Tony Kakko – Sonata Arctica

Finland’s Sonata Arctica is a band with a long and rich history in both the Finnish metal scene and the world of power metal. There are few metalheads you’ll meet that wouldn’t have at least heard of their name before. Frontman Tony Kakko is further one of the more prestigious and renowned power metal vocalists in the world right now, and has been a staple in the metal world for over two decades now. With their eighth studio album, The Ninth Hour, just released via Nuclear Blast Records, Metal Obsession had the great pleasure to catch up with this Tony. They discussed everything from the frantic recording process behind the album’s creation, to guest starring for names like Nightwish and Powerglove, and further to his own fascinating world views.

Kicking us off, I asked Tony to run us through what’s different this time round with The Ninth Hour. “Different? It’s exceptional in a way that it’s somewhat in line with the previous album, Pariah’s Child (2014). After Reckoning Night (2004), we started bouncing all over the place stylistically with Unia (2007) and The Days of Grays (2009) and Stones Grow Her Name (2012) albums. They were all different. And then, of course, Pariah’s Child was different from Stones Grow Her Name, again — kind of returning us back to the track that we were on with Reckoning Night, I feel. And now with The Ninth Hour, it’s stylistically pretty much the same as Pariah’s Child. So it’s maybe a little bit more — a tiny bit more — on the softer side, I feel, in some way.

“My idea when we were still touring with Pariah’s Child was to actually write a heavier and more ‘metal’ album the next time round. But I had about four months off — my first break from the band since ever, actually — and it was really good. I did a lot of good things then: I went to Rock In Rio with Nightwish, and had a lot of Christmas shows, so it wasn’t a vacation per se. I also got to spend a lot of time with my family. But at the end of that “vacation”, I was a different kind of guy. [laughs] It was the beginning of January when I had planned to start writing the songs and really working on the album. I was kind of facing a blank paper – I couldn’t write anything. It was kind of an awful situation because I knew we’d be heading on a seven-week North American tour with Nightwish at the end of February, and once we came back from that (in early April), I had basically three months to finish the album and write a vast majority of the songs. I had like two or three at that moment, and many weren’t ready. The mastering was already at the end of its due. So it was three months of really intense work, getting all of the material written, recorded, mixed, and mastered. It was hell! [laughs] Totally different from the previous album which was really laid back and fun, and we actually had a chance to rehearse all the songs that ended up on the album, have relaxed recording sessions, and everything. So we didn’t learn anything from that! [laughs] We had to learn it the hard way this time round. But maybe next time we’ll do things a little bit different.”

Having mentioned their fourth studio album, Reckoning Night, one of the tracks on The Ninth Hour is a direct continuation to one of Reckoning Night‘s most famous songs: “White Pearl, Black Oceans…”. Entitled “…Part II — By the Grace of the Ocean” follow up to that song of the same name. I pondered the question to Kakko as to why he felt it now time to return to the tragic story of that song? “‘White Pearl, Black Oceans’ is a funny song in a way, in that it’s been kind of rubbed in my face. [laughs] During these 12 years, all over the place and all the time: people who write fan-fiction around it; then there’d be movie script ideas; and people who have tattoos and artwork and whatever, you know? There’s a lot of things happening there around that song, so it never went anywhere. Slowly, I started building up the idea inside me. It was roughly two years ago that we were asked to play that song at this grand opening of our local touristic attraction, Snow Castle, here in Kitee, [Finland]. We had a new orchestration and everything. So it kind of maybe sparked the idea that it might be fun to continue the story somehow, and get back on it. I think I actually checked my Instagram a few days back, and I’ve been telling a lie to everybody: I told them I’ve been starting to write the song in April this year, when in fact I started writing it a year ago. [laughs] I noted this hashtag thing there — #WhitePearlBlackOceanPartII – and then everyone got totally excited. I knew at that point that I needed to put my money where my mouth is and get it done. But there were a bunch of little problems with that thing: I killed two main characters of the song at the end of the first one, so it’s not necessarily the best starting point! But anything to continue. So I found a way to revive them and continue. Of course, because of all those things I said — about fan-fiction and how important the song is for many people — some of our fans built a certain amount of expectations, stress, and pressure that the sequel should be somehow a bit more original; that it should be a worthy follower and sequel. So I needed to be really careful. It really continues where the previous one left off, and builds the story from the ocean again and towards the happy ending. In the same way the album is a bit softer than the previous album, the sequel is not as heavy as the first part of ‘White Pearl, Black Oceans’ but it continues it; adds to it.”

Listening through the album, it captures the essence of old and new with Sonata Arctica; harkening back to albums like The Days of Grays and Silence. I was interested to know what was Tony’s favourite part of recording the new record? “Although it was really, really stressful, I enjoyed the songwriting process. It was my favourite part. And making the keyboard parts and all of the atmospheres and everything. That’s fun. Kind of painting things and also writing lyrics. For the first time in a long time, I actually enjoyed it. It was a lot of work, and usually I’m kind of a block writer in that I take the time and sit down and write lyrics for two weeks or three weeks or whatever. And that’s it. I never seem to be able to write songs when I would have a good amount of time to do that. Maybe see them from a different angle a year later, but I just write the songs and then the lyrics come at the hour of need — more or less. [laughs] That’s the best way of working, I think. Fundamentally, I don’t think I have a favourite part. I know I have parts I don’t really care for that much.” [laughs]

Turning away from The Ninth Hour for a moment, Tony Kakko is someone also well known for his guest spots: having guest starred alongside the likes of Nightwish, Powerglove, and his most recent outing with Trick Or Treat. I was curious to discover what it is that keeps him returning to do these guest spots – whether it is the creative freedom or release, perhaps? “Most of these guest appearances that I’ve made are for bands that I know personally,” Kakko begins. “They request and just kind of ask me to get into it, so it’s really easy to say ‘yes.’ I like these people and their bands, and it’s really fun and an honour to be a part of their thing. Kind of supporting them in a way, as well. But sometimes it’s also whenever I feel like it and I have a good amount of time to do that. I get a lot of these requests from smaller bands and so on – and sometimes even bigger bands – and oftentimes I don’t have time (I’ll happen to be on tour or what have you). Especially in the case of bigger bands, they are under a certain kind of schedule – so the parts should be delivered then – and when I happen to be on the road at the time, it’s a pretty impossible equation to fill. So it’s unfortunate. But sometimes I do smaller ones.”

A track that particularly grabbed me on The Ninth Hour was “We Are What We Are”. With a folk sensibility to it, it carries great emotion and feels like classic Sonata Arctica. What inspired this track, I asked? “Well, naturally, obviously. It’s funny, you know. I suppose it happens to many people when they become parents that you start thinking, ‘What kind of world are my kids going to live in once I’m gone?’ So I become more environmentally aware, I suppose, in many ways, and worried about the state of this planet. Since Stones Grow Her Name, I’ve started writing different sorts of songs. On every album, there’s something about environments, but I’m not preaching; rather, making observations and telling stories that might inspire people to do things a little bit differently. So with that aspect of ‘We Are What We Are’, with myself, I know that I could take better care of myself, for example. That’d be a really good thing to do. I could go to the gym everyday, go jogging, eat healthy, and whatever. But it’s really difficult, and eventually I probably will do all of that. [laughs] I try my best, and the same applies also to how we treat this planet. We could pollute less and we could save this whole place – just like that – with a snap of the fingers. Stop polluting, period. But we won’t do that. We are a greedy bunch of creatures as a whole and we just probably will not do that because it’s in our DNA somehow.”

It has been a number of years now since Sonata Arctica visited Australia, having last been down here in 2010 with fellow Finns, Ensiferum. Naturally, it was asked after if any new Australian tour plans were on the horizon? “Yes, of course, it’s possible. One big reason is because we really, really want to go there. And it’d be awfully great! We have at the moment a window of September and November to fill, and we’ve been talking that that will be a good spot to go to Australia again. It’s been way too long since we came there, and we only had about three shows [last time]. So my hopes are that we could actually have more, but we’ll see what happens. That’s nothing solid yet, I don’t have any dates or anything. Just like a discussion that we had a year ago, more or less. [laughs] But it’s definitely there. We enjoyed it thoroughly the last time we were in Australia so we hope to come back there really soon.”

2016 has been quite the year for power metal, with new albums from Avantasia, Twilight Force, Sabaton, and others. I asked if there was anything Tony was particularly enjoying right now? “Actually, I’m listening to older albums! [laughs] But a new album that I purchased and have been enjoying getting into is the Devin Townsend Project’s, Transcendence.”

Before we wrap up, I asked Tony Kakko if he had any words he’d like to offer his fans anticipating the new album? “I hope you check out the album and make sure to make a really loud noise and get the tour going. When there is a demand for a show, it usually happens. Promoters may take notice and think this could be a worthy thing to make happen. But before that, of course, the best thing you can do is see other live bands in your region somewhere. Because, you know, that’s the way you are keeping live music alive — when you buy tickets for the shows, and merchandise to support the bands.”

The Ninth Hour is out now via Nuclear Blast Records. Purchase your copy HERE!