Stratovarius - Eternal (2015) [CD + DVD, Limited Edition]

Drastic changes often make us humans leave our comfort zone and can even result in catastrophic scenarios. When we talk about music, this can be traumatizing not only for a band, but also its fans. Not many acts out there can reinvent themselves or maintain quality after said changes, especially when they lose a key member. Sometimes, though, this can be the best thing that could happen.
From a critical point of view, we can separate Stratovarius’ extensive career into four eras: In the first era, from its creation in 1985 to 1994, we could see a more direct-driven Stratovarius, performing power metal that had less symphonic elements and a more classical approach. The second one, from 1995 to 2000 (and, to some extent, until 2003), featured what I like to call their “golden era”, with a lot of keyboards, powerful vocals and melodic anthems that helped shape European power metal in the 1990’s and put the genre and the band on the map.
The third era, though, was marked by a lost and confused Timo Tolkki, who started to digress into a completely different approach to his music, resulting in the horrible self-titled album of 2005 and the near-implosion of the group after it. With that being said, following Tolkki’s departure, longtime fans were worried if the band would get back on their feet or just throw the towel and close shop. Luckily, Timo Kotipelto and Jens Johansson chose the first option. Taking control of the songwriting and creative departments, the two gentlemen recruited Matias Kupiainen and started the fourth (and current) era for the band with ‘Polaris’, a solid album, and their best since ‘Destiny’ way back in 1998. This new Stratovarius would then be recognized as a more mature and centered band, with slightly different arrangements to their songs and with darker, more melancholic lyrics.
All of this brings us to the release of ‘Eternal’, the 16th full length by the group and the fourth in this new era. Kotipelto (vocals), Johansson (keyboards), Kupiainen (guitars), Lauri Porra (bass) and Rolf Pilve (drums) offers us a logical follow-up to ‘Nemesis’ music-wise, featuring all the elements from the new Stratovarius that we learned to love, a couple of nostalgic arrangements here and there, and even some Cain’s Offering influences on some parts. The album starts with “My Eternal Dream”, a characteristic tune with a strong chorus, fast pace and lots of keyboards. “Shine in the Dark” is presented as one of the more melodic songs of the album and explicitly shows the Cain’s Offering influence mentioned above.
Allied to those unfortunately are the two weakest songs in the album, “Lost Without a Trace” and “Fire in Your Eyes”, the latter being a poor excuse for a ballad by a band that excels on slow songs, as seen before on “Forever”, “4000 Rainy Nights”, “Years Go By” and even “When Mountains Fall”.
Aside from those two, songs like “Rise Above It”, “Feeding the Fire” and “In My Line of Work” all have plenty of good arrangements and showcase what we expect from Stratovarius: catchy tunes, plenty of energy, and mesmerizing solos, which should definitely satisfy the listener. The highlights of the album, however, are the great “Man in the Mirror” and the grandiose “Lost Saga”, an 11-minute opus filled with cool riffs and a respectable performance by Kotipelto, who by the way is sounding more powerful than he has been in a long time.
All in all, returning fans and casual listeners alike should enjoy ‘Eternal’ almost in its entirety, as it is not overly melodic or trying to reinvent the wheel, instead relying on solid performances and down-to-earth songwriting. Oddly enough, it also relies heavily on a tried-and-true formula, so it doesn’t actually put anything new on the table, which can be a downside. For me, though, this is a worthy entry in their already rich discography, and although not strong enough to rank among the greats such as ‘Visions’, ‘Episode’, ‘Destiny’, ‘Dreamspace’ and even ‘Nemesis’, it has definitely earned a place in the second-tier Stratovarius’ albums, alongside ‘Elysium’, ‘Infinite’ and ‘Fright Night’.

by Bruno Medeiros, metalwani.com