Stratovarius - Infinite review 2

After the slightly disappointing “Destiny”, the Finnish melodic Metal-kings are back with a vengeance! Their new full-length disc Infinite is namely a grrrrreat disc filled with great songs, virtuoso musicianship, beautiful symphonies and godlike vocals courtesy of Mr. Timo Kotipelto. This man is IMO one of the most underrated singers on the Metal scene today. Everyone screams of Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), James LaBrie (Dream Theater) and Fabio Lione (Rhapsody, Vision Divine and Athena) but I think that Koti beats them all. But enough of that, let’s move unto the main issue here - Stratovarius “Infinite”.

Firstly, there are lots of terrific songs on this one, and two of the best ones comes very early on. The two openers - the mid-paced and catchy “Hunting High And Low” (which is also the single of the album) and the fast, bombastic and in-your-face “Millennium” are two real monsters, these tunes are really Metal at it’s best. This is not the case with the next, “Mother Gaia”. Don’t get me wrong, it was not the quality I meant, but the fact that this is more of a Queen’ish progressive semi-ballad, and mr. Timo Tolkki shows once again that he’s not just the usual speed metal jerko, but also knows how to orchestrate, compose, and arrange for more than guitar, bass & drums. We get tasty keyboards, different moods, and a cool take on the main theme from Finnish composer Sibelius’ “Finlandia” in the chorus. The last 6 songs, on the other hand are totally magnificent. There are first the neo-classical and progressive “Phoenix” (which at times reminds me of Dream Theater, especially in the crunchy and percussive riff part in the middle) , the keyboard-based, shredding monster “Glory of the World” which is written by keyboard-genius Jens Johannson and features LOTS of his hyper-fast keyboard work throughout in addition to cleverly placed key changes (between the bridge and the chorus, that is), the melodic and heavy mid-tempo-tune “A Million Light-Years Away” with it’s super-catchy main theme and Prince (!) inspired verse melody (which shows Tolkki’s penchant for U2 and similar bands), the typical Helloween-Euro-Metal-song “Freedom” which like “Glory….” and “A Million….” has a MAGNIFICIENT sing-along-chorus a la “Forever Free” from “Visions”, and then there’s the 9 minute epic “Infinity”. This is a true masterpiece, and probably the most complex song ever written by Timo Tolkki (who together with Johannson plays tremendously throughout) . We get acoustic guitars, strings, a cool under-produced drum (!) intro, massive choirs, several leads, tasty and bombastic guitar riffing and everything else you would expect such a Masterpiece to have. The album ends with a cute little tune called “Celestial Dream”, which is an orchestral ballad reminiscent of “Forever” from Episode. It has a nice arrangement with some strings and horns thrown in for good measure and also an extremely beautiful melody-line in the chorus perfectly executed by Kotipelto with the addition of a unbelievably tasty orchestral arrangement, especially the use of English horns and timpani brings me somewhere far beyond (as Blind Guardian would have said it…..).