Nuclear Blast Americ
2005
Reckoning Night
About This Album
As much as they qualify for all of the negative (read: repetitive) stereotypes of melodic European power metal, Finland's Sonata Arctica somehow manage to suppress the cheese factor to a point where fans of more challenging and aggressive heavy metal can actually stomach their albums. 2005's Reckoning Night is one such triumph, and although the precise reasons behind this remain as unexplainable as ever (possibly vocalist Tony Kakko's more-honest-than-operatic delivery?), the fact is, not only does it prove surprisingly likeable for power metal haters, it naturally qualifies as potentially genre-topping stuff for power metal lovers. "Blinded No More" and "Shamandalie" are picture-perfect melodic metal singles, no doubt destined to climb chars across Scandinavia, Germany and Japan, while similarly mid-paced heritage metal anthems such as "Don't Say a Word" and "White Pearl, Black Oceans" manner their authenticity with just enough progressive rock touches (Kansas, big-time) to keep listeners interested. Even the mockery-begging "The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Real Puppet" manages to pull the rug out from under cynics' feet with its irresistible hooks, leaving it up to the thrash-intensive "Wildfire" to hog such honors instead with its silly spoken fantasy intro.
Track List (try tracks 2,5,7 and 9)

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