to find out they were from Finland because the vocals have a minimal amount of any sort of accent or dialect. That said, the vocals are absolutely beautiful! Very clear and in that happy medium between a soft voice and a hard voice. The instrumentals are amazingly done aswell. In a lot of music the instrumentals are okay but not really anything to write home about in comparison to lyrics. Sonata Artica, however, has mastered both. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful too. I find that they resonate well with my feelings and experiences. Tony Makko is a very deep, thoughtful, and emotional human being and that is reflected not only in his lyrics but also by the emotion brought forth in his singing. And let's face it, depth and meaning has been lost in today's music. -coughcough- Nikki Minaj, Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, the list goes on. Sonata Artica may not be very well known where I live but, Hell, I'd have SA over anything else anyday. I can't go a day without listening to their amazing music. Keep up the good work, Sonata Artica. We love you.

Well man I think you would be really surprised when it comes to the fact you asume fans of Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and Death might have a hard time dealing with this music. Why? Because I listen everything from death metal to grindcore, and let me tell you something, the fact that I enjoy Hypocrisy, Death, Carcass, and songs like Trapped in a Corner, The Pleasure Of Molestation or Dead Skin Mask, has nothing to do with the fact that I enjoy Victoria´s Secret, San Sebastian or even a Balad like The Misery. So I just recommend you not to speak for all the metalheads out there.

1: Tony Kakko sings in an other way than most metal vocalists - alot higher tones, and alot of vibrato. This is what makes them slightly more unique, thus a reason to listen to SA, not a reason not to. If you only like mainstream metalvoices, listen to a7x or something.

2: Lyrics, as i see it, can be devided into 5 groups: Totally meaningless (like most pop music these days), love songs, songs that tell a story, lyrics that require some deception and - well - other lyrics. S-A has alot of lovesongs with gr8 lyrics, alot of storytelling lyrics which are totally ok, some meaningless ones and some that require some deception. In other words, a little bit of everything. which is great.

Sonata Arctica has alot of sad songs, but yeah, if you're used to disharmonic scales (using the "devilish" scales/harmonics), and can't live with a song that has happy chording, then this won't be anything for you. Altho i can't imagine being in such a situation so i can't reply well to this.


To sum it up, this is nothing like Dream Theater or Stratovarious. You, mister, are wrong, and the whole review was a misunderstanding and lack of common metal-sence.

only recently have i started listening to SA and i have to say, i am constantly impressed with their music. i oppose those who would criticize the vocal styling of SA, not only are the lyrics original and meaningful (something which the majority of todays music is severely lacking in) but they are well justified by a completely unique sounding voice. Sonata Arctica cannot be compared to other bands, they are a class of their own and as such should be appreciated for their unique quality.

A great band. I've listened to slayer, Metallica, DragonForce, Nighwish, Kamelot, System of a Down... and many, many others; but SA is still up there with the best of the bloody best!

Rock on dudes, rock on!!!

Sonata Arctica is one of those bands you either hate or love. I say this is for the following reasons:

1. Tony Kakko: I'll give him this, he has a great voice, but NOT a good metal voice. Imagine if Josh Groban or Clay Aiken decided to form a metal band, this is what it would sound like. His voice is too weak and lack the true power of a good metal vocalist.

2. Good music, but silly lyrics sometimes: Sonata Arctica, like a lot of Power Metal bands, have amazing sounding music but have extremely silly lyrics. If you do not mind silly topics and lame love songs, then you can fully enjoy this band. Sometimes, I cringe when I hear those silly lyrics despite the good music.

3. Happier scales and progressions: I can honestly say that unlike death metal, power metal seems to have a "happy" tone to the music. Fans of Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, and Death might have a hard time dealing with this music.

To sum it up, I recommend you this band if you love Dream Theater, Blind Guardian, or Stratovarious. These guys have amazing guitar and keyboard playing, but are unfortuneatly somewhat ruined by the wimpy vocals and cheesy chord progressions.

Sonata Arctica's symphonic power is equalled by their powerful lyrics. No band that I've listened to before has the same kind of sheer power to affect my emotionally from hard rocking to thoughtful to unchecked tears this band is capable of expressing, and evoking, a wide range of emotions.

Though I've heard of them being compared to other speed metal and melodic metal bands they are a step above most, if not all of them. They express a wide range of music from speed metal to nearly folk music in range (I suspect there was some folk influence at the beginning when they were "far from heavy metal")

"I can change one note and make you cry" they understand the POWER of music and this is something most bands lack. Lots of metal bands are "just metalheads" but SA is obviously coming from a complex musical background. Don't take them lightly, even though I consider "Winterheart's Guild" their greatest achievement to date I expect that even with the power of "Unia" and the movement to seven string guitars there's still more amazing things to come, stuff that's gonna blow our minds.

do u listen to dragonforce?
if you like the way to play the instruments of sonata arctica you will enjoy this group, the guitar is fantastic.
Sonata Arctica is one of the best groups I heard I like the best wolf and raven, san sebastian,shy and fullmoon.
UP HEAVY METAL and UP HEADBANGERS

man thats the most fun ive had reading u rea;y coverd the whole shabang and when u update the biography would u email me so i can read it thank you and good job

A Grandiose symphonic power metal band from Finland. Execellent chorus', virtuosity with instruments - fantastic! Recommended to fans of Kamelot, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Thunderstone etc