Sonata Arctica musically have had an interesting career over the last 10 years. The Finnish quintet made a sudden decision to take their music in a new direction, and have been struggling to find consistency since. The Sonata fan is just not quite sure what they’re going to get anymore, and we see what ‘The Ninth Hour‘ offers.

[tracklist]

01. Closer To An Animal

02. Life

03. Fairytale

04. We Are What We Are

05. Till Death’s Done Us Apart

06. Among The Shooting Stars

07. Rise A Night

08. Fly, Navigate, Communicate

09. Candle Lawns

10. White Pearl, Black Oceans Part II – “By The Grace Of The Ocean”

11. On The Faultline (Closure To An Animal)

[/tracklist]

[details]

[record_label]Nuclear Blast[/record_label]

[release_date]7th October 2016[/release_date]

[/details]

Every band must find it’s maturity, and perhaps Sonata Arctica expedite thiers upon the release of ‘Unia‘ nearly 10 years ago. The release very much divided the fan base between those that favoured the fast and furious power metal sound and those that embraced the band’s new found artistic side. The divide has seemingly pushed the band into experimenting with their music to find the right balance to create their career defining sound. The results as seen on the last 3 albums have been interesting – there have been some career highs and career lows. And so we weigh up ‘The Ninth Hour‘ against the cause.

The beginning of the album in ‘Closer to an Animal‘ defines what has always been great about Sonata Arctica – their captivating structuring of their synths. Both the hooks at the forefront and the background noise of each keyboard note is as consistent and atmospheric as it’s ever been, but moving through the album it’s their applications in songwriting that once again raises questions about where the band are going in their career.

The strange lyrical structures of ‘Life‘, the decision to limit the solo talents of the guitarist and prolonged solemn ballads of the ‘We Are What We Are‘ and ‘Among The Shooting Stars‘ contribute to what can arguably be represented as something that is now trying to tap a new audience. For the old Sonata fan, the album is a hard listen. Even the speedy appeasement track of ‘Rise a Night‘ fails to make much of an impact into peaking more than little interest into the album.

It’s hard to argue though that the album is not good. Performance is excellent, production is sublime, and there are even flashes of brilliance in tracks such as ‘White Pearls, Black Oceans II‘, it’s simply disappointing from a fan of the old sound. ‘The Ninth Hour‘ has a tired feel, and far lacks the energy that the band established themselves on.

Some could embrace the album as a tranquil perspective on traditional power metal, which may interest some, but signal most that the band have almost made the final decision to completely abandon their old formula of songwriting. ‘The Ninth Hour‘ begs the question – are you on board with the new Sonata Arctica? From an old fan perspective, I am not. But there are plenty of others who will be.

[verdict]Maybe[/verdict]

[why]Those yearning for a return to the triumphant early days of Sonata Arctica will be disappointed, but it’s worth a listen for those who enjoy a bit of artistic expression in their metal.[/why]