ECLIPTICA - REVISITED
The Songs
Blank File: Tony is doing a great job with his voice, rising it when it's neccesary. The guitar solos are really nice, not so much the keyboard. I don't like the sound Henkka used for the keyboards, and the solos are often lost in the rest of the mix across the entire album. Drums are solid.
My Land: Glad to see them do the original version, without the acoustic break during the final chorus. Once again, I really enjoyed the guitar work on this track. The song's ending reminds me much more to the version from
Ecliptica Sessions, the demos for the album, with the voice work.
8th Commandment: Most interesting part of this song, is the second solo. Elias is doing a really masterful job with the solo. There's a strange mysticism to it that wasn't there in the original recording. It's hard to explain but easy to listen. It's really nice. The keyboard solos again do not impress me though. It's a pretty solid track as it stands.
Replica: Pretty standard track. I don't think this one is better than the 2006 version, but it's solid overall. Again, Elias doing a very good job when required.
Kingdom for a Heart: This one is horribly average. The lack of the
"treasures" before
"and crowns" during the choir is really missed. The acoustic break is alright, but this one probably is the most average track in the entire album. Not really a fan.
FullMoon: Again, the best part of this song is Elias. The solo is very different from Jani, but this is one where I'll dare say it's actually better than the original. The mysticism from
8th Commandment is back for this one. It's a very nice solo. The intro is I think the only real part where Henkka really shines. The intro is again, probably better than the original version. other than that, it's
FullMoon Tony rises his voice in sections, and the song gets
livelier towards the end.
Letter to Dana: Tony sings some parts different than the original, rising his voice in sections where it used not to be like that. it's nice, and again, Elias is doing a great part. I wasn't sure Tony could hit some of the high notes in this one, but he can, and sounds really nice. I never was a fan of this song though. I like the 2008 remake better, the
Return to Sender version if you will.
UnOpened: Would have been a better single than
Kingdom for a Heart, but I guess they didn't want to reprise the 1999 single. The song is alright, but again, the keyboard is just not on point. I don't know how much is the performance itself, the sound Henkka chose, or the mix. The song is alright, but hardly anything special.
Picturing the Past: Once again, gotta notice Elias on-spot performance. Tony again rises his voice in sections really well. Again, a pretty alright track. I was never a fan of the original. I like this one more just because Tony is not...
excesivly high, but that's debatable.
Destruction Preventer: The intro is really nice. I always thought Jani's solos in this particular song were very characteristic of his style, and it does show, as Elias style is way more clean, but maybe not as virtuous. Some may miss Jani in particular in this song, I again think Elias does a great job, but this is one where you can feel the different styles in a very marked way. Tony's scream towards the end lasts longer than the original, but have to conssider it's on a lower key, but sounds clean and really nice.
This one in particular JUST BEFORE Tony screams EEEENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD In the split moment between 6:03 and 6:04, a strange sound is there.... a TSHRRR or BRRRRR I think drescribes it better or something like that... it's high pitched and sounds HORRIBLE. How nobody noticed, and how that is in the final record is embarrasing... add that to the "toc-toc-toc" when the song starts, during the fast intro, and all you have is signs pointing to Pasi's terrible work. I'm sorry, I really am. I know he surely is a very nice guy and all, but at a professional level, I'm just horribly disappointed.
I'm Haunted: Arguably the best song in the album, everyone is doing a great job for this one. Unlike
Flag in the Ground, this song is not a re-do, but a re-record only, and works better like this. It really feels like a brand new power metal song.
I Can't Dance: The song is alright, but in my opinion, I always believed this was just an average song by Genesis, so I don't really mind this song too much. It's a hard rockish song, that collides pretty harsh with the rest of the album, and would have been better on
Stones Grow Her Name. I personally don't care for this one, but there's an audience out there for this one. It's nice!
The Mix and Production
It's
TERRIBLE to say the least. The mix and mastering are dry and amateurish at best. There are songs that particularly suffer, and it just feels incomplete to say the least. There are decisions that I don't understand, such as putting Tony way ahead in the vocals, and virtually deleting the keyboard solos from all the songs, no exception. The bass is hard to listen, and that those remarked notes on that bass at the very end of
Destruction Preventer, the final
dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb sounds just
HORRIBLE. It's like Pasi didn't know how to make the bass stand out there, so he just compressed the track to the 7th Heaven and then just rose the volume. It sounds really bad. The whole audio production is just below what should be considered acceptable. it's below
Pariah's Child.
This is the one thing that I'd definitely would change. If I was an exec at Nuclear Blast, I would have probably said...
"I'm sorry, but you have to take this back to the mixing desk. it's just not good".
Overall...
The album works in many sections, and Elias is really stepping up his game on this one. The voice is good, for most tracks, but in others just lacks a lot of emotion. The keyboards seem to have missed the mark to me, but I don't know how much that's to blame to the
HORRENDOUS mix. Drums are good, and the bass, though well played, also gets lost in the mix. Some tracks even have really weird sounds that sound like leftovers of a bad mix. Pasi should not mix another Sonata Arctica album. I know I will sound like an ass, but it's just the truth. Sooner or later someone should step up and tell him. I don't know if the band is trying to cut costs with Pasi rather than having someone else mix/master it, but the music is taking a toll... Maybe not even Karmila/Jussila, but someone else... maybe they should get Matias to do it
Nemesis and
Elysium are masterfully produced. The guitars in
Nemesis are some of the best produced metal guitars I've ever listened to. I really wish
Ecliptica Revisited was the last affected record by this problem, but I don't think it will change... unfortunately
My veredict? If you are a
die hard fan of the original,
SKIP THIS ONE. But do listen to
I'm Haunted, since it's a really good track. I could maybe recomend also
8th Commandment and
FullMoon but the fact is that the poor audio production is really holding back this one, and I'll totally understand if people skip this record. If you are not a super purist however, give it a listen. It sounds better on a good stereo system, and you may find a couple nice surprises!