DVD 2: Extra Features: Sonata Arctica Open Air II:
1. White Pearl, Black Oceans
2. Draw Me
3. In Black & White
4. Don't Say A Word
Making-of "Live in Finland"
Making-of "Flag In The Ground"
Latin-American Tour Documentary
Made in Finland - Tour Documentary
Music Videos:
Don't Say A Word
Paid In Full
Flag In The Ground
Acoustic live at Alcatraz, Milano
The Flag in the Ground - cover contest
Photo Galleries
Band:
Tony Kakko - Vocals
Elias Viljanen - Guitars
Marko Paasikoski - Bass guitar
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Henrik Klingenberg - Keyboards
Discography:
Ecliptica (1999)
Silence (2001)
Winterheart's Guild (2003)
Reckoning Night (2004)
Unia (2007)
The Days of Grays (2009)
Guests:
Info:
Recorded at Teatria in Oulu, Finland on April 15th, 2011
Includes material from Sonata Arctica Open Air Festival in Kemi, August 2009
Production Manager: Antti Punkki
Vision director: Jerzy Kisala
Directors: Dariusz Szermanowicz & Rafal Szermanowicz
Sound recording and mix: Pasi Kauppinen, Studio 57
Audio mastered by Svante Forsbäck, Chartmakers
Released 11/11-2011
Reviewed 12/11-2011
Musically I think you will be wisest to look at our older reviews which are linked in the discography as they contain the information how the band sound and all of that lot, the show is a rather big production, filmed with eight HD-cameras and elaborately cut together. The sound is rather okay when you finally manage to get it to be played in dolby digital which isn’t as simple as it sounds, thing I always wonder is why it is not made in DTS which always tend to sound better than the dolby sound. I must also say that I own several live DVDs with better sound than this one, not necessarily better music but better sound. I also feel a bit sceptical to the imagery which is a bit sketchy at best, some angles are quite dull and the fact that the change from colour to black and white at times is also a bit of an annoyance to me but I guess that is only a matter of taste, it is well done so if you like that sort of thing. The band does a great show though and show lots of passion and energy as well as skill, the music is something I cannot complain of here. The acoustic set of three songs in the middle of the show is also really exciting and good, quite an impressive set to say the least but they do have quite a selection to chose from by now.
I think Sonata Arctica is the best power metal band out there, bar none and they do always deliver the goods and the same is true for this DVD-set. There is a but in this though as this DVD like most live releases feels geared towards the already into the band since before, maybe nothing strange in that but I do think that you do not get that much out of it if you are not a fan of Sonata Arctica. As a fan I am sure you will get a lot out of watching the documentary material as it is really fun and I think it gave me more than the actual show which I liked but it did not blow me away in any way, a solid well made show DVD but I was almost expecting something more, which might prove that I have to high expectations of this band or something.
So in the end it is a DVD that is somewhat flawed in the sense that it was not playable on my PS3 and that there was some issues with it on the DVD-player as well which seems like a slight oversight from the production people but in the end I think that when it actually gets working it works quite well and the show is good, Sonata Arctica fans will adore this release and the show is quite amazing to be honest. I don’t think this will win over any new fans to the band though as it is not material to really suit the uninvited which makes it something for the fans and therefore not really worthy of the highest ratings on our scale. I like this very much though and if you are a Sonata Arctica fan there is no defending not to buy this DVD, well don’t buy it if your only mode of playing DVDs is a PS3, then there is the Blu-ray edition which Warner did not send me for some reason (maybe they just wasn’t aware that I had only Sony machines to play DVDs on). Also, why is the commentary track only in finnish and not texted? is that also a Sony flaw or is it really so? Actually now after a few days I have had a bit of response from you readers and it appears that the blu-ray does not do what is advertised either only having PCM 5.1 sound and not dolby digital as advertisen which makes it a liar. And neither is my problem isolated to Sony machines either so there seems to be a quality control issue. I guess that maybe they should have tried and tested the DVDs and Blu-Rays before putting out to the market. Maybe responders were also like me skeptical about the filming, so this DVD seems to be more of a disappointment than I could have expected, I guess not all faults can be attributed to Sony.
Anyway a fun to watch DVD with lots of good music that will please the fans so what better way to end than saying: melko arvoton?
HHHHHHH
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