Stones Grow Her Name

I first discovered Sonata Arctica during my epic first real foray into power metal in my first semester of college, but i didn't really get into them until I fell in love with The Days of Grays later. Its combination of melancholy, poetic lyrics; lush symphonic melodies; and interesting guitar wankery made it one of my favorite symphonic metal albums, though lots of fans missed its earlier days of playing more standard power metal. So, in light of these expectations, how does their new album, Stones Grow Her Name, stand?

Overall, Stones Grow Her Name definitely seems to continue The Days of Grays' drift into keyboard-driven metal/hard rock territory. They follow an approach similar to Nightwish's, with the keyboards carrying most of the melodies and the guitars adding "sonic texturing" and the occasional melody. It's kind of an instrumental take on the common "beauty and the beast" sound, drawing on the contrast and tension between almost poppy, symphonic melodies and crunching, distorted guitar sounds. Songs like "I Have a Right" and "The Day" exemplify this approach, with the keyboards providing a strong sense of atmosphere throughout. "Alone in Heaven" starts with acoustic guitars, and later the keyboards provide a harp sound. "Shitload of Money" (best title ever) has a bass beat reminiscent of dance pop and an almost eerie atmosphere generated by the keyboards; in general it's so bad it's hilarious and pretty enjoyable.

On the other hand, "Somewhere Close to You" and "Losing My Insanity" are much more guitar riff-driven, somewhat inverting the guitar-keyboard relationship of the aforementioned songs. "Losing My Insanity" also manages to be one of the catchiest songs of the album. "Only the Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)" strikes the best balance between the elements of SA's style, and though the overall guitar/drumming style is a callback to The Days of Grays, it also seems like a bit of a nod to fans who miss their earlier albums. Also, in response to the complaints of The Days of Grays' lack of guitar solos, several songs on Stones Grow Her Name have them--"Only the Broken Hearts", "Shitload of Money", "Losing My Insanity", and "Alone in Heaven" among others.

While the first seven songs largely sound like a reestablishment of SA's previous material, the last four venture into bold new territory. "Cinderblox" starts with, of all things, a banjo, soon to be joined by a fiddle that along with the frantically upbeat drumming risk establishing a whole new genre of "bluegrass metal" (in Finland, of all places!). The chorus is phenomenally catchy and the balance between the bluegrass instruments and guitars is pretty good. (The keyboards take a definite back seat on this song) And, again, it has excellent and highly technical guitar solo. "Don't Be Mean" is a slower, quiet ballad similar to "Breathing" with a violin solo that is a very nice touch.

And then the last two songs are the second and third parts of "Wildfire" from Reckoning Night, which was apparently the start of a trilogy, each of them nearly eight minutes long. Right away in part II the banjo and fiddle come back, playing what could almost be a tribute to American folk music over a soundscape of a gathering storm. These fade out to be replaced by a section where the guitar and drums almost seem to be dueling. The resulting song is a fantastic symphonic/progressive epic and a standout of the album. Part III is more intense, with lots of rapid double-bass drumming and heavy riffing sure to please fans who miss SA's early days as well as pretty much anyone who enjoys metal.

In Stones Grow Her Name Sonata Arctica seems to be trying to continue the musical trends started by The Days of Grays while simultaneously pleasing their older fans who didn't like it. The result doesn't really work as well as their simply picking one style and pursuing it did. In a similar vein, they seem to take a few steps backwards on the progressive side, undoing much of the progress of Unia and The Days of Grays. The bluegrass angle of "Cinderblox" and "Wildfire, Part II" is bizarre and works surprisingly well, but other than that there isn't too much to ponder about this album. Probably not SA's finest hour, but "Only the Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)", "Losing My Insanity", "Cinderblox", and both parts of "Wildfire" are still strong tracks on their own.