Pariah's Child

My march through reviewing Sonata Arctica's discography continues! 'Pariah's Child' is the album that managed to heal the divide between Sonata fans -- those who remain intrigued with the twists and turns of the band's post-'Reckoning Night' discography, and those who think everything started going wrong with 'Unia.' I take kind of a middle way approach: I think 'Unia' is one of Sonata's best records and is far closer to being a traditional power metal album than those with a more limited palate think it is; it is full of progressive elements and experiments, but at its heart it remained a typical Sonata Arctica record. 'Days of Grays' is really where things started to change, but after 'Stones Grow Her Name' was weakly received, Tony must have decided he'd better throw a bone to the fans of 'classic' Sonata.

It's a bone with some meat on it. Right away, the record shouts 'We're back!' with those classic icy atmospherics. But it's not quite old Sonata: the tempo isn't so frantic, the bass is miraculously audible, the synths complement the guitars rather than the other way around, and it takes over two minutes to get to the chorus.

The tastefulness of the synths is a trend that will run through the entire record. If you had to be a bit of a true believer in ornate synthphonics to buy into 'classic' Sonata, it's all very toned down here. Yet what remains packs just as much of a punch precisely because there's a seductive quality to the synths, rather than laying it all before you right in your face, like on a song like, oh, 'Weballergy' or 'San Sebastian (Revisited)' on 'Silence.'

The melodies here rank among Tony's very best: the chorus to 'Running Lights' is heartbreakingly beautiful; 'Half a Marathon Man' is up there with 'The Cage' or 'Mary-Lou' for sheer catchiness; 'X Marks the Spot' is a spot-on parody of religious cult behavior that also subtly asks whether music itself is a bit of a cult -- with a wickedly catchy hook, to boot. 'Cloud Factory' is both poignant and sickeningly sweet at once, somehow -- with a bridge that proves the band isn't taking itself overly seriously (though the spoken-word outro of 'X' about being a spiritual baby running around wearing diapers should demonstrate that, too).

On the whole, 'Pariah's Child' is proof that it's possible for Sonata Arctica to not play at 100 miles an hour, to elevate the guitars and bass and reduce the presence of the keys, yet retain a focus on vocal melodies and keys nonetheless -- while appealing to both camps of Sonata fans. On this album, Sonata Arctica is a power metal band with progressive elements, and feels naturally and comfortably so. To me, it's the spiritual successor to 'Unia', giving fans a breather after what is admittedly a difficult album that demands you spend a lot of time with it before its greatest rewards make themselves apparent. 'Pariah's Child' is a bit more immediately satisfying.

The only major misfire on 'Pariah's Child' is the cringeworthy melodrama of 'What Did You Do In the War, Dad?' Maybe I'm just a jaded, cynical American who can't get so sentimental about the horror of war, but this song is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I know subtlety is not exactly Tony Kakko's thing, and he's overreached like this before, but it's still never enjoyable to me to encounter it. And although I wanted to badly to like 'Larger Than Life', this album's 'epic', it just didn't 'click' with me; it's meandering and nothing reels me in.

But this is still a great record, even by Sonata's high standards. For me, it's the sixth hit out of eight records, bringing Sonata's career hit-to-miss ratio to 2014 to 3:1 for me, which is extremely good. Its general reputation as a 'return-to-form' album is well-earned.

Pariah's Child is the eighth studio album by Sonata Arctica, and it is a bold evidence that these guys are still capable of creating the epic, catchy power metal that brought them the notable popularity that they preserve for ongoing two decades. Of course, the band managed to reinvent themselves for several times in their carrier, and this album has some moments which resemble the band early period and also some tracks that sounds like a refreshing combination of both their classic albums and their more modern efforts.

Of course, Tony Kakko is the mastermind behind this album, providing songwriting, vocals and keyboards. His voice sounds energetic and clear and he still possesses the same uniqueness that made him an outstanding vocalist since day one. The production is also worth mentioning: everything is perfectly mixed and the result is a crystal clear recording that is just pleasant to listen to.

There are some really outstanding tracks in this album, alongside some fillers that sound nice but are subpar compared to the highlights of this album. 'Larger Than Life' is an epic song, clocking at almost ten minutes long, and has a lot of mood variations alongside some orchestration layers that make the song a powerful closer for this album. 'The Wolves Die Young' is probably the most old-school track in this album. It has a relatively fast paced rhythm and an array of catchy, ultra-melodic vocal lines that will get stuck in your head for a long time. 'Cloud-Factory' has an almost childish chorus and is bordering at being overly diabetic, but still manages to sound solid eventually.

Even when the songwriting quality begin to fall apart near the end, there is still a consistent level of originality that preserves an overall enjoyable listening experience. While failing short compared to classics such as 'Ecliptica' and 'Winterheart's Guild', this album is a refreshing album with the majority of the songs being solid and catchy. Definitely check out this album if you are in a mood for some good modern power metal.

The band's old logo and the re-inclusion of wolves as a visual motif aside, Tony Kakko really bit my ass when he said Pariah's Child was going to be like their early albums. I was really hoping for the return of the hyper-fast icy-keyboard belt-it-all-out epics of yesteryear, but it was not to be; rather, all we got instead was an incredibly solid modern Sonata Arctica album that pays some aesthetic homage to the early albums while sticking pretty close to the Days of Grays and Stones Grow Her Name sound. Wait a minute...I like those albums! Am I really gonna bitch and moan about a good album just because I was led to expect Ecliptica II: Electric Boogaloo? Fuck that shit. Despite the fact that it's not even remotely what I was expecting it to be, it's important for me to note that this is the 2014 release I've listened to the most by far.

To start off, I will point out that there are two songs that bear a great resemblance to the band's early works: "The Wolves Die Young" and "Blood." The former is a mid-paced, almost jaunty, anthem with plenty of frosty atmosphere that hearkens back specifically to albums like Silence and Winterheart's Guild, whereas "Blood" starts off as a very modern, proggy Sonata tune until the midway point, where we're suddenly thrown into what seems like an entirely different song that wouldn't have felt out of place in Ecliptica with its pounding double-bass drums and screaming ultra-melodic guitar solo--it's easily my favorite track on the album, and the chorus is one of the catchiest the band has ever written, and considering these are the same guys that also wrote "Destruction Preventer" and "San Sebastian (Revisited)," that's a goddamn achievement.

If you're more a fan of Sonata Arctica's more modern sound, you will likewise be far from disappointed. "Running Lights" and "Take One Breath" are quite energetic and bold with melancholy hooks, akin to the works present on Days of Grays. "Half a Marathon Man" begins with an ambient and, frankly, beautiful blend of keyboards and acoustic guitar before morphing into a mid-paced, pounding anthemic tune that likewise delivers wonderful energy backed by melodic hooks. As for "Cloud Factory," along with "Blood," it ranks among the absolute best material on the album, as well as having yet another one of the band's most infectious choruses. The fanciful keyboards and vocal lines certainly help, as they make the song feel quite playful despite its bleak subject matter. But the star of the show is that goddamn chorus; whatever process the band goes through to write melodic hooks, they were very clearly batting a thousand here.

Then there's the oddball track "X Marks the Spot," which seems to be very hit-or-miss with many listeners. At its core, it's similar to "Take One Breath" and "Half a Marathon Man," with plenty of energy driving it, but not only are the lyrics bizarre, but the spoken-word segments parodying televangelist testimonies (suspiciously replacing "Jesus" with "rock 'n roll") are what seem to drive people up the wall the most. Personally, I found these segments amusing and the song is pretty great despite its quirkiness, but it all comes down to personal preference...well, okay, everything does, but this particular song in particular particularly. Particular. (Can I say "particular" again? I quite like it. Particularly its adverb form.)

But all that aside, there are a few tracks that, while certainly not bad, failed to live up to the rest of the album's standards. "What Did You Do in the War, Dad?" tries its damnedest to be a thought-provoking, soulful epic, and it does contain moments of greatness throughout, but it's way too uneven and meandering to be able to stand up next to, say, "Blood." The album's big epic, "Larger Than Life," is, sadly, lacking in epicness and scarcely approaches any scale implied by its name. Much like "What Did...," there are moments where the composition works wonders, but ultimately it, too, is unwieldy and brought down by its own ambition.

...And then there's "Love." "Love" is boring and it sucks. Imagine Sonata Arctica writing a clichéd love song in about five minutes, and this is exactly what you'd think of. It adds nothing to the album whatsoever (aside from the 3-and-a-half minutes it takes up), and if I were to give you a copy of the album with that track missing, you would literally never know. Well, until you read this review and discovered my evil schemes, of course.

Like I said, there are only hints here and there that Pariah's Child hearkens back to the band's early days, but two okay tracks and one useless waste of space aside, I could not be happier with the product we did get. I've been constantly playing tracks from this album almost continually (for, what, six months now?), and with instant classics like "Blood" and "Cloud Factory" littered throughout, I doubt the frequency of that will decrease any time soon. Pariah's Child may not have been the return to the old style we were hoping for, but at the very least they didn't fuck it up.

Sonata Arctica; the band that continues to frustrate metal fans ever since they considerably changed their style with the Unia album back in 2007, will again raise various comments upon the release of their latest CD, Pariah’s Child. While Reckoning Night and Winterheart’s Guild gave us an indication that Sonata Arctica were evolving, changing, and moving away from their original sound, it wasn’t until the previously mentioned Unia that fans were left scratching their heads wondering if this sound, this band, was still in fact power metal.

I’d like to think I’ve been a fan for enough time to know what singer Tony Kakko is about. Sonata Arctica is Kakko’s band, he’s the heart and soul of it; and not only is he one of the best vocalists in metal, he is also a sensational song-writer as well. I also know that Kakko would never musically perform a 180 degree reversal of what he’s produced in the last 10 years and return to the sounds of Silence and Ecliptica at the drop of a hat, or from the push of die-hard fans. Doing so would erase everything Kakko has poured into the band and making it what it is today; basically snubbing every CD from Winterheart’s Guild to Stones Grow Her Name.

The hype surrounding the anticipated Pariah’s Child album was indeed strong, much more so than any previous release, particularly from the Nuclear Blast label. And while they have to pump up the hype due to Sonata Arctica being on their books, I didn’t really believe all the promotion they were giving to the album. A lot of it was quite deceiving too, which angered me as it would have sucked in a fair amount of fans. The band has reverted back to their original logo and understandably in history when bands reverted back to their original logos the majority of the time it mean the band were also going back to their original sound. Of course the media were all over this, but it is just a hook.

I made myself restrain from hearing the singles released before the official album release (“The Wolves Die Young” and “Cloud Factory”) so I could listen through the entire album once it was out and hear how it really sounds and not the direction the label wanted us going down. I may be one of the few here in saying this, but I am thankful that Sonata Arctica has not gone back to their sound from their first two albums. That time was 13 years ago, it’s in the past; let it go already. They will never return to that sound so stop wishing for it and move on. With that being said, there are slight elements of that original speedy sound lightly scattered amongst some of the tracks on Pariah’s Child; but nowhere near enough to make those deceiving promotional pre-album comments from Nuclear Blast creditable.

So, what will you expect to hear on Pariah’s Child then, you ask? Well basically more of the same as what has been produced on the previous three albums, with a sprinkling of speed here and there and also more elements from Reckoning Night and Winterheart’s Guild than we’ve heard on previous releases. Tony Kakko’s writing style has not changed; in fact it continues to become even more intricate, erratic, deep and amazing with every album. He is one of the few song-writers that will lay his entire heart and soul right out there on the paper for every song, and I respect him greatly for doing so.

With that said, however, there still lies within that a number of songs on the new album continue to frustrate me and I’m sure I’m not the only one; due to their chaotic and complex structures. Some songs are almost pieced together with no method to it at all and change numerous times throughout its duration; whether it is speed or compositions. A few tracks like “Blood” and “X Marks the Spot” contain spoken word segments that deter from the music at the time and in “X Marks the Spot”, the spoken word (depending on your preferences) does get fairly silly with the words bellowed out like a pastor from a colourful church sermon. “Take One Breath” could have been a really great song, but has too many soft slow instrumental passages that take away from the enjoyment of the track.

What it comes down to (for me) in the end, is that albums need to have a wow factor and each of us would know what that wow factor is for ourselves (maybe a song you play over and over again, a riff or song that you remember more so than others, etc). Pariah’s Child unfortunately does not have a wow factor; but the previous three albums didn’t have it either. While this CD has no wow factor, there are however mostly good to a couple very good songs: “Blood” (even with its frustrating spoken word segment), “Running Lights”, “The Wolves Die Young” and “Cloud Factory”. Lastly, hidden within the middle of the album lies the best track; “Half a Marathon Man”. After a slow and odd start featuring some acoustic instruments and violins the track goes into high gear, becoming easily the most entertaining track on the CD as it is so vibrant, energetic and catchy (the church organ is a nice touch too).

Overall, Pariah’s Child is again along the same wavelengths as the previous two Sonata Arctica releases (Stones Grow Her Name and The Days of Grays), however with a higher tempo/speed and also the most reminiscent sound-wise to Reckoning Night and Winterheart’s Guild. The song structures, lyrics and compositions are still a modern Sonata Arctica flavour, so really altogether, this album is a nice forging of everything the band has done in the last 11 years.

While old-school Sonata Arctica fans won’t be fully pleased with this album not returning to glory they thought this could have been, at least a return of some speed and songs you can compare to Reckoning Night and Winterheart’s Guild is not a total loss. With Pariah’s Child not being a great album and nothing to really “wow” you, it still rates higher than Unia and The Days of Grays. Take that as you will.

(Originally written for www.themetalforge.com)

Few bands in the power metal genre have received this much hype for one album in recent years. Stratovarius, Helloween, Sabaton, Freedom Call, Iron Savior and plenty of others have been releasing consistently solid material for the past half a decade or so - the latest efforts by all of the above bands being especially brilliant. Meanwhile, our favourite Finns have brought back the wolves and winter snow in an attempt to convince us all that this is a 'return to form'. Every time I hear that phrase, I wince. Because it's either totally true, which blows my mind, or embarrassingly cringe worthy. "Pariah's Child" was promoted as such - and falls, annoyingly, bang in the middle of those two descriptions. It's not "Silence", but it's not "Stones Grow Her Name" either...

As is to be expected with Sonata, the production value is perfect; polished and crisp, whilst remaining as smooth as finely-aged whiskey. This overall sound, combined with the stunning artwork that graces the booklet, succeeds in creating a wintery atmosphere. And boy can you tell that's what the band were striving for! The blatant placing of a wolf on the front cover, the land engulfed in frost, the wolf and snow-related lyrics... Sonata Arctica are really trying hard to convince you that this is a - ahem - 'return to form'. But from the opening notes of "The Wolves Die Young", things are already looking a little unmatched...

Kakko & co. have clearly forgotten how to start a European power metal album. Take, for example, the first 2 tracks of their 2001 epic "Silence": It sets the mood with an atmospheric piece of poetry which then swiftly crescendos and accelerates until it explodes into the majestic metal masterpiece that is "Weballergy". Fast forward to 2014 and the difference in quality is astounding. "Pariah's Child" starts with neither a whimper nor a bang - it just, sort of...starts. No explosive impact, no consideration of atmosphere or mood. Just a forgettable mid-tempo melody which, after 20 seconds, gets thinner until Tony Kakko takes command.

Tony's voice is the highlight of this album. Though the lyrics may be a little broken - his voice sounds comfortable and in control. Choruses on songs such as "The Cloud Factory", "Running Lights" and "X Marks The Spot" are infectious, with finely-crafted melodies and superb harmonized vocals. Elias Viljanen's guitar tone is also an improvement on previous releases - embodying a more metallic crunch (which, disappointingly, is not used to its best potential).

The strengths of "Pariah's Child" lie in a select group of tracks. "Running Lights" is the first taste of up-tempo classic Arctica we get - and possesses a beautiful, almost Disney-inspired, chorus. "Cloud Factory" emits a wonderfully ethereal atmosphere and wouldn't sound out of place in an A-grade children's movie. "Blood" takes a more progressive approach, bringing with it the more metallic side of the album (and more wolves!). "Half a Marathon Man" provides some variety with its classic-rock feel and headbang-worthy riffs. But the jewel in Pariah's crown has to be "X Marks The Spot". It's energetic, humorous, catchy and heavy. The lyrics are guaranteed to put a smile your face - and Jaakko Koskinen's performance as the 'rock'n'roll preacher' is undoubtedly the best thing about this whole record!

However, with light comes dark. "Pariah's Child" comprises of approximately 70% worthiness, and 30% fodder. The remainder of the album is either dispirited and lethargic, or aims high and falls flat on its face. Examples of the former include "Take One Breath" which is almost completely worthless, despite some interesting keyboard sounds and time-signatures; and "Love"...of which I have no words due to the boredom this half-assed ballad emanates. Whereas examples of the latter include "What Did You Do In The War, Dad?" which tries to be progressive, but contains too many contrasting sections to have any lasting impact, and ends on the worst anti-climax in metal history; and "Larger Than Life" which advertises itself as the 'epic' long-playing closing track, but is completely directionless, despite some brilliant vocals from Kakko.

It's clear that Sonata Arctica haven't reached the position they commanded back in the early 2000s - they're still climbing awkwardly up the ladder, pawing at the heels of fellow Finns Stratovarius. "Pariah's Child" is by no means a 'bad' album, but don't be suckered in by the snowy wolf on the front cover as he stares deep into your soul; there are only dollops of previous glories here.

Despite the evidence that Sonata Arctica would never return to a pure power metal sound, on their new one Pariah’s Child they seem to have doubled back a little bit to please the fans and maintain a more stable, unified sound balancing their influences. It would seem like a bit of a sellout if Pariah’s Child didn’t contain some of their best material ever.

Really, I guess this was always fated to happen sooner or later. Sonata couldn’t have their cake and eat it too – I see that now. Being a popular artist in any capacity, of any medium, means compromise. Sure, you can do whatever the fuck you want to some degree – you can release The Days of Grays with its pop and nu-metal influences on select tracks, you can release an album like Unia which alienate the entire fanbase. But to really maintain any kind of fanbase, you do have to have some semblance of the sound the fans want to hear. Art is a mode of expression and artists should have free reign to express themselves however they want. But art is also subject to the criticism of anyone and everyone once released to the public. So if one wishes to maintain a good standing with fans and keep the albums coming – well, they just might have to return to their roots a little.

Fortunately, Pariah’s Child is a delight to behold, containing several of their best songs ever. This is a dense, melodic and sprawling album full of songs that are epic and heartfelt. What I love about Sonata Arctica is their ability to write consistently surprising songs, never taking the direction I expected, and always with intricate, colorful instrumentation and songwriting that avoids cliché as if it were allergic. Opener “The Wolves Die Young” is the safest and most “back-to-basics” track on display, and it’s pretty much a warm-up for the following entourage of melodic excellence. “Running Lights” is a smooth, silky power metal tune with jagged verses transitioning into a beautifully hypnotic chorus, and “Take One Breath” is just a brilliant tune – with the harp playing in the background building up to an astounding melodic finish.

“Cloud Factory,” the second single the band put out, is a show-stopping song, one of the best on here. With its explosive verse and chorus interplay and the dynamic vocal performance from Tony Kakko, it’s just a delight from beginning to end. The lyrics are incredibly cynical and dark, too, telling the story of a man trapped in the doldrums day-to-day routine of factory work and warning his son not to follow the same path. This is one of the songs that really shows the maturation of the band over the years. “Blood” is a six-minute mini-epic packed with drama and intrigue – some sort of lyrical story about a family squared off against a pack of wolves, and the parallels between the family structure in both parties. The music uncoils like a serpent and transitions between somber bits and other sections filled with fire and rage.

Further tracks like “Half a Marathon Man” and the ten-minute epic “Larger than Life” continue to show off where the band has arrived after the years of experimentation. Through all of that weirdness, they’ve come out of their cocoon a completely transformed band, and one in full mastery of their chosen style. Only the ballad “Love” comes off a little half baked. It’s not that bad or anything, but it isn’t as good as the rest of the stuff on here.

Frankly, I am enamored with this. With textured melodies, varied songwriting and a consistent dedication to songs that dazzle and surprise, Pariah’s Child is a winner of an album. If you’re a fan of the band, you can’t do without this album – it is a summation of everything Sonata Arctica is about.

Well the hype that was leading up to this album was immense. They went back to their old logo. The teaser songs they released sounded almost like a return to the power metal days of first three Sonata Arctica albums...and when I say almost I mean that some of the elements were there but not enough to fan boy jizz over them like some people did. As with the Queensryche "return" it seems that people were listening to different songs than what I was listening to. Anyway, it seemed that after three very disappointing albums from our beloved Finns the new album, titled Pariah's Child, would see a return to the direction that really worked for this band. I'm not asking for another version of Ecliptica since their first three (and most of Reckoning Night) were good power metal albums without being repeats of Ecliptica. I want the riffs, the speed, the solos, and that melodic magic that made me love this band immediately. Sadly, the return of the logo did not bring the music with it.

So we have the opening bars of the first song, "The Wolves Die Young." Sounds like old Sonata...but then the verse comes in and where's the riffs? Single note chugging over double bass drums does not make it power metal. There's a good melody and a catchy chorus but a serious lack of riffs. The solo is decent but since it's a dual solo with the keyboards it gets kinda buried. Tony's vocals sound good in most places so he hasn't lost his abilities. This is one of the teasers that was released and the reaction was like this was the true successor to Winterheart's Guild. I was wondering what the fuck they were listening to? "Running Lights" follows up the opener and at least we have some riffs here, though they seem to be a bit poppy. It's melodic and a bit catchy but some of the vocals sounds like Tony's playing around. Not sure what to make of this. It's a decent song and better than the opener but I'm still not buying it.

It really never gets going here. "Take One Breath" is another chug fest with no riffing. It starts off sounding really poppy with piano and harps then going into this down tuned chug that seems to go nowhere. The melodies are here but there's no magic here. Tony sounds like he's struggling on this one. The piano and harps come back to the bridge in the middle then being mixed with chugs. Not working for me, sorry. The second teaser "Cloud Factory" was a better song and I guess I could see why people got all excited over this album. But what the fuck is up with the song "X Marks the Spot" with the annoying voice over through the song like some rock and roll evangelist? Makes what would be a really decent song by the band annoying as fuck! The lyrics are just stupid but the song's really good but with that annoying voice over I can't listen to it.

It's a shame because buried in between this tripe are a few decent songs like "Half a Marathon Man." This is a strange song that's fast and bouncy with some decent riffs...yep there's some riffs on this album! The keys sound like old school rock organ and give the song a nice feel. It's catchy and full of hooks. So it appears that they are capable of writing good songs. "Blood" is an epic song that starts off a bit eerie that leads to a nice hook in the verse and a good guitar sound. This song isn't really a riff fest either but it works better because it doesn't rely on chugs. There's some power metal riffs here and there and the chorus is really good. This is definitely my favorite song in the album. "What Did You Do in the War, Dad?" is actually another really good song that could be the sequel to "Replica." It's pretty much a slower ballad type of song in places. It has a catchy chorus and has that typical Sonata Arctica melody.

The last two songs on the album are just forgettable. "Love" is just a ballad that's so cheesy bordering on pukey! It's slow and is mostly piano though some guitars (electric and acoustic) comes into the chorus. I can barely get through it. I like metal ballads but this is really bad. Which leads me to the final song, "Larger Than Life." This is ten minutes of going nowhere. It starts out slow with orchestral parts and piano as the song makes you think it will build up to something epic but just goes nowhere. It's directionless and I'm not sure what Tony is going for in the vocals but he sounds like he's singing a show tune in places. Thew chorus is decent but he seems to be playing around with his voice, as I mentioned before. This is a ten minute snooze fest.

So here we have one of the most anticipated albums of the year and it just doesn't live up to the hype. It's not a return to form. It's not even a good album. There are a couple really good songs mixed in with songs that are trying to be something but fail miserably. As I said, I'm not asking for a re-run of Ecliptica, I'm just asking for good songs. I know they are capable of much better than this, why are they not doing it? There's no magic here and it seems they are just going through the motions. Keep your finger near the skip button, folks. Your going to need it.


http://elitistmetalhead.blogspot.com/

Skepticism and cynicism are both double-edged swords, being useful in filtering out false claims, yet also carrying with them the risk of causing one to miss out on something worthwhile. Granted, after three albums of varying degrees of failure and nonsensical stylistic meandering, Tony Kakko and Sonata Arctica weren't exactly the best of pitch persons for a return to metallic form. Nevertheless, they were actually being honest in that their latest endeavor Pariah's Child would be a "power metalesque" affair. But the question then becomes, what kind of power metal is in view? Would it be the high octane speed of Ecliptica? Maybe the dense keyboard with a similar dose of speed and majesty that was Silence or Winterheart's Guild? Well, the reality isn't quite so simple, but this album can be rightly seen as a partial return to form.

While the same sort of raging speed that typified much of Stratovarius' 90s material was a key factor in what made this band's early material such an auditory treat, it wasn't the only factor in play. The other important ingredients that had been lacking since the mid 2000s and have been rediscovered include a unique combination of melodic and stylistic consistency, one that was present from the blinding rapid pace of "San Sebastian" and the somber slowness of "Last Drop Falls", and one that was exchanged for an odd potpourri of clashing non-metal elements and over-dramatic vocal devices. Granted, some of this has endured here, as can be gathered from the frequent degeneration into operatic ridiculousness on the closing epic "Larger Than Life", which stands as the most monumental mixed bag of brilliant symphonic and progressive elements and a lot of unnecessary other stuff, not to mention the goofy preacher voice-over on "X Marks The Spot" which is otherwise a decent faster number.

It's actually rather ironic that the defenders of Sonata Arctica's last few bombs frequently use the mixed style of Reckoning Night as a point of comparison, because that is the closest album to this one in terms of overall pace and demeanor. These songs tend to be growers with a few twists and turns here and there, but they are far more coherent and easy to grab onto. Particularly in the cases of "Running Lights" and "Blood", a solid mixture of multiple interludes and discernible chorus sections definitely results in something that stimulates the music imagination. Even the continual plugging away at the father and son storytelling in "What Did You Do In The War, Dad?" manages to turn into a decent celebration of glory and melody. Occasional reversions into 70s rock and early 80s heavy metal occur as well with strong results, such as the lyrically cryptic yet rocking "Half A Marathon Man", showcasing some impressive guitar chops alongside a beautiful mixture of organ and synthesized string sounds.

This is one of those occasions where mixing a lot of different ideas works, primarily because of a lesser number of them combined with a greater degree of organization. In spite of what Tony Kakko may have said to the contrary, Sonata Arctica is a power metal band, albeit they were never a typical one. That degree of nuance has always worked well for them and they only ceased to be good at what they were doing when they forgot that fundamentally, despite what made them different, their commonality with other bands in this genre is what held everything together. Pariah's Child is largely the opposite of its recent predecessors, a fit of experimentation that doesn't turn itself into mush in the process. Begrudgingly it seems that this band has come back home, and hopefully it will be for an extended stay. Old school fans of this band should be pleased.