His voice is equally remarkable, richly melodic and with an impressive range. Actually, his keyboard playing is very remarkable, and the instrument plays a major role in the arrangements and songwriting of the material on Ecliptica. The true star of Sonata Arctica, though, is his vocalist Tony Kakko, who here also plays keyboards. The latter is a funambulist of the six strings, speedy but at the same time exquisitely melodic, as the best neoclassic metal guitar players. While these subtle twists to the trite power metal formula are decisive to retain my interest throughout the duration of the album, the other reason why I grew addicted to Ecliptica is the incredible talent of the band, particularly their frontman Tony Kakko and their guitarist Jani Liimatainen. The other unusual influence lies in the melancholic aura that pervades a lot of the material of the album and that brings to mind the gothic aesthetics of Sonata Arctica’s countrymen HIM and Sentenced. These tracks strike a great balance between grit and melody, ballsy speed and symphonic sophistication, like in the best pomp rock/metal tradition. The first unusual influence is a quaint taste for the melodic approach of pomp / arena rock bands like Europe or Royal Hunt that is particularly apparent on tracks like “My Land”, “Kingdom for a Heart” and “FullMoon”. Yet, there are also a couple of unusual influences that emerge here and there in the sound of the Finns that, ultimately, help them differentiate from all the other bands that also grew in the footsteps of dad Malmsteen and grandad Blackmore. I am not going to lie: Sonata Arctica find plenty of inspiration in the neoclassical metal of bands like Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, filtered through the aesthetics of their countrymen Stratovarius as well as German acts like Helloween and Gamma Ray. Originality is a big word in the power metal world, where countless band are mere clones of countless other clones.
The secret of Sonata Arctica’s success boils down to two key factors: originality and talent. Still today this record sounds superior to a lot of power metal released back then as well as today. Listening to Ecliptica, their first LP released in 1999, I can understand why. Sonata Arctica were part of that trend, but differently from many other bands that came and went in the blink of an eye, the Finnish combo was destined to stay. Back in the mid/late 1990s, power metal bands were sprouting like mushrooms all over Europe.
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