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Sonata Arctica - Successor EP
2000 | Spinefarm Records | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 35:09 min | 77,8 MB | rapidshare

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, originally assembled in 1996. Their later albums (particularily Unia) are also often cited as part of the progressive metal genre.



The band was founded by Tony Kakko, Jani Liimatainen, Marko Paasikoski, Tommy Portimo and Pentti Peura in Kemi in 1996. Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — Friend 'till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker.

In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices and second guitarist Marko Paasikoski left the band. Tony has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.

In 1999, the band recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed, during which the band changed its name to Sonata Arctica.

Later that year, Sonata Arctica's first single — entitled UnOpened — was released in Finland. It entered the Finnish Top 20 sales chart on the week of its release and, soon enough, the band had closed deals with labels from around the world, prior to the release of their debut album. The debut Ecliptica arrived by the end of 1999 and had a worldwide release, obtaining rave critics from the specialized press.

Tony Kakko then decided to focus on singing and began looking for a new keyboard player for Sonata Arctica; Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) was eventually invited to fill the position.




Track Listings
1. Fullmoon
2. Replica (live)
3. My land (live)
4. Unopened (live)
5. Fullmoon (live)
6. 8th commander (live)
7. Letter to Dana (live)
8. Kingdom for a heart (live)