Stratovarius

The self-titled Stratovarius is an unusual eleventh album that combines hard guitar, restrained keyboards and Timo Kotipelto’s singing to sound far darker power metal than before. Its distinction is a low-centered, weighty sound a little different from the bright, brisk speed of past works, with the songs proceeding at a slow but sure pressure. A record reflecting a new, introspective side of the band. From the aggression of the opener “Maniac Dance” and the drama of “Just Carry On” to the solemn epic “Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power),” every song carries a deep shading different from the band’s former image, while cuts like “Gypsy in Me” and “Fight!!!” convey the work’s new attempts. Even so, the strength of melody particular to Stratovarius is firmly kept. Its appeal is a challenging stance that deliberately distances from the glittering, grand style and steps into heavier, darker expression. In this period the band faced internal difficulties, and that tension gives the work a raw conviction instead. Even in Stratovarius’s catalog, it is a particularly unusual, tension-filled, ambitious record — a work on which fans’ views are divided.