Polaris

Stratovarius was left picking up the pieces after the release of Timo Tolkki and Jari. Starting from Stratovarius' twelfth studio album "Polaris," Matias Kupianien and Lauri Porra replace them respectively. Now, Lauri is a great bassist. He's just as good as Jari was, maybe even a slight bit better. Unfortunately, the former is the problem. With all due respect to Matias, he is a fine lead guitarist. He is just trying to step into boots far beyond his stature. Matias plays solos almost as competently as Tolkki did. Almost. However, the biggest blow is that Matias cannot write a riff if someone handed him a perfect one. I honestly don't know if he just isn't a riff writer, or that he just became a yes man for Kotipelto and makes all of his parts based around what he says. With everything considered, Stratovarius is no longer Stratovarius. All Stratovarius is now is a Timo Kotipelto solo project.

Because Stratovarius now has no ability to make a riff, the weight of the band's musical talent in every department besides solos falls on Kotipelto and Jens. Jens is the one who really elevates his already legendary skills to the give the new band an identity. He comes up with a ton more melodies on his keyboards to try and keep the audience interested that once would have been shared between Tolkki and him. Jens is pretty much the only interesting thing about the entire band, now. Everyone else is just following Kotipelto's lead. And anyone who has ever listened to Stratovarius knows that Kotipelto was never meant to lead.

Just listen to "Blind" if you want to hear the epitome of what the band formerly known as Stratovarius has in store. "Blind" sounds like a cover band's attempt to make an original song based on "Visions." Jens starts it off with some nice keys before your generic chugging power metal riff and beat hits. We then take a tour to the incredibly formulaic sound of Kotipelto singing over a bass melody. The chorus is insanely tired and directionless. "Forever is Today" is yet another "Visions" ripoff, but a slightly better one than "Blind." The main riff is probably the closest Matias comes to making a quality riff, but still doesn't quite cut it. Once again, the song is beyond formulaic. If you've listened to "Visions," you can call every transition and new part before it even happens. Like the main riff, the chorus is decent enough, but definitely still shy of hitting the mark.

Then you have "Dusk," which, once again, sounds like a cover band trying to do a merger of "Babylon" and "Soul of a Vagabond." Is it a bad track? No, I can't say it is. However, when you honestly sound like you're trying to copy or parody previous songs, it's a kiss of death. ESPECIALLY when you have a new lineup and you're trying to give it a new identity. The last thing you want to be doing is making a song like this that just screams of older material. "Winter Skies" is just an abysmal track across the board. To say this song never goes anywhere would be generous. Riffs that could put you to sleep, slow, plodding, directionless drumming, and Kotipelto's tired, formulaic, and generic vocal melodies are sprinkled all throughout. You will never find a better example of musicians who have lost their passion for making music than "Winter Skies." I feel exhausted every time I hear it.

"Somehow Precious" and "When Mountains Fall" are your obligatory ballads. It's like Strato has been cursed by some dark demon that will destroy the earth unless they throw in two uninspired, bland as hell ballads on each album. "When Mountains Fall" is easily the more egregious of the two, because not only is it a boring and pathetic track, but you can tell right out of the gate how they wanted SO BADLY for this to be this era's "Forever." It follows the formula for "Forever" almost to the SECOND and just changes some notes and instruments around. So not only is it a horrible track, but it's a horrible track trying to copy a great one. "Somehow Precious" is just as generic as it gets. You've heard me rant about the paint-by-numbers Strato ballads before, so just imagine one of those along with all of the other problems I already named compounded onto it.

The opener "Deep Unknown" is one of the only times "Polaris" scratches the surface of a good album. It's far from a phenomenal track, but when it's one of only two enjoyable tracks alongside a pile of garbage, it REALLY looks extraordinary in comparison. Kotipelto's vocals actually have a lot of emotion and variety to them! He's actually being slightly unpredictable in where he's taking us with each new part of the song. Matias still can't write a riff, but Jens' keyboard work is right behind him making him sound decent at almost all turns. It's a powerful track, and also not trying to copy something else they've done before, so "Deep Unknown" gets a thumbs up from me. "Higher We Go" is really the only other track on the record that I'd call enjoyable. It's still formulaic and predictable, but the chorus is quite a bit of fun, and gives a great mood of soaring in the clouds like the title would suggest. It's one of the few tracks on the album that actually sounds like it has some riff and inspiration in it. It's formulaic, but it at least as a SOUL. "Higher We Go" is both so much fun and amazingly catchy that I almost forget how mediocre the album is in general.

At the end of the day, "Polaris" is the result of a band being pushed off a ledge and frantically trying to grab ANYTHING to prevent their fall. On one hand, I think there's something to be said that Kotipelto learned enough from his time with Tolkki to be able to pull enough rabbits out of his hat to make a career without him, but on "Polaris" it's just too obvious that he's leaning far too much on the past to try and make the present a success. If you're a diehard Strato fan and you just NEED to hear every bit of material, "Polaris" will probably give you what you want. However, for me, this album was nothing but a disappointment to hear how little 'new' there was with this new lineup. Taking a corpse and playing puppeteer with it just doesn't cut it.

Stratovarius have never been a band I listen to very much. I had only five of their albums before I opted to get their latest one, 'Polaris'. So, I'm not a fan of their music, so why did I bought it? There was two reasons, and both of them truly moderate: The single cut 'Deep Unknown' is fucking awesome and so is the sci-fi style cover art. On the other hand, I got every Kotipelto album, and while two later ones are quite average, I love his debut. So, I decided to wager on this...

This is the first Stratovarius album without the forming guitarist Timo Tolkki. Couldn't care less. Want to hear the story why he is out now? Okay, here we go: Piss off and read it from somewhere else if interested about metal music soap operas! The new guitarist is Matias Kupiainen who also plays in Fist In Fetus and played in The Sinkage. Never heard either one. Anyway, he knows his axe. The bass also is played by a new face, Lauri Porra, who's known from his appearance on the Kotipelto album 'Serenity' (2007) and plays in TunnelVision. Yeah, he too knows his axe. As a non-Stratovarius follower, I can say there is nothing wrong with the musicianship on this album.

It is no news, that a Stratovarius album does go from good-time songs to ballads and to melancholic ones, too. People have complained, that there are no catchy-as-fucking-catchiest-songs here. What the ffffff... If the opener 'Deep Unknown' does not drill itself into your brain on the first two goes, you've probably been lobotomized. This ass-kicking good-time song has it all: Catchy vocal lines, riffing that varies from straight to classical and proggy stuff, as do the synths too, and finally, ist has really driving beats. The best Stratovarius song I've ever heard, and yes, I've heard all the hits even if I don't own all the albums. Surprisingly, already the second song 'Falling Star' hits more melancholic mood with its slower pace. It still rocks, though. 'King of Nothing' sticks to the slower pace, but the mood is more offensive. 'Blind's baroque keyboard work is also rather snail-paced, but suddenly the song explodes into action: A truly Stratovarius-style speed-piece, and about time to. 'Winter Skies' takes the album back to the heavy melancholic mood. Roughly the half-point of the album. So, it's been unexpectedly slow tempo first half.

'Forever Is Today' is what the fans want: Anthemic power metal speeder. And 'Higher We Go' is another one. Now it's rolling! 'Somehow Precious' is the most melancholic piece with a lead melody, that is just a must to hear all over again and again. Epic 'Emancipation Suite' refuses to step on the gas pedal during the Mid-Eastern tinged 'Part I: Dusk', while 'Part II: Dawn' gets calmer and proggier. And how the album ends? With the middle age-meet-Finnish national romanticism style ditty called 'When Mountains Fall'...

To sum it up is not very easy at all. First, the song material is quite slowish in general. Maybe quite dark, like Kotipelto's latter albums, but much more coherent. The instrumentalists' performances leave me mouth open, because so good, interesting and multifaceted they are. The drummer Jörg Michael has found the power again, but does not forget those tasty tricks. The keyboardist Jens Johansson playes anything from prog to space stuff and from classical to baroque. New axe-wielders do it with style, showing their skills but without getting pompous. The guitar shreds, goes wildly classical, hits straight heavy metal gear, shrieks and whatnot, and the solos are simply make one go "wow". It's just so bloody multi-level! The bass backs it all with style. It sounds like it all is coming from the guys' hearts. The high-pitched vocalist Timo Kotipelto sounds enthusiastic too, but he overdoes it, ending up "shouting" and "screaming" everything out, even the calm ending ditty sounds very, very strained. But every song has fantastic and catchy vocal lines, no doubt about that, and Kotipelto's vocals still are a vital part of what is Stratovarius, no matter how big Finnish accent he has. The album needs a lot of spinning, before it opens up. I've spinned this dozens of times and still there are songs that need more, or then they'll never open up for me, hard to say.

Production-wise this is, in one word, perfect. The sound is powerful, clean and well-balanced. There are a billion and one nuances to be heard on 'Polaris', and I am truly astonished with all the big and the little details the band have worked on to be here. The cover artwork is fantastic too. well, I'm a sci-fi freak so it just grabbed me. The lyrics are about human emotions, be it determination (which this album just exhales), warring, love and loss.

A positive surprise after the bland 'Stratovarius' (2005). I can whole-heartedly support 'Polaris', even though not being a Strato-fanboy, but because it is a fine album anyway. If you love power metal with some proggy touches, then I suggest you grab this one ASAP!

(Originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in October 2009)

There's no secret about the pitiful downfall that Stratovarius experienced in the first five years of the new century. Their recorded material went from bad to worse, ending up with little content and few fans. There were those who were hopeful that the departure of Timo Tolkki would spell a new beginning for the band, and there were also those who were oblivious. I am firmly in the category of the oblivious. When this album came out in summer 2009, I was probably either studying for exams or playing football or listening to Marilyn Manson in my bedroom, none of which I'm ashamed of, apart from the subsequent exam results, which I did poorly in because I spent too much time playing football and listening to Marilyn Manson. I couldn't have cared less about power metal and I'm 90% sure I didn't know who Stratovarius were. Most of my experience with heavy metal is chaotically achronological, so, despite the historical importance of 'Polaris' in Strat's career, I'm going to choose the ignore the "comeback" status of the album and focus on what it sounds like.

The first thing that registered when I listened to this was that it's a slow album. I was under the impression that this kind of power metal band would play either quickly (like speed metal) or at an uptempo mid-pace, which should include some energy and - obviously - power. 'Polaris' doesn't play like that album at all, but more like a progressive metal record, something that Dream Theater or even late 90s The Gathering might have put their name to. For me progressive equals patience, and I'm not the most patient metal listener in the world. Therefore, waiting until the fourth song for speed is frustrating, and the quick pace in 'Blind' is a result of the drumming more than the guitar work - there are some of those power metal blasts in the chorus, while the guitar is relegated to chords - which I personally find slightly irritating. Out of 11 songs, I can count on one hand the number of fast numbers, and I don't even need to use my thumb. Now, slow isn't a problem on it's own (doom metal class of '10-'12), but ballad is. I can count on one hand again, though this time I'm tempted to use my thumb and point it down towards the earth in a show of my disappointment. Thumbs down, Stratovarius - four ballads is boring on a metal album.

However, for those who have the necessary patience or who prefer a more varied power/progressive experience, the quality of the songwriting is actually fairly good. 'King of Nothing' is very powerful and climaxes its tale about the Roman army with one of those choruses that goes on and on until it sounds like the whole world is singing along, plus 'Somehow Precious' is more poignant and heartfelt than your typical love ballad. The quick songs are all decent, though 'Forever Is Today' is the obvious standout, with its blistering burst of speed from the outset, soaring high vocals, and great solo. 'Higher We Go' sounds like a more classic type of power metal song and would have fitted well into a late 90s release. The biggest surprise for me was the first part of 'Emancipation Suite', which has a lurching riff that meets a shrieking Timo Kotipelto for a memorable chorus, even if the bulk of the song is either too gradual or too overblown to operate perfectly. There are three or four songs that don't leave much of a mark, especially as the album begins to drag with four slower numbers concluding the experience.

Instrumentally speaking, there's a lot of skill to recommend the performances of all five participants, though the variety and ability that they show is not always met by sensible decisions. Matias Kupiainen isn't troubled by filling Timo Tolkki's shoes and markedly improves on the riffless previous albums; however, for a man who is so lauded, I'm left a little cold by his performance, since there are moments when he simply disappears from view or settles for something generic. There are five or six really good riffs, several nice solos, even in the steadier songs, and he even steals Tolkki's trademark style on 'Blind' without sounding any worse, yet, importantly, he doesn't sound any different either. Jens Johansson isn't working as hard here as he had to on the 'Elements' releases, but Stratovarius fall into the trap once again of relying on their keyboardist, which is frustrating, since his job is to make the song sound bigger, more melodic, or more epic, not simply make the song. Our rhythm players don't always have a lot to do, so the fills and groundwork are both important, and are executed commendably for the most part. Lauri Porra also has individual writing credits for five songs here, so his addition to the band is more than incidental, it's profitable. Timo Kotipelto is actually the star on 'Polaris': in the past, he sometimes struggled to work with the meagre offerings that were served up, yet he dominates ballads and headbangers, not with ease exactly - his style never sounds easy - but with his own unique sense of dynamics and power, which sometimes makes me laugh and sometimes touches my heart.

All in all, 'Polaris' is a mediocre power metal album and a decent progressive rock/metal album, which fixes some of Stratovarius's problems only to end up with others. The changes between styles and moods are too great for me and there isn't a sufficient sense of focus to make the whole thing gel; however, there are several good songs and a satisfied mood pervades the record, which is difficult to shake as 'When Mountains Fall' comes to its close.

Now we all know about Stratovarius's problems in the past few years so I won't go into it. But I will talk about some of the problems I had with Tolkki's style. Tolkki played it way too safe, and while he enjoys fast paced metal mixed with slower progressive/ neoclassical stuff just as much as the next symphonic metal guy he just wasn't that good at it. He is decent, better than other bands and especially improving in the symphonic element in the Infinity - Elements era. The album Stratovarius was a complete flop and in my opinion showed the end of Tolkki's creativeness and good song writing. At first I wasn't sure what to think of Stratovarius without Tolkki, I mean sure their last album (written by Tolkki) was terrible, but with him Stratovarius had written some of my favorite metal material of all time. Fortunately his replacement is not only proficient, he's fricking insane! Matias Kupianen is one of the greatest guitar players of all time and he is a far superior guitar player and songwriter that Tolkki.

Now I know that this album plays it a little safe, but it his Matias's debut album with Stratovarius and I'm sure he just wanted to make sure it was good and well thought of, and it certainly is. The highlights of this album are: Deep Unknown, Winter Skies and Higher We Go. Deep Unknown is a fast paced yet progressive metal song that really shows off the new direction Stratovarius is heading in and I absolutely love it. Higher We Go is another fast paced metal song more in keeping with songs like Hunting High and Low. It's fast, fun and catchy and an instant hit with a really good chorus. Winter Skies is in my opinion Stratovarius's best ballad yet, it has a very cool feel to it with that new style present in this album and a really cool piano solo.

Now because it's a two part-er and probably what most people are going to notice first when looking on the back of the CD I am forced to mention the Emancipation Suite. I personally don't really dig these songs, the second one is better than the first, but in general these two are just boring. Very slow and methodical with no points of real interest. They're obviously supposed to be like the classic Mother Gaia, but they're just no where near as good. Blind on the other hand is a completely different story, the combination of baroque era neoclassical style mixed with metal is really cool and makes this song fun to listen too from start to finish with a really catchy chorus to boot.

So how is this band without it's songwriter that wrote every single album before this one? Better than ever before. Matias Kupianen is a true musical genius and I can't wait to hear Stratovarius's next releases and I hope that they are even better than this one.

I don't understand why most of the fans, magazines and webzines give enthusiastic reviews to this album at all. Did they listen to more profound and darker stuff like "Twilight time" or the classic European power metal rebirth with "Infinite"? The band sounded so diversified and fresh once and even the last studio album was somehow dark and heavy and had the famous certain something.

This album leads me to the conclusion that Timo Tolkki really was the heart and soul of the band. And with his departure, the style of Stratovarius changed. The new sound is so faceless and cheesy and the main problem is the guitar play in here, well - which guitar play? The guitars are completely overruled by the annoying keyboards which dominate each song. There is no single emotional guitar solo on the whole album with one single exception.

Ordinary and fast happy metal average songs like "Higher we go" or the darker and spacier "Deep unknown" figure out to be still two of the better songs, but those wouldn't even have made it to a b-side of "Twilight time" or "Infinite". No, the most terrible songs are those where the bands tries to be epic and intellectual. The songs are all very slow paced, overambitious, soft, undynamical and overloaded with cheesy keyboard sounds like the overlong "Emancipation suite". Songs like "King nothing" or "Somehow precious" are so lousy and weak that I had to skip them even at my first and very open-minded try to find an approach to this album.

There is one single good song which saves this album and this is "Winter skies" which makes you dream and fly away through a frosty winter world with its cold and still very positive and dreamy keyboard sounds, Kotipeltos amazingly emotional voice and the only intense but very short guitar solo on the whole album. This song has a certain magic and is really powerful. A part of the nice cover and booklet, this is the only positive point of the album and explains my thirty percent rating. The band is still able to write an excellent song but there is only one on the entire album and this is not enough. They should have released this little masterpiece called "Winter skies" as a single, but as they didn't do it, you are forced to listen to two or three average songs and a full load of boring crap - what a pity.

More than one year after I’ve listened to this album for the first time, I must say that this is the weakest album that this band has ever done and the worst metal record of the year 2009 which I have listened to.

After their 2005 self-titled release, the band really needed a release that would bring them back to life, and the only way to get it was with a big sacrifice- the departure of their former guitar hero, Timo Tolki. After dealing with tons of problems with the record label and their ex-guitarist, the band started recording this masterpiece.

'Polars' is an album with tons of variety in the music, since this time it wasn't composed by just one person, but by the whole band, including their 2 newest members, Matias Kupiainen and Lauri Porra. The reformed Stratovarius brings up loads of more symphonic and progressive material, like the single track 'Deep Unknown', as well as it contains some really heavy stuff, just as 'Higher we Go' or 'King of Nothing'

Johanson's keyboards play a big role in the whole album, be as it may backing up with some strings, making intros with the frecuently used harpsichord, or making one of his glorious appearances with solos, like the one in 'Falling Star'. His composing is important too, it includes some great songs like the lyrically judged 'King of Nothing'.

Their two new members, Kupiainen and Porra are not left behind. Kupiainen was the principal composer of the single track 'Deep Unknown' and colaborator on the heavy and famous 'Higher we Go'. Where his guitar playing is concerned, I have to say I prefer him over Tolki. Glorious sweeps and amazingly fast playing bring up lots of more emotion into the songs. Porra composed almost half album, most of the songs being in the last section that include the 'Emancipation Suites' and the nostalgic 'When Mountains Fall', which somehow remembers me to 'Coming Home'. His bass playing is not the best that I've heard, but he is quite talented. He shows off more life, to be honest.

Timo Kotipelto got his vocals as great as he could for the record, soaring vocals can be heard on the heaviest tracks of the album, and much more emotive on the ballads. He mainly composed the lyrics for the album, just as expected since he is the singer. Lyrical themes get just straight off great, interesting, and really reflexive.

Jorg Michael... I don't think there's much to say about him. Before the album I always thought he was one of the most talented drummers in power metal. But now... I think he is actually the best. With the comeback of the double bass drumming his abilities get just out of his body, putting all efforts into what he played.

After listening to the whole album, I must say this could be one of the best releases of Stratovarius along their history, and maybe the best release last year. I decided to have 89 as rating since I don't really like the 'Emancipation Suites' and 'Somehow Precious' the later because of the diminished chords used by Jens which somehow scare me. The whole album is good, entertaining, and, believe me, you will never become bored by it.

The past decade has been a tumultuous one for Finland's melodic power metal heroes, but it seems after all the drama the band has cleaned itself up like a drunk straight out the rehab doors. I've long been off the Strato-wagon, my interest climaxed during the Episode/Visions/Destiny era when the band was turning out their catchiest material. Since that time they've released only average albums with 1-2 good tracks each. Polaris, which was previously supposed to be the band's swansong (I believe they are continuing on after this), is certainly better than their previous self-titled effort in 2005, and decent overall, with a few weak tracks bringing up the rear.

"Deep Unknown" simmers with some Jens Johansson keys, quickly transforming into the type of song they usually lead off their albums with. Fast, melodic, hooky, yet never achieving anything more. It's one of the better tracks on Polaris, and followed up by another in "Falling Star", which trots at a mid-pace but features a poppy, catchy chorus. "King Nothing" really turns on the prog flavors with its lush synth-scape, again one of the best tracks due to some of Kotipelto's most interesting vocal melodies on the album. "Blind" is fairly rocking, I enjoy how the simplicity of verse (vocals over driving bass) and how the guitars kick in for the bridge, even though the chorus melody is pretty standard. "Winter Skies" is a forgettable ballad, "Forever is Today" somewhat indistinguishable from half the band's previous discography. "Higher We Go" is a decent Euro power metal anthem. "Somehow Precious" is somehow not, a drippy ballad I could do without. The two part "Emmancipation Suite" is hardly a pick me up, but when faced with what seems an endless stream of Strato-balladry...they go with another ballad, "When Mountains Fall", with a more folkish approach.

In other words, if you can stop the album after "Higher We Go", then you've been treated to some of the stronger material the band has composed in a decade. After that, it just feels like the mandatory radio friendly bullshit that has polluted so many of this band's prior works. They have always been formulaic and middle of the road in comparison to other power/prog metal bands because of their devotion to clean studio standards. For once I'd like to hear the band cut loose and go crazy. They are MORE than capable. From a musicianship standpoint, they still have the chops on Polaris. Guitar leads intermingle with keyboard wizardry and everything else is tight. I'm sure this is not the last we will hear from the Finns, and I hope with the infusion of new members they can create something inspiring, something out of control, and something relevant.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

They say that in order to truly achieve greatness, you need to struggle, and often the depth of your struggle will reflect the depth of your accomplishment. I’m not sure who said that or if it actually ever was said, but it is basically true, and no more so than in the case of Stratovarius if one accounts for the past 8 years of decline and eventual downfall on their last failure of a groove rock album titled after themselves no less. With the subsequent loss of Timo Tolkki, the longest running member and essentially the band leader, the sense of struggle reached it’s climax, and it was then and there that their opportunity at a return to glory appeared in Matias Kuplainen a guitarist who had already come with a fair amount of experience in the progressive metal world. The result of all this has proven to be one of the greatest triumphs of any power metal band this year.

“Polaris” is essentially a rediscovery of the era of majestic and epic power metal heard between “Episode” and “Destiny”, given a further sense of newness by the flowing, heavily virtuosic guitar work of their newest member. Right from the opening of the album’s lead off song “Deep Unknown”, his free flowing and confident style not only replaces the void that was left by Tolkki’s exodus, but actually surpasses it at every turn. There are a large amount of great influences in Matias’ playing, from Ygnwie Malmsteen to Kai Hansen, but the most vital part of it all is the energy level, which only comes from a player who knows his instrument and is confident in a wide range of styles.

Though the newcomer guitarist is quite a headline in this news article of renewed vigor, this is definitely a collective success by all in congress. Special mention should also be given to bassist Lauri Porra, who understands the need to provide a solid bottom end rather than simply try to upstage the guitar like he’s Geezer Butler on crack. A really good example is heard on “Forever Is Today”, where the wild bass fills that Jari Kainulainen got addicted to on “Elements Pt. 1” are largely avoided in favor of putting some needed balls into the rhythm section. When combined with Jorg’s fast and steady beats, gives both Jens and Matias the freedom to move around and paint somewhat of a Dream Theater oriented aesthetic to what is otherwise fairly standard power metal.

However, the real power found here is in that fresh approach to songwriting that was on display in the 90s but largely forgotten in favor of softball ballads, oversaturated orchestral work and extremely stale and repetitive melodies. One would have to go all the way back about 12 years to find songs such as “Forever Free” or “Black Diamond” to find something of the same caliber as the high flying “Blind”, with triumphant melodies and plenty of blurring keyboard passages. Likewise, the band has rediscovered its good sense of how to write pounding mid-tempo rockers in “Falling Star” and “King Of Nothing”.

The number of certifiable classics contained within this well crafted opus are well above the occasional fits of greatness that would occur in between bits of filler on the last 3 or 4 albums. There’s a classic sing along song in the vain of “Hunting High And Low” with a lot more detailing and brilliance in “Higher We Go”. There is also a multifaceted progressive epic in 2 parts titled “Emancipation Suite” that shows the chops of every member. And to top it all off, at the end we are treated to a remembrance of a time when this band wrote great, all acoustic ballads in “When Mountains Fall”.

Redemption may be a really corny and cliché term to throw around, but it really does fit here. The vast level of change for the better between this and the 2005 self-titled failure of an album is so massive that it’s almost as if the band jumped back 10 years, before things started to go south with the release of “Infinite”, and drew upon the strength of their old sound as if they’d never left it. It is proof positive that in spite of how good he was, Timo Tolkki is not the lone factor in what made this band, and given his two meager by comparison offerings with his new project Revolution Renaissance, I’d say he needed these guys more than they needed him. If the older Stratovarius is what you go for, this is definitely of that musical persuasion.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on June 4, 2009.

Despite being a relatively big fan of power metal, I was never really able to get into Stratovarius. "Elements, pt. 1" was the first album of theirs that I purchased and while it had its moments, it ultimately proved to be a mediocre listen and was soon given away to a girlfriend of mine in high school (I wonder if she still has it...). What drew me to this release were the two years of drama before it and my questioning of how the band would measure up after the loss of guitarist/bandleader/basketcase Timo Tolkki. Needless to say, the result of that conflict was a very pleasant surprise indeed...

Even with the loss of their most prominent songwriter, the band still manages to sound a lot like they had before and prove their worth to carry on under the Stratovarius. The drums continue to go at that double bass heavy rhythm, the vocals are kept at a higher register with some uplifting layering thrown in during the choruses, Tolkki's replacement shreds like nobody's business, and the keyboards are still prominent and throw in a few symphonic touches here and there. What seems to set this album apart from its ancestors is a more self-restraining approach. The guitars may be upbeat and the vocals may be higher pitched but they don't go into that super-happy mode that the old band seemed to love so much on previous efforts. They also tone down the symphonic elements to some extent and keep the vocals from sounding too obnoxious.

The songs are also an interesting blend of old and new. There are the signature fast power metal tunes ("Deep Unknown," "Forever is Today," "Higher We Go"), upbeat potential singles ("Falling Star"), dramatic mid-tempo tunes ("King of Nothing"), and a few ballads here and there ("Winter Skies," "When Mountains Fall"). There is also a more progressive influence that seems to manifest in places such as the two-part "Emancipation Suite."

The lyrics on this album are also fairly interesting. While the lyrics do have their dark moments and have also shed a great deal of the "happy" influence, there is very little on here that directly references the conflict that was set up prior to the album's release. Sure you could find some metaphoric interpretations in songs such as "King of Nothing" and the "Emancipation Suite" (Just look at the title of the latter), they are generally cryptic written and leave room for plenty of meanings. To paraphase what keyboardist Jens Johansson said in an interview, it's better than the blatant references that Nightwish included in the lyrics of "Dark Passion Play...'

All in all, this album was another great surprise of 2009 and showcases a revitalized band with a great future ahead of them. It's also inspired me to look a little further into the older albums of the band's discography. Any suggestions?

Pros:
1) The band proves that they deserve to keep going under the Stratovarius name
2) The songs are solid and packed with variety
3) The band shows some self-restraint and tones down the flaws that previously turned me off their sound

Cons:
1) A few songs don't stand out as much as others
2) There are a few moments that seem derivative

My Current Favorites:
"Deep Unknown," "Falling Star," "King of Nothing," "Blind," and "Higher We Go"

As far as I am concerned, the long, sad story of the long, sad demise of Stratovarius is something that never needs to be recounted on the internet again. So by means of a preamble, I’ll say only that after Timo Tolkki’s decision to do a bunk from his bandmates (as well as all their enduring financial difficulties) in 2008 to form a new band around a CD written for his old one means that the remaining 4 members are in my opinion 100% justified in carrying on without the capricious guitarist.

Regardless of both this and the spotty output Stratovarius have been producing since the turn of the century that has no doubt lowered expectation levels, the musicians were undoubtedly gambling with their credibility in releasing ‘Polaris’ under such a well-regarded name. Firstly, they’d have to come up with a collection of music worthy of the 90s Stratovarius legacy (after all, who would really be judging this one against the now redundant self-titled from a few years back?), and the guitarist they brought in would also need to be no less than a maestro to succeed the unbalanced but doubtlessly superlative Tolkki.

When hearing the final product, the only question remaining however is “Crisis? What crisis?” A class act from top to bottom, ‘Polaris’ is without doubt the best and most consistent Stratovarius CD in 10 years, and in Matias Kupiainen they have found a musician of considerable talent. Rather than thrusting a newcomer into the role of main writer as well as guitarist, however, the songs have been carved up equally between the band (apart from Jörg Michael), with Kupiainen pairing up with Timo Kotipelto on each of his contributions.

What the departure of the main songwriter has brought to the table is a newfound diversity of style that has not been heard on a Stratovarius CD before. New-ish bassist Lauri Porra has written around half of the CD, with Jens Johansson and the Kotipelto/Kupiainen team penning 3 each. Each of the 3 camps seems to have decided to write the obligatory lightning-quick power metal song before moving on to attempting a few more experimental ideas that retain the band’s signature sound but push it in previously unheralded directions. It means that the CD sounds enough like the established Stratovarius style to merit the use of the name, but isn’t so close as to sound like pure imitation of Tolkki’s style of writing (and to give the departed veteran some credit, the 2nd CD from his Revolution Renaissance project is a rather brave step away from the expected power metal territory).

Opener “Deep unknown” can maybe be looked at as a statement of intent in 2 regards; the prog-tinted music written by Kupiainen (showing the faith the band have in their newest member) displays subtle tempo changes and brilliant guitar and keyboard arpeggios that both show off the talent of the new guy and also prelude the beefed up role Johansson is to play on the CD.

It makes for a bit of an off-kilter start to what is an overall slightly unbalanced CD with most of the fast songs in the middle and 4 slower tracks in a row at the conclusion, but despite this ‘Polaris’ makes for a resounding success, with the staleness that dogged Tolkki’s writing on the last few releases nowhere to be seen. Indeed, the fresh ideas the other band members have brought to the table makes it clear that if Tolkki had loosened his monopoly on the songwriting duties when he was starting to run out of ideas (probably around ‘Infinite’) then this CD would most likely be getting touted as a continuation of form rather than the remarkable comeback that it actually is.

Johansson has been granted a bit more freedom of movement than his customary role as secondary melody maker, and enjoys a new lease of life on a CD that probably has as many solos from the keyboard as it does the guitar. His songs – following one after the other from 3rd to 5th in the tracklist - are the most layered and thoughtfully constructed, and each exhibits a different style and approach. The dark, midtempo “King of nothing” is the most surprising, followed by the more expected but nonetheless spectacular galloper “Blind” and the gentle, reflective ballad “Winter skies”. Each song has several different sounds and styles of keyboard playing artfully crammed in, but are tastefully enough arranged that it doesn’t sound like a vanity project from a keyboard player who has finally been given free reign to show off.

Despite the powerful impact of Kupiainen, and Johansson’s inspired performances and emergence as a songwriter, the real star of the show must be Lauri Porra. For someone so relatively inexperienced in the band - as Tolkki has rather bitterly pointed out recently, his only previous contribution has been 2 tours - he has written some superb songs that fit seamlessly into the Stratologue (see what I did there?). His “Forever is today”, the best song on ‘Polaris’, is an immediate classic and could comfortably find a place on any of the band’s previous CDs, sounding strikingly similar to something Tolkki would have written at the very peak of his powers. Exploding into life straight from the opening riff, it races to its conclusion via a chorus that has the honour of Kotipleto’s best vocal performance in years and an inspired solo duel that Johansson probably edges with a classy, slowed-down neo-classical turn against Kupiainen’s shredding.

He is also the author of the 3 closing tracks, starting with the towering, 2-part ‘Emancipation suite’, which is that rarest of beasts – a slow Stratovarius epic that isn’t an insipid dirge. Building and progressing across its combined 11-minute running time, the songs shifts from a dark and foreboding atmosphere to one of despair, loss, but ultimately triumph, and it is credit to Porra’s talents that he has penned such a varied set of songs that all succeed in their own regard.

It takes something special to successfully finish a CD with 2 (or 3) ballad-type tracks in a row and “When mountains fall” most certainly fits the bill. Cello-assisted and drumless (and unless Porra is helping out with the acoustic guitars, the composer rather modestly doesn’t play on it either), it is from the same mould as the classic “Forever” from ‘Episode’. The song doesn’t quite scale the same heights as its illustrious forebear, but it nevertheless concludes ‘Polaris’ in quite beautiful, heartfelt fashion. Kotipelto is in fine form and the plucked guitars and stringed instruments create the perfect, tear-jerking atmosphere for the bittersweet lyrics.

The most important thing to say about ‘Polaris’ is just that it is a damn fine CD in its own right, regardless of the name on the front cover or the personnel involved in its recording. On the other hand though, it is impossible to ignore the difficulties Stratovarius MK III have gone through to record this, and the fact that it is their best CD since 'Destiny' is a real triumph over adversity. For a band who have been on a gradual decline for quite a while, ‘Polaris’ is the bold sound of them revitalised and back on top form, and should prove to be the CD most Stratovarius fans have been waiting on for a long time.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/)

Holy fuck, man, weren't these guys playing shitty groove rock or something the last time we heard from them? You wouldn't know it at all from this album! The loss of front-man Timo Tolkki proved to be the perfect antidote for the growing musical cancer upon Stratovarius' collective minds, as Polaris is just a super-solid album in all respects, the sound of a completely rejuvenated, reborn band. Armed with a new guitarist in Fist in Fetus axeman Matias Kuplainen, the band seems ready to take on the world once again with a sound that is both old and new.

The songwriting on here is very good on all fronts, with input from every band member rather than just that fucking hack Tolkki. Gee, isn't that an innovative idea? A band working together to craft albums instead of just letting one asshole do all the work? It's positively inconceivable! These songs are all energetic, dynamic and completely electrified with the old school Stratospirit, except now it seems like they have a bit more breadth with which to work, without the increasingly stagnant and lifeless guitar playing and production from Tolkki to bog them down. They all sound lively, kicking like a newborn child fresh out of the womb, with pristine melodies and smooth, sticky hooks to match. Folks, this is Power Metal played like it should be, and with the collective input from all of the band members, this album sounds like it came straight from the heart.

There is really no flat-out bad song on this album, with even the weaker ones still being quite endearing and entertaining to listen to. "Deep Unknown" is a great opener, with its huge chorus and diving musical accomplishments, and it's followed up with some highly progressive tracks from this bunch in "Falling Star," which is midpaced and more atmospheric than most Stratovarius songs, and "King of Nothing," which is a frigid, almost industrially tinged track with Koltipelto's clear wails breaking the ice like a metallic sledghammer. "Blind" is more traditional, with a great hook (although the acoustic intro part is very interesting for them, sounding like something off a Viking metal album before it explodes into the speedy guitars), and "Winter Skies" is my pick for best on here, with its soaring chorus and absolutely heartbreaking melodies - maybe the best song they've ever done.

"Forever is Today" and "Higher We Go" are fast, happy and catchy numbers that won't fail to please in the least, and then "Somehow Precious" is a ballad that doesn't stick out too much, but certainly doesn't offend at all. The "Emancipation" suite starts off a bit iffy, sounding a little close to "Babylon" off of the Episode album, but by the second part, you will be as entranced by it as I was. "When Mountains Fall" is another ballad, closing the album in a more moody, mellow way than you would expect, sounding sort of like "Forever," but still possessing its own flavor. Very sweet little song. The lyrics on here, from what I can discern, have completely ditched the whole sunshine n' rainbows thing the last few albums had going on in favor of a more storytelling approach, with some morals and motivational twists for good measure.

Overall, Polaris is a worthwhile experience, sounding like both a brand new band and a triumphant return in the same powerful stroke. I don't think this album is quite the best we'll get from this new lineup, though, as it does sound a bit like the band was just testing the waters and trying out their new sound. Me, I think the best is to come, with the band's next album having the potential to really revolutionize the Power Metal scene in a way it much needs, but really, this is good enough for now. With every single note sounding totally revitalized, completely wholesome and always like the band is thanking God that Timo Tolkki is gone, Polaris is a worthy purchase that you should not miss if you like Power Metal at all.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com