In a June 2013 interview concerning keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg's own band Silent Voices, he confirmed Sonata Arctica would go into recording for their eighth studio album in September 2013. Concerning the progress and style of this new album, he also mentioned "The bulk of the album, we already have the demos..." as well as "we want to focus on making songs that work live."[7]
During rehearsals, Henrik mentioned on his blog that songs they were rehearsing for the new album seemed to hearken towards Sonata Arctica's earlier days, and that they would try to record a 10-minute track.[8] He also commented that, differently from their previous album, they recorded everything at the same place, as a band.[9]
On 9 January 2014 the band announced via their official website that the album would be titled Pariah's Child and would be released on 28 March 2014.[10]
On 12 February the band released the video for "The Wolves Die Young" via Radio Rock.[11]
Songs and themes
Kakko has described Pariah's Child as "the album that should have been done after Reckoning Night besides Unia."[12] He also commented:[12]
I think it sort of started with the fact that our first album was released 15 years ago and now we are going to have an anniversary tour. We are going to rehearse our old songs for the tour so that perhaps motivated us to do faster songs now. We also started to think that what we really are and what we would like to be. What is Sonata Arctica? The first thing people think about our band is probably power metal. Our band has lived and survived its puberty and obstinate age and now we can gradually revert to type.
The album also marks the return of wolf-themed songs, which were absent in their previous album, Stones Grow Her Name. According to Kakko, "wolf is just once again a metaphor, for instance, for fear and processing it in your life. Fear make people do things. Or actually denying the fact that you fear something."[12]
He also commented on the album artwork upon the release announcement:[10]
As the music on the album is bowing more towards the "old" Sonata, meaning more power metal style elements and wolves in many of the songs in one form or another, it was clear we need a wolf on the cover. An abandoned wolf. A pariah. Or Pariah's child, actually. The new generation to bring the old logo back.
The art was once again made by Janne Pitkänen, also known as Toxic Angel.[13]
The opening track and first single, "The Wolves Die Young", was described by Henrik as a typical Sonata Arctica song.[14] It was one of the first songs to be written for the album.[14] The song received a video shot both in Sweden and Finland. The band was filmed performing in Lahti on the course of 2 or 3 hours while producer Patric Ullaeus handled the rest of it in Sweden.[15]
"Running Lights" was originally planned as a Japanese bonus track, but the band was so pleased with its final form that they decided to make it a regular track.[14] Tommy Portimo described his drum work at the track as a tribute to Jörg Michael. Tony said he wrote the lyrics on a train ride to the studio the day after Lou Reed died, and the track was in a way a tribute to him.[14]
Henrik considers "Take One Breath" as the most progressive song of the album, with a piano work that demanded bigger efforts from him.[14] Guitarist Elias Viljanen says the song moves towards the "newer" Sonata Arctica.[14] Tony described it as one of the heaviest songs.[14] The lyrics cover the topics of transhumanism[14] and French Humanism. Kakko originally wrote it for a possible solo release.[15]
The second single, "Cloud Factory", was written much before the other songs, when the band was still rehearsing for Stones Grow Her Name.[14][15] Henrik described its melody as "annoying" and thus it would be a good choice for a second single, so that other people are "annoyed" too.[14] Kakko explained the lyrics in an interview:[15]
I knew the song was going to be about children getting stuck in that same town and factory where their fathers and grand-fathers got stuck too because it's a safe and, in a way, a happy place to be. The factory offers them livelihood and some form of happiness but they are stuck there nonetheless and they are slaves to their town. They never get to see the world and search for their true happiness from anywhere else but that tiny village or that one factory everybody goes to and their children will also go to.
"Blood" is another of the heaviest songs. The keyboard intro was made by Tony and it was one of the latest songs to be rehearsed.[14] Pasi and Elias have both described it as one of their favorite songs of the album,[14] and the lyrics are about fear.[14]
Henrik described the lyrics of "What Did You Do in the War, Dad?" as the saddest he ever heard by Tony.[16] After Tony finished writing the song, he texted Tommy saying he had written the best song of the album.[16] Tony also stated that the song made him cry sometimes and that the song is "something new for Sonata Arctica, lyrically at least."[16]
"Half a Marathon Man" is "definitely not a serious song", according to Henrik. It is a "simple, easy and fun" rock song, and one of the last to be rehearsed for the album. It was played just twice by the band before recording, just 24 hours after it was written, the fastest pace ever by the band.[16] Kakko wrote it on the course of two or three hours in a morning and showed it to his band mates later that night during a sauna party in his house.[15] The sounds of steps heard on the song are actually Kakko himself jogging.[15]
"X Marks the Spot" is a comic song. Henrik consider it to be close to Stone Grows Her Name's "Cinderblox" in feeling and attitude. He also said the song has some guest vocals, but he didn't specify by whom.[16] Kakko considers it to be the hardest song to write for the album, and also said it took him quite some time until he got it right the way he was pleased. Regarding its lyrics, he explained:[15]
It's about what you want to fill the blank with. I decided to throw rocks at those people who blindly give their lives away to religion or other weird organizations like cults. They really give away their freedom of thoughts and go the wrong direction. I had one friend in time who was that way. It pissed me off, it's a waste of good human. It's unfortunate.
The third single and second video "Love" is a short ballad. Tommy used two different drum kits in this song, whereas Pasi played the fretless bass guitar. The song reminded Elias of Silence's "Tallulah". Regarding the lyrics, Tony said that people always say he doesn't write happy love songs, so he decided to write this story about two partners who meet at a young age and stay together for all their lives.[16] The song was one of 60 works that Kakko composed through the years and kept as a "reserve" for future albums.[15]
"Larger Than Life"
Ending the album and clocking at just nearly ten minutes, "Larger Than Life" is the third longest song ever by the band (second longest being The Ninth Hour's "White Pearl, Black Oceans – Part II, By the Grace of the Ocean", longest being Silence's "The Power of One"). The song features some orchestrations, including a harp. Henrik consider it the next great, big thing by the band since Reckoning Night's "White Pearl, Black Oceans [Part I]" Tommy said he considers it at the moment of the interview his "all time favorite song".[16] According to Elias, the song has sad and happy moments, like life itself.[16] Kakko created the song after fooling around with some orchestra sounds, by joining different pieces of music together.[15]
The lyrics tell the story of an actor at young age that gets a role that makes him very famous, and life eventually provides him with everything an artist could wish. However, he didn't make a life for himself, and he decides to give that role to someone else and start a new life.[16] In another interview, Kakko, gave a different version of his end, stating the character was frustrated for having nobody to share his achievements with and he ultimately decides to search for someone, who he eventually finds.[15]
Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup consists of drummer Tommy Portimo, lead singer Tony Kakko, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, guitarist Elias Viljanen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen. All the musicians of the band's history except Portimo also acted as backing vocalists.
Ecliptica is the first full-length album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 1999 through Spinefarm Records in Europe and through Century Media in the United States. It is the band's only album featuring bassist Janne Kivilahti. In 2016, vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter Tony Kakko described the album as "like the extension of our demo, we didn't know what we were doing so that reflects on the album and makes kind of cute if you will."
Silence is the second full-length album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, released in 2001 through Spinefarm Records. It is the only studio album to feature keyboardist Mikko Härkin, and the first album with original member Marko Paasikoski, who returned to the band the previous year. Stratovarius lead singer Timo Kotipelto sang guest vocals on the album.
Winterheart's Guild is the third studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 2003 through Spinefarm Records. In a 2014 interview, vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter Tony Kakko said inspiration for writing "The Ruins of My Life" came from the film Braveheart. In 2019, he would refer to the album's recording process as a "nightmare" because he only had "two or three" songs ready when the band went in the studio.
Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band Sonata Arctica since 1996.
Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg is a Finnish keyboardist, keytarist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour.
Unia, released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album Reckoning Night. The first single from the album was "Paid in Full", released on 27 April 2007. This is also the last album that features guitarist Jani Liimatainen, who was later replaced by Elias Viljanen after the album was released.
For the Sake of Revenge is a live album and DVD recorded by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was recorded at Shibuya AX, Tokyo, Japan on 5 February 2005. Along with the CD there is a DVD in stereo and Surround 5.1 sound, which also includes Finnish commentary track by the band, Misplaced Cameras On Tour, a biography, discography and some photos.
Fire-Hearted is the third studio album by metal musician Elias Viljanen as solo artist. The album features Marko Hietala and Tony Kakko on vocals. Also contributing is Jari Kainulainen on bass, Henrik Klingenberg on keyboards and Mikko Sirén (Apocalyptica) on drums. The album was out in June 2009. The song "Last Breath of Love" with Hietala on vocals can be heard on Viljanen's Myspace together with the title-track.
The Days of Grays is the sixth full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. The album was released in South America on 8 September 2009, on 16 September in Finland, 18 September in Europe and 22 September in North America through Nuclear Blast. The special edition of the album includes the album along with an orchestral CD as a digipak.
"Flag in the Ground" is the second single from Sonata Arctica's album The Days of Grays. The single was only given out to the winner of the Flag in the Ground Fan Art Contest which had prizes of several merchandise of the band for first place and runners-up, second and third. The song reached number 3 on the Finnish record chart. The melody in this song is sampled from "BlackOut", a song in the Friend 'till the End demo from the band's early years as Tricky Beans.
Reckoning Night is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, as well as the first to feature keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg. The track "Don't Say a Word" continues the so called Caleb saga, a series of songs that started on Silence's "The End of This Chapter" and is continued on Unia's "Caleb", The Days of Grays's "Juliet", The Ninth Hour's "Till Death's Done Us Apart" and Talviyö's "The Last of the Lambs".
Stones Grow Her Name is the 7th full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in Finland on May 16, 2012, in Europe on May 18, 2012, in North America on May 22, 2012 and in Japan on May 23, 2012. It was the last album to feature longtime bassist Marko Paasikoski.
Live in Finland is a live album and DVD recorded by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. Live in Finland was recorded at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland on 15 April 2011 during "The Days Of Grays" World Tour, and was released on 11 November 2011. Along with the CD, there is a DVD in stereo and Surround 5.1 sound, which also includes Finnish commentary track by the band, making-of videos, two documentaries, photos, and music videos. The DVD's cover was created by Xabier Loebl.
The Collection is Sonata Arctica's second compilation album. It was released on 15 November 2006 by Spinefarm Records.
Don't Say a Word is a song by Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released simultaneously as both a single and as the band's fourth EP released on 30 August 2004 through the label Nuclear Blast.
The Ninth Hour is the ninth studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released on 7 October 2016 by Nuclear Blast.
Talviyö is the tenth studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released on 6 September 2019 by Nuclear Blast.
Acoustic Adventures – Volume One is an acoustic album by the Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica. It is the first part of a duo of acoustic albums released by the band in that year.
Acoustic Adventures – Volume Two is an acoustic album by the Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica. It is the second part of a duo of acoustic albums released by the band in that year.
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