Survive (Stratovarius album)

Last updated
Survive
Survive (Stratovarius album).jpg
Studio album by
Stratovarius
Released23 September 2022 (2022-09-23)
Length58:04
Label Edel
Producer Matias Kupiainen
Stratovarius chronology
Enigma: Intermission 2
(2018)		Survive
(2022)
Singles from Survive
  1. "Survive"
    Released: 3 June 2022 [1]
  2. "World on Fire"
    Released: 1 July 2022
  3. "Firefly"
    Released: 5 August 2022 [2]
  4. "Frozen in Time"
    Released: 16 September 2022
  5. "Heroes (digital release)"
    Released: 26 July 2024

Survive is the sixteenth studio album by Finnish power metal band Stratovarius, released on 23 September 2022. [3] [1] It is the first studio album of the band in seven years. [4]

Contents

The album reached number 1 on the Finnish Charts, while also managing to chart in several other European music charts.

Background

Seven years following the bands previous studio album (Eternal), an abnormally long period for the band. This was partly due to COVID-19 pandemic. The album was produced and mixed by Matias Kupiainen. Due to pandemic-related limitations, the band couldn’t record everything in one place — while Kotipelto’s personal studio in Finland served as the main recording location, the drum tracks were laid down in Helsinki, and Jens Johansson recorded his keyboard parts separately at his studio in Sweden. [5]

Like other albums by the band, Survive addresses the themes of the environment and the future of humanity and survival. The cover art, designed by Havancsák Gyula, also evokes the theme of ecology, depicting a human skull and garbage in a landfill. The green plant growing out of the skull is inspired by a scene from the film WALL-E, in which a shoe is seen with a plant growing out of it. [6] [7]

Johansson stated in a interview “There was a global pandemic, and all kinds of crazy s**t was going on… Some of the lyrics are perhaps less uplifting than they could have been, but that reflects our mood at the time.” “There’s a lot of positive stuff on there as well.” [8]

Critical reception

The album was met with critical acclaim, being viewed as a strong comeback/return to form. Blabbermouth.net gave the album a positive review stating “All of Stratovarius most classic traits are as integral to "Survive" as they were to any previous album, but here fresh inspiration has led to new and vivid colors being woven into that enduring blueprint.” Adding “this is the sound of Finland's power metal masters at their classy, clangorous best.” [9]

Jakk Mylde of Metal Sucks stated gave the album a near perfect score claiming “With their latest effort, they (Stratovarius) have set out and proved something that we already knew; Stratovarius are a band built to thrive, not just survive.” [10]

Metal Hammer put Survive at number 7 on their list of “The 10 best power metal albums of 2022.” [11]

Survive was nominated for metal album of the year at the 2022 Emma gaalas. [12]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
MetalSucks Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [13]
Metal Injection7.5/10 [14]
Blabbermouth.net 8.5/10 [15]
Sonic Perspectives8.8/10 [16]
My Global Mind9/10 [17]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Jens Johansson, Timo Kotipelto, Matias Kupiainen, Jani Liimatainen, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Survive" Kupiainen4:39
2."Demand" Kotipelto, Kupiainen4:03
3."Broken"Johansson, Kotipelto, KupiainenKupiainen4:58
4."Firefly" Johansson, Kotipelto, Kupiainen3:39
5."We Are Not Alone"Kotipelto, Kupiainen, LiimatainenKupiainen, Lauri Porra4:35
6."Frozen in Time"Johansson, Kotipelto, LiimatainenJohansson, Kotipelto, Kupiainen6:43
7."World on Fire" Francisco Cresp, Kupiainen4:26
8."Glory Days" Johansson, Kotipelto, Kupiainen5:07
9."Breakaway" Kotipelto, Kupiainen4:28
10."Before the Fall"Johansson, Kotipelto, LiimatainenKotipelto, Kupiainen4:16
11."Voice of Thunder"Johansson, Kotipelto, LiimatainenJohansson, Kotipelto, Kupiainen11:11
Total length:58:04
Exclusive track for vinyl edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
10."Heroes"KupiainenKupiainen3:48

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2022)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [18] 63
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [19] 179
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [20] 126
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [21] 1
French Albums (SNEP) [22] 125
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23] 30
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24] 32
Scottish Albums (OCC) [25] 64
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [26] 6
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [27] 25
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [28] 5

References

  1. 1 2 "STRATOVARIUS Announces 'Survive' Album". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  2. ↑ "STRATOVARIUS – New "Firefly" Single Streaming". Brave Words. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  3. ↑ "Stratovarius Survive Album Released". earMUSIC. 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  4. ↑ "Stratovarius to release new album". earMUSIC. 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  5. ↑ "hotmetalmag.com/album-review-statovarius-survive".
  6. ↑ "Power Metal Icons Stratovarius Debut Uplifting New Song, Announce First Album in 7 Years". Loudwire. 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  7. ↑ Gricourt, Nicolas (2022-11-25). "Stratovarius : instinct de survie - RADIO METAL". RADIO METAL (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-03-03. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  8. ↑ EvilG (2022-06-04). "STRATOVARIUS Announces 'Survive' Album". Metal-Rules.com. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  9. ↑ Blabbermouth (2022-09-21). "Survive". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  10. ↑ Mylde, Jakk (2022-09-23). "Review: Stratovarius Prove They Can Do More Than Just Survive With This Killer Album". MetalSucks. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  11. ↑ Chillingworth, Rich HobsonContributions from Alec; Maughan, Sophie; Chantler, Chris; Lawson, Dom; Leivers, Dannii; published, Holly Wright (2022-12-12). "The 10 best power metal albums of 2022". Louder. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  12. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
  13. ↑ Mylde, Jakk (2022-09-23). "Review: Stratovarius Prove They Can Do More Than Just Survive With This Killer Album". MetalSucks. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  14. ↑ Bowar, Chad (2022-09-21). "Album Review: STRATOVARIUS Survive". Metal Injection. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  15. ↑ Blabbermouth (2022-09-21). "Survive". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  16. ↑ https://www.sonicperspectives.com/album-reviews/stratovarius-survive/
  17. ↑ https://myglobalmind.com/2022/09/16/stratovarius-survive-review/
  18. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Stratovarius – Survive" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Stratovarius – Survive" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Stratovarius – Survive" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Stratovarius: Survive" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Stratovarius – Survive". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Stratovarius – Survive" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  24. ↑ "サヴァイヴ". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  26. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Stratovarius – Survive". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
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