SONATA ARCTICA - Unia

I have rarely come across an album from a relatively well-known band that had great tracks mixed with so poor offerings. If they had only split it in two, so that I was not forced to listen to the flat and commonplace Paid in Full to get to a good song like For the Sake of Revenge. And this is just an example... I must admit that the starting In Black and White was strategically placed and fooled me into thinking that the whole album is up to the same standards and has at least half of the aggression. Nonsense, the next song, mentioned above for the black list, really blows it, if I may be blunt. Another song that's worth hearing is It Won’t Fade, with a little more energy and a tad catchier. In the same area we find my favorite song of the ones I liked, Caleb, starting off majestically and continuing with focus and without losing your attention. It is probably the pinnacle of the album, but in this case it is rather low, I had greater expectations. The Vice tries, I think, to be “bad”, but it is just bad, with pretty stupid lyrics and obsolete rhythms. There were a few other well-done parts: My Dreams but a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare (interesting musical stuff, which is why I preferred the instrumental version), Harvest and Fly with the Swan. The rest falls under “filler material”, blabla, boring, numbness, repetitive repetition, etc. Overall, the album lacks, above all, energy; second, despite a few twitches of inspiration (which made me listen to it more than once), it certainly missing "hooks", there is almost nothing there that could catch you, a chorus, a riff, anything. While it is pleasant hearing, the fact that Sonata Arctica chose to give more and more weight to the keyboard at the guitars’ expense leads the band to be less and less a metal band. Should I mention that the album title meant absolutely nothing to me? I just hope they come to their senses.
(+) a few peaks, such as Caleb, a few choruses and the structure of the keyboard parts
(-) lack of vigor, self-repetition and filler tracks to get the needed minutes

Mad Nota: 7