Sonata Arctica is without any doubt one of the strongest newcomers in the European Melodic Power Metal scene. What is the biggest drawback of the new Melodic Power Metal bands? Most of them sound like Helloween, Gamma Ray and Stratovarius. Sonata Arctica have as their starting point the bands I mentioned above but they have add something that made them to stand out of the crowd.

I can't deny that they sound a lot like Stratovarius (with the Keyboards), I also can't deny that they have a lot of Helloween and Gamma Ray arrangements but hell there's something about Sonata Arctica that makes me like them a lot even if I hate the bands who sound a lot with my childhood heroes, Helloween. They have something magical in their music. They don't plain copy the bands I mentioned above. They have influences but they work a lot on their ideas.

Here we have their second full length album. Silence is not way different than their first CD but of course the guys are more mature now and you can see that through their music arrangements. On this CD you can find 13 very good Melodic Power metal songs that will appeal to any fan of Power Metal. Great melodic guitars lead the way along with some awesome keyboards who create a great picture.

I can say that their music is like a picture with many bright colors. They also have a couple of great 'sad' ballads who add some a bit of grey among all the other bright colors.. They play with a lot of feeling there. They are really talented and you can see that on every single track. Power Metal needed a band like Sonata Arctica and I have to say that they became famous with their own powers. They didn't get so much advertise in comparison with other bands.

You like Melodic Power Metal? You will love Silence by Sonata Arctica. Well done guys!