Ecliptica

Ecliptica is a vivid debut on which Sonata Arctica combines rapid, powerful rhythm, sparkling beautiful keyboards and Tony Kakko’s high vocals, sounding momentum-filled melodic power metal. Emerging from Finland, it already clearly conveys the sure core of the later golden-age style. The songs, while speedy, have an accessible, bright lift in their melody, immediately lingering strongly in the listener’s ear. From the powerful drive of the opener “Blank File” and the catchy classic “FullMoon” to the aggression of “8th Commandment,” every song is engaging, while cuts like “Replica” and “Kingdom for a Heart” convey the work’s fullness. In particular, “FullMoon” and “Replica” became classics representing the band’s early era. A record on which the fine, outstanding technique of the playing and a youthful, fresh impulse coexist extremely naturally, and the whole album has a sure exhilaration as if breaking into a run. It powerfully announced to the world the arrival of new Finnish power-metal talent following the likes of Stratovarius. A powerful, ambitious debut that already clearly showed the core of the later style — the band’s origin here.