Deep Unknown

Upon first hearing that Stratovarius had reformed with a new guitarist, I was highly skeptical of the band’s ability to rebound after the lost of their longstanding guitarist Timo Tolkki. Pretty much every Stratovarius album since “Twilight Time” has had his song on most, if not all the songs on the track list. Likewise, love or hate the guy for his antics in his personal life offstage, the guy is an incredible guitar player who has a unique ability for writing memorable solos. I have never heard anything by Matias Kupiainen, the guitarist who has replaced Timo, before but based on the contents on this single, I am extremely curious.

Basically my expectations were unrealistically low, as what has come forth here is an exceptional set of songs in a similar vain to several classics heard on both “Episode” and “Destiny”, my two favorite albums by this band no less. There is definitely a bit of a symphonic nature to this, particularly on the title track “Deep Unknown”, as well as a progressive flavor that was not present on anything in the band’s catalog. It’s very subtle, but in spite of the generally fast and driving nature of this song, an element of early 90s Dream Theater has snuck in here, probably with the aid of Matias’ progressive soloing style, and breathed new life and originality into this band.

The accompanying track “Higher We Go” is a bit more standard, though far more complex than it’s more recent predecessor’s “Eagleheart” and “I Walk To My Own Song”, both of which were very dry from a guitar standpoint and more of a keyboard attraction. The chorus is extremely catchy, and well in line with the traditions of the band, but the additional fills and detailing provided by the new axe man push it over the top, even to the point of surpassing a later Stratovarius single that I regard as a classic in “Hunting High And Low”.

The jury is still out as I am still working on fully understanding the full length album that followed this pre-release sampling, but based on these two songs, the prognosis is extremely hopeful. Everything is in near perfect order, the energy that the band started losing 8 years ago is now back in full swing, and the shoes of the now departed Tolkki have been all but completely filled. Although it has become somewhat cliché to say, but this sum is definitely more than it’s individual parts.