Sonata Arctica

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Kemi, Finland (1996 – present)

Sonata Arctica was formed in 1996 on the edge of the world, in the northern Finnish town of Kemi.

Originally formed as Tricky Beans, they released few demos and as they got the contract they had to change their name.
In 1999 the band recorded a new demo “FullMoon” in Tico Tico Studios located in their hometown, Kemi. At the time of recording the line-up consisted of: Tony (vocals/keys), Jani (guitars), Tommy (drums), and Janne (bass). This new demo was the first exploration for the band in heavy metal waters. The band’s trademark sound of fast, melodic and keyboard oriented heavy metal with clear, high vocals was born. As fate would have it, and with help from Ahti Kortelainen of Tico Tico Studios, the “FullMoon” demo found its way to the premier metal label of Finland, Spinefarm. At the same time Tricky Beans became Sonata Arctica.

Summer of 1999 brought us the first single from Sonata Arctica, “UnOpened”. The title song was instantaneously included in the Metalliliitto 1999 compilation CD. Two tracks from the single, UnOpened and Mary-Lou marked the arrival of SA to the power metal community. During the first mix/pressing of the UnOpened single, Track 1, UnOpened, was unintentionally slowed down. The mistake was discovered shortly after the first batch of discs was sent to music stores. The entire first pressing was recalled. Approximately 200 copies from that first run were sold and are now considered rare collectors items.
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  • r0ryb0ryalis wrote:
    yesterday morning
    Personal concert pics make for the best avatars ;)

    Leave r0ryb0ryalis a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Tuesday afternoon
    Hahaha, thank you, Teri ^^! And yeah, I totally agree with that, that's why I don't understand why the person who changed it put it in there :\! And thank you^^! It's from the concert of them I went to! And it was awesome and superspecial and.. OH I WANT TO SEE THEM AGAIN SO BADLY ;_;

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • os_teriyaki wrote:
    Tuesday morning
    Btw, awesome new profile picture, Coen :)

    Leave os_teriyaki a shout

  • os_teriyaki wrote:
    Tuesday morning
    Anyone can change those bios, so I just went in and removed them for you ^^ According to site specifications, there shouldn't be links in the bio sections anyway. (Though I've put links on other bios, for bands no one else has heard of...)

    Leave os_teriyaki a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Monday evening
    Am I the only one who finds the two links in their biography sort of annoying?

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • Cariina- wrote:
    Sunday evening
    That sounds really good. We want more! We want more! xD

    Leave Cariina- a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Sunday evening
    Sure sounds nice! I like it : ) He sure likes Spanish/Mexican stuff a lot! Some titles, the sombrero he used to wear in LIF.. : p

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • os_teriyaki wrote:
    Sunday afternoon
    Well yeah, that too ;) Yeah, I heard it, pretty cool :) Surprise surprise, guys, I come bearing news! Some kind soul put together a teaser trailer of Henkka's new solo album and you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpMWVZd1bjQ Sounds pretty awesome, I gotta say, though it's hard to judge based on samples :) Reminds me of the REALLY early Silent Voices stuff. Unfortunately the international digital release, which was supposed to be on Feb 1st, has been delayed BUT good news: before the month is out, "...And the Weird Turned Pro" will be available from the Sonata webshop! :3

    Leave os_teriyaki a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Sunday morning
    I'm just right all the time, am I not? : ) Okay, kidding. Has anybody heard the song Tony participated in for cancer research? It's on their home page.

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • os_teriyaki wrote:
    Sunday morning
    lol, what Coen said XD

    Leave os_teriyaki a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Sunday morning
    Every song should.

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • zuazuzanna wrote:
    Saturday evening
    The Misery should be in the top 15.

    Leave zuazuzanna a shout

  • ShortSonata wrote:
    Saturday morning
    lol k

    Leave ShortSonata a shout

  • heitorpas wrote:
    Friday evening
    But Rhapsody's Frozen Tears is great and that band never declared a changing in the essence of their sound like Sonata did. Well, guess we can dream of better Sonata days...

    Leave heitorpas a shout

  • BeIieve wrote:
    Friday evening
    v I donno about that... Rhapsody put out two pretty bad albums but still managed to kick some serious ass with the Frozen Tears of Angels. I am hopeful that their new album will turn out good.

    Leave BeIieve a shout

  • heitorpas wrote:
    Friday morning
    The perfect example of a declining band.

    Leave heitorpas a shout

  • os_teriyaki wrote:
    Friday morning
    Yeah, Coen's right :) The guy's name is Nick Van-Eckmann. For some reason I always thought he did the part: "Everything lives, everything dies. Now I know the legends only lived in his lies." on The Ruins of my Life, but I'm glad I checked because I can't find credits for him doing that anywhere in the sleeve O.o Don't know where I got that idea, guess it just sounds like him (though it still could be him, but not credited). He also did "...Of Silence", of course, and the part "forced me to love you" in Last Drop Falls. Love that guy. I had no idea he was Tony's teacher! :D If that's indeed the case, that's awesome! :D

    Leave os_teriyaki a shout

  • CoenVen wrote:
    Thursday evening
    Yup. I thought (a few weeks-months) ago 'They should have Oasis. Every one knows Oasis, after all.' But no. Even no Oasis. Seems like they got rid of every good band..

    Leave CoenVen a shout

  • Cariina- wrote:
    Thursday evening
    Thanks Coen! :)

    Leave Cariina- a shout

  • MetalWolf_ wrote:
    Thursday evening
    MM in Eindhoven removed their hardrock/metal section? o_o Damn, maybe we should go and blow it up after all. (Except for the game department, 'cause I still need that one sometimes xD)

    Leave MetalWolf_ a shout

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