Carl Begai

By Carl Begai

Rather than trace the trials, tribulations and general misery within the Stratovarius camp that tore the band apart with painful slowness, the focus is instead on their comeback-from-a-comeback album, Polaris. Suffice to say that between 2003 and 2008 the Finnish power metal outfit provided their fanbase with more soap opera drama than anyone deserves to be subjected to (see Wikipedia for the sordid details). Blow up, shake up, make up, break up, ex-guitarist/songwriter Timo Tolkki was at the center of the internal five year battle, his personal demons transforming Stratovarius into a car crash of epic proportions that effectively killed off any hope of a return to glory. The band wasn’t as dead as it seemed, however, with frontman Timo Kotipelto, keyboardist Jens Johansson, drummer Joerg Michael and bassist Lauri Porra choosing in 2008 to move forward as a unit, albeit nameless and without a concrete musical direction. The entrance of guitarist Matias Kupiainen as Tolkki’s more than capable replacement changed all that, with Polaris as the end result. An album that shows more than mere signs of life, it puts Stratovarius back in familiar territory and on a road that isn’t going to simply end around the next curve.
(continue reading…)