Stratovarius
Elysium

Stratovarius launched into early 2011 with new album "Elysium" which has pretty impressive cover artwork, a quality CD booklet and a nice picture of that star shaped space-ship thingy on the disc itself.

But a good album! Cute, stylish, with some special, his own and at the same time typical stratovarius mood. The second album without Timo Tolkki came out much better than the first, "Polaris". It has a core, a certain unified musical line; here, for sure - he is really musical! .. This is not just a set of songs, not just an unsubscription for the fulfillment of contractual obligations to the label and not even an attempt by the remaining members of the group to prove that they will live without a mastermind. Although the main compositional burden fell on the shoulders of the deputy Tolkka - Matthias Kupiainen, we can safely say that it does not smell secondary here. At the same time, you can immediately hear that this is a completely new Stratovarius, despite all the well-known features of the group - chant tunes, deep keyboards, a powerful beat ... It’s quite difficult to single out specific songs, perhaps because "Elysium" is a solid, tightly-knit album. Yes, without hits (or half-hits, if according to the Hamburg account) it could not have done, yes, there are epics and ballads of varying severity; however, it would be foolish to compare it with the same "Visions" (probably, not only I can hear the echoes of this masterpiece) - not at that time. The album smoothly flows from one song to another, never tired, not for a minute, 56 minutes pass quickly and I want to listen to it again. And this is a definite, huge plus! For all that, I repeat, there is nothing extraordinary, enchanting on it. As there is no faceless emptiness of the modern Euro-power, which is also pro "Elysium" ... Technically, there’s not only nothing to complain about, but I don’t feel like it - the sound is at the highest level, clean and verified, "moderate" and just beautiful. Played ... But can these people sing and play badly ?! So, to summarize, we can say - I'm not that I’m not disappointed, I’m inspired, especially against the background of the previous failed pair of “Stratovarius” - “Polaris”; I am pleasantly surprised at how the once wonderful group went through thorns, confusion and vacillations and returned, if not to their former heights, then somewhere close to them. Because "Elysium" is a typical Stratovarius album in the best traditions of the Finnish gang, because they will never be ashamed of it.

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