'Unia' is Sonata Arctica's fifth studio album and marks a somewhat drastic change in style. Previously Sonata have fed their fans on a staple diet of fast melodic power metal songs, with the odd ballad here and there.

This time things are very different, no fast songs, the double bass is kept well in check and generally this is not what you'd expect from Finland's premier power metallers!

Change can be hard for many fans to accept, even myself (who has been a fan since their 'FullMoon' demo which got them signed to Spinefarm Records) was longing for a couple of fast songs. But you can only offer an opinion on what's put in front of you and those fast songs are on the old albums for when you need a fix of something more uptempo.

Once you get over that the old style has been put to rest for a while (or has it been completely buried?) 'Unia' isn't an album that can be judged with just a single listen. It's one of those album that has a lot going on within each song, many of the melodies are buried deep and are not found until you have listened many times. Even after many listens, I am still getting to grips with everything that is going on here, the twelve songs of 'Unia' will take some time to fully digest.

Perhaps, 'Unia' is Sonata Arctica's most mature effort to date. Plenty of Queen-like influences throughout, layers upon layers of vocals, abrupt time changes and even some progressive rock moments it's really hard to pidgeon hole a single song here, let alone the whole album!

It's still very distinctly Sonata, all be it with something a little different from their previous efforts.

*****

Review by Graham Boyle