Finnish heavy metal singer Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS, CAIN’S OFFERING, KOTIPELTO) and guitarist Jani Liimatainen (CAIN’S OFFERING, ex-SONATA ARCTICA) are putting the finishing touches on an acoustic album, “Blacoustic”, to be released later in the year under the KOTIPELTO & LIIMATAINEN banner. Timo says, “Matias [Kupiainen, STRATOVARIUS guitarist] mixed the album in his studio and now he is mastering it (final tuning, making each tracks into a complete album). It sounds veeery good! We still need to work on the artwork, etc. Jani and Matias did a brilliant job!”
CAIN’S OFFERING, the band featuring Kotipelto and Liimatainen, released its debut album, “Gather The Faithful”, in 2009 via Frontiers Records.
Liimatainen was previously in SONATA ARCTICA and ALTARIA. In 2007, Jani parted ways with SONATA ARCTICA, a band he co-founded in 1996 and to which he devoted his time and energy for more than 10 years.
Noizz Eater magazine recently conducted an interview with singer Tony Kakko of Finnish metallers SONATA ARCTICA. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
On the musical direction change:
Tony Kakko: “Musical growth never ends, I suppose. This time I really wanted to make the things little bit simpler. We went far enough on that progressive road and it was the time to make another turn. At the moment, it seems to result in a huge turmoil on our set list. I could describe this album as the most live friendly SONATA album to date.”
On trends:
Tony Kakko: “I’ve always written the songs for myself. I think it’s a totally wrong approach if you just think, ‘This will surely sell,’ as it’s very popular for the time being. Music has to be written for yourself. If I pour my heart and soul on a song and think that song is the best song I’ve ever written, and this thing happens with each song and album, I think you’re doing something right. There are people on this planet who will think the same way about at least some of those songs. But, of course, it is fine to not like some music or some bands at all. It is OK, kids! [Laughs] I do care about the fans a great deal. I mean, I love them! I would not be able to do what I do without this fantastic bunch of people. It just seems to me we have a tendency to tickle some bones on some people who have never liked our band. And these guys are always the loudest. We’re living on a planet full of wonders.”
On “Cinderblox”, a banjo-metal song:
Tony Kakko: “As you might figure, it started out as a… joke. Me fooling around with this banjo sound I came across. Wrote a riff which turned into a song. And when we then decided it’s gonna be recorded for this album all we had to do was to find someone to play the banjo. We did! And also find a talent for fiddle and double-bass. This is the one song that still makes me smile every time I hear it. A worthy song for that alone.”
On touring remote corners of the world:
Tony Kakko: “It’s somehow so, that the poorer the country and the less money people have, the more they get out of these shows they buy tickets to. So the folk there… they’re just wild and all over the place! They really make you feel like a rock star, even if you don’t usually think so. The venues and gear might not always be the best ever, but their hearts are warm and the will to be there and make things happen is sincere.”
Read the entire interview from Noizz Eater magazine. Source: Blabbermouth.net
With their fantastisc new record “Stones Grow Her Name”, SONATA ARCTCA not only achieved gold status in their homecountry Finland, but also entered charts worldwide.
We´re pround to announce the chart entries so far:
Finland 1
Hungary 13
Switzerland 21
Germany 24
Austria 29
Sweden 37
Norway 39
France 54
Italy 72
Holland 72
Canada 79
Belgium Wallonie 79
Spain 97
Sweden Rock Charts 5
Canada Rock Charts 7
UK Rock Charts 9
Great news also from the US camp:
After hearing that SONATA ARCTICA’s latest album, Stones Grow Her Name, achieved “highest 1st week sales” status in the USA with 2,225 copies sold and has debuted at #9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, vocalist/songwriter Tony Kakko checked in from his home in Finland with the following message:
“North America! Awesome! Our best ever 1st week sales with Stones Grow Her Name! Thank you so much! Feels good to hear this kind of news from the other side of the great puddle. Especially now, when the times are what they are… You guys rock! Sure hope to get all the tour plans ready as soon as possible, so we can announce out next great North American adventure. See you guys hopefully soon! Miss ya! Cheers!”
SONATA ARCTICA – “Stones Grow Her Name World Tour 2012”
German dates presented by: Rock Hard, MusiX and BLAST! Magazine
“Stones Grow Her Name”, the new album from Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA, sold around 2,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 9 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
“Stones Grow Her Name” has been certified gold in the band’s home country for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. Released in Europe on May 18 and in North America on May 22 via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at Sonic Pump Studios by Mikko Karmila and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck. The effort was released as a limited-edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.
“Stones Grow Her Name” track listing:
01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III
The “I Have A Right” video can be seen below. Source: Blabbermouth.net
Infernal Masquerade recently conducted an interview with vocalist Tony Kakko of Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA. You can now listen to the chat HERE. SONATA ARCTICA‘s new album, “Stones Grow Her Name”, has been certified gold in the band’s home country for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. Released in Europe on May 18 and in North America on May 22 via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at Sonic Pump Studios by Mikko Karmila and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck. The effort was released as a limited-edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.
“Stones Grow Her Name” track listing:
01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III
The “I Have A Right” video can be seen below.
Commented SONATA ARCTICA frontman Tony Kakko: “‘I Have A Right’ was the very last song I wrote for this album. At that point Tommy had already played his last track for ‘Stones Grow Her Name’, gotten ready to go to sauna AND opened his first beer for that night, when I SMS’d him to check his e-mail and record yet one more ‘easy track.’ He was mildly pissed. And perhaps fueled by that he nailed the song on the first take. It was a very emotional moment for him, I was told. The song hits home, if you know the subject and can relate to the subject. To put it short, it’s a song about how we should not pass the burden we get from the past generation on the shoulders of our future offspring. Children’s rights subject. Not the most metal subject ever, I suppose, but then again I think it fits our band well and is pretty universal. Funny to actually have fans from each age group this songs speaks about. Let’s see what comes of it.
“Choosing the first single and video from this album was not very easy this time around as we had so many candidates. The best possible problem to have! ‘I Have A Right’ won the vote.
“The playing parts for this video were shot in our home town Kemi, here in Finland. The location was an old, abandoned school building. Somehow spooky and COLD. It was mid-March. Could say we were lucky the weather was unseasonably warm, yet way below zero.
“Director Tuukka Temonen and his crew did a great job with editing and all the additional footage. All in all, from my point of view, this was the easiest ever SONATA ARCTICA video to make. No 12 hours standing in a room filled with bird shit, no freezing my ass off on the ice in the middle of the sea from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., or running in the woods in the middle of the night and not sleeping for 48 hours… had all that with the past videos.”
“Stones Grow Her Name”, the new album from Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA, is available for streaming in its entirety at this location. Released in Europe on May 18 and due in North America on May 22 via Nuclear Blast Records, the CD was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at Sonic Pump Studios by Mikko Karmila and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck. The effort will be released as a limited-edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.
“Stones Grow Her Name” track listing:
01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III
The “I Have A Right” video can be seen below.
Commented SONATA ARCTICA frontman Tony Kakko: “‘I Have A Right’ was the very last song I wrote for this album. At that point Tommy had already played his last track for ‘Stones Grow Her Name’, gotten ready to go to sauna AND opened his first beer for that night, when I SMS’d him to check his e-mail and record yet one more ‘easy track.’ He was mildly pissed. And perhaps fueled by that he nailed the song on the first take. It was a very emotional moment for him, I was told. The song hits home, if you know the subject and can relate to the subject. To put it short, it’s a song about how we should not pass the burden we get from the past generation on the shoulders of our future offspring. Children’s rights subject. Not the most metal subject ever, I suppose, but then again I think it fits our band well and is pretty universal. Funny to actually have fans from each age group this songs speaks about. Let’s see what comes of it.
“Choosing the first single and video from this album was not very easy this time around as we had so many candidates. The best possible problem to have! ‘I Have A Right’ won the vote.
“The playing parts for this video were shot in our home town Kemi, here in Finland. The location was an old, abandoned school building. Somehow spooky and COLD. It was mid-March. Could say we were lucky the weather was unseasonably warm, yet way below zero.
“Director Tuukka Temonen and his crew did a great job with editing and all the additional footage. All in all, from my point of view, this was the easiest ever SONATA ARCTICA video to make. No 12 hours standing in a room filled with bird shit, no freezing my ass off on the ice in the middle of the sea from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., or running in the woods in the middle of the night and not sleeping for 48 hours… had all that with the past videos.” Source: Blabbermouth.net
Making of “Stones Grow Her Name” – part 3:
“Stones Grow Her Name” teaser:
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With their fantastisc new record “Stones Grow Her Name”, SONATA ARCTCA not only achieved gold status in their homecountry Finland, but also entered charts worldwide.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 