![News Added Jul 22, 2016 Only two years after the release of “Pariah’s Child” and a massive world tour, the Finnish Melodic Metal quintet SONATA ARCTICA are already back for more – their ninth masterpiece entitled “The Ninth Hour” will see the light of day on October 7th. Once again, the album was produced by […]](https://hasitleaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cover02-320x320.jpg "Sonata Arctica : The Ninth Hour")
Only two years after the release of “Pariah’s Child” and a massive world tour, the Finnish Melodic Metal quintet SONATA ARCTICA are already back for more – their ninth masterpiece entitled “The Ninth Hour” will see the light of day on October 7th.
Once again, the album was produced by SONATA ARCTICA themselves and mixed by Pasi Kauppinen, to create a typical yet refreshing sound that defines the spirit of the band in the year 2016.
“The studio work for the new record started seriously in mid-April 2016 in several home studios around Finland,” singer Tony Kakko explains. “But the main recording and mixing took place at the Studio57 in Alaveteli, Finland. It functions as a kind of centre point and all work finally ends up there. We aimed to create another melodic, beautiful, surprising SONATA ARCTICA album… Did it turn out that way? I surely think so. But maybe I should leave that for you to decide!”
After a North American tour with their friends from NIGHTWISH plus many headline shows around the globe, the band was once again able to take a look at the entire world as it is at the moment – on the edge of a possible armageddon.
“The artwork of our ninth studio album »The Ninth Hour« depicts a future utopian landscape on the background. Nature and human technologies are in balance. In the middle we have an hour glass contraption with a knob for us to meddle with. The right-hand side cup represents the nature side with no humans left, on the left we have the human dystopia after we have destroyed Nature. The idea I had was, that turning the knob will tilt the hour glass in one direction or another, and the other cup will slowly empty and that future will be erased. Biblically we are expected to repent and sacrifice on »The Ninth Hour«…to dive right back to a more mundane reality, it’s a fact that we are currently living in critical, historical times. Our decisions will define the future. Not only ours as a race, but the future of this entire planet. We need to make sacrifices and in many cases we will repent our already made choices.”
Well, Im fucking stoked.. Lol. Sonata have been on a rocky landslide for quite sometime now, imho. Unia took me awhile to enjoy while DOG was a much darker exploration into the mind of Tony. SGHN was a bit of a let down with a few notable melodies while Pariah’s Child seemed to bring the band back around to its outdated Wolf emblem & signature sound (a little). My only real gripe with this band (& Im honestly ashamed to say this) is their redone take on Ecliptica. It really goes to show how far the band has fallen from its glory days as a power metal staple in Europe’s current metal scene. Let’s give The Ninth Hour the chance it deserves! I already love the single infinitely more than Wolves Die Young & their past several other singles like Flag in the Ground & Shitload of Money.
I agree. Honestly, even though I listen to the older albums pretty regularly, I forgot how that signature Sonata sound can get me pumped. There is just a beautiful melancholy in their melodies that has mostly been lacking the last two albums, but it’s back in full force in the single. From the album review that leaked on Heavy, it sounds like Closer to an Animal is actually one of the more mellow tracks, and it said the album was a symphonic metal best album of the year contender. Can’t wait for WPBO pt. 2.
Sonata is a band that has always made a few missteps on every album, but they still have something I’ve never heard in any other band.
i agree this new album seems to have a vibe from Unia especially from closer to an animal ( which i love a lot ! reminds me a little of Paid in full without a synth solo) and Life is really cool !
Dude I feel you.. WPBO is one of my all time favourite, if not absolute favourite sonata track.
I’ve been a fan and collector of Sonata Arctica ever since they released Ecliptica and the UnOpened single. The first two singles, “Closer to an Animal” and “Life”, are very beautiful songs and I’m really pumped. Most of the written album reviews that have been released, say that the album only gets better and better after those two songs (some even call it “masterpiece” already), so yeah… I haven’t been this excited about a new album for a long time.
Of course, I do love the first four albums – each one for a different reason – but in my opinion, Unia, the album that gets bashed for not being “the good old Sonata” by so many people, is their absolute masterpiece. The Days of Grays was awesome, too. Their weakest album has to be Stones Grow Her Name (that’s my personal opinion), while Pariah’s Child at least goes into the “right direction” again. As sonataclown already said: There have always been some minor missteps, but all in all it’s always Sonata Arctica, always has that very distinct and unique vibe. And to me, that band STILL “truly makes the most beautiful music”.
Just came to thank you for your words :)
https://youtu.be/cc_QyTu-DuI
Rise a night, deception. Power metal copy and paste of Stratovarius.
power metal is like that
Sounds awesome! :) And, just like “Closer to an Animal” and “Life”, it’s a grower. Never make the mistake of only listening to a song once or twice. It’ll unfold even more, the more you listen to it.
Entiendo tu punto, de hecho Unia, TDOG y SGHN tuve que escucharlos varias veces para comprenderlos y disfrutarlos. Rise a Night es una canción muy plana, que abusa del doble pedal y hasta parece antigua, no creo que tenga muho por descubrir.
Francisco: “I understand your point, in fact you had to listen to Unia, TDOG and SGHN repeatedly to understand and enjoy them. Rise at Night is a very flat track, double pedal abusing and even seems old, I do not think it has much to discover.”
Yeah well… the thing is… that’s exactly what I thought about “Wolf & Raven” and “Blank File”, too, back in the day. But still: they got better and better with every listen.
Voy a escucharlo nuevamente cuando el disco salga a la venta y le daré otra oportunidad!. Closer to animal es una gran canción, Life me parece correcta, tengo una expectativa alta por “Till Death’s Done Us Apart” que sigue la linea de Juliet. El disco seguramente nos ofrezca grandes temas, a pesar de que creo, va a tener una mezcla progresiva y power metal.
the song is pretty neat even though i’m not a huge fan of double pedal and speed song like i used to be ( more a fan of the Unia sound vibe )
How there is lo leak yet? :/
you have to wait 2 days before the release
Used to be kewl
Leaked already
http://hd-music.info/album.cgi/12414
Samples of all songs
This is so awesome!! It sounds like a true successor to Reckoning Night, in my opinion! :)
Among the shooting stars parece hermosa, es música con ciertos toques de los ’80. We are what we are me encantó lo poco que pude escuchar. Creo que va a ser un álbum superior a Pariah’s Child, mucho más “redondo”, completo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2BGAYXcGtY&sns=fb
The full album is leaked. (In youtube only)