Sonata Arctica

SONATA ARCTICA'S HISTORY

Sonata Arctica was born in 1996 on the edge of the world, in the northern Finnish town of Kemi. The very first incarnation of the band was named Tricky Beans. As Tricky Beans, the group produced three demos (Friend till the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker) and played twice in Jyrki Sähkösirkus, a live tour version of a then famous TV pop show.

After some personnel changes in 1997, the outfit changed their name to Tricky Means. Let it be known to the Metal community that initially the band experimented in musical styles far from heavy metal.

Turning the page in 1999, Tricky Means recorded a new demo "FullMoon" in Tico Tico Studios located in their hometown, Kemi. At the time of recording the line-up consisted of: Tony (vocals/keys), Jani (guitars), Tommy (drums), and Janne (bass). This new demo was the first exploration for the band in heavy metal waters. The band's trademark sound of fast, melodic and keyboard oriented heavy metal with clear and high vocals was born. As fate would have it, and with help from Ahti Kortelainen of Tico Tico Studios, the "FullMoon" demo found its way to the premier metal label of Finland, Spinefarm. At the same time Tricky Means became Sonata Arctica.

Summer of 1999 brought us the first single from Sonata Arctica, "UnOpened". The title song was instantaneously included in Metalliliitto 1999 compilation CD. Two furious tracks from the single, UnOpened and Mary-Lou marked the arrival of SA to the power metal community. Of course, not everything went smoothly. During the first mix/pressing of the UnOpened single, Track 1, UnOpened, was unintentionally slowed down. The mistake was discovered shortly after the first batch of disks was sent to music stores. The entire first pressing was recalled. Approximately 200 copies from that first run were sold and are now considered rare collector's items.

Autumn of 1999 marked the release of the very first full-length album, "Ecliptica". Initially released in Finland, other countries quickly followed. Widely successful, Ecliptica opened doors for Sonata Arctica to participate in two tribute records. 'I Want Out' for a Helloween tribute album "Keepers of Jericho" and 'Still Loving You' for a Scorpions tribute, "A Tribute to the Scorpions" were both kick-ass versions of originals.

Soon after the release of Ecliptica, the band's mastermind Tony Kakko decided to concentrate more on singing, as opposed to trying to sing and play keyboards at the same time. Mikko Härkin (ex-Kenziner) joined the band to relief Tony from keys and to allow the frontman to roam the stage. This change allowed for much more energetic live shows. It introduced a new capability for Sonata Arctica - to have two keyboard players simultaneously, adding a new cool twist to the live sound.

Quick rise to fame continued through the end of 1999 and beginning of 2000. Soon after the release of Ecliptica, Sonata Arctica was chosen as support band for Stratovarius' European Tour, winning over 32 other bands from 15 different record companies. The tour started in April of 2000 with Strato and Rhapsody on the road. It lasted for two months, during which Sonata played over 30 gigs in 10 countries, traveling thousands of kilometers.

Very successful tour was followed by the release of the new mini-CD Successor. This new disk included two previously unreleased tracks, two cover tracks for upcoming tribute albums, some live tracks from Provinssi Rock and one edited track from Ecliptica.

In a small line-up change, Janne Kivilahti made a decision to part with the band due to personal reasons. Janne's last gig took place in Kemi on 30th June in the summer of 2000. Janne was replaced by Marko Paasikoski, who happened to be one of the founding members of Tricky Beans. Being a familiar face to the entire band, the transition was smooth and transparent.

Year 2000 brought not only a big tour, new mini-CD, and a small line-up change, but also media recognition. Sonata was chosen as a candidate for "the best new-comer band" by the Finnish Recording Industry Association in their annual Awards Gala, Emma. The new millennium is also treating the Sonata beans well. In the spring of 2001 Sonata Arctica opened two gigs For Alice Cooper, Dio and Ratt (in Oulu and Helsinki) in Monsters of the Millennium 2001 tour.

Forging the metal while it is hot, the band worked on the second full-length offering from autumn of 2000 through the winter of 2001. Again all the songs were composed by the band's mastermind Tony Kakko. The first single, "Wolf & Raven" from the album, was released in May '01. The album was scheduled for an initial release in Japan in June, other territories following shortly after.
This "right of way" for Japanese fans comes for a reason. The first album, Ecliptica, sold more than 30,000 copies in Japan within the first year of release.

The band also played its first four concerts in Japan in September 2001.

The latter half of 2001 was very busy for the band. In July a Finnish tour kicked off along with separate gigs (including Wacken Open Air in Germany) in Europe. Then the band headed towards the Land of The Rising Sun in September. After the Japanese tour Sonata Arctica toured the Europe as a support act for the heavy metal monsters Gamma Ray along with Vanishing Point as special guests. During the 5 weeks on the road, the band conquered a total of 12 countries with 28 shows. The tour ended with a show in Helsinki, Finland to the delight of the Finnish fans in November. While touring, the second single from the album Silence, "Last Drop Falls", was released. The song got aired quite well in the domestic radio stations, gathering even more popularity for the band.
Three weeks after the European tour, it was time for the second leg of the Finnish tour. Thirteen well-received gigs were played across Finland. The Finnish shows at the end of 2001 and in the beginning of 2002 were just an appetizer for the following tour in South America. Four shows in Brazil and two more in Chile truly showed the huge popularity of the band - the crowds they met were amongst the best and wildest ever. During one of the shows the band couldn't even hear its own playing since the crowd was louder than the huge loudspeakers!

The next release was the live album "Songs Of Silence". It was recorded in Tokyo, September 4th, 2001.
The European and Asian editions had completely different artworks, both made by Janne "ToxicAngel" Pitkänen who also became the exclusive artist for the following Sonata Arctica releases. The Asian version was released in March while the other parts of the world got their live album in July/August.

After the last show of the Silence tour, Jörisrock 2002, Mikko Härkin decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. The band announced their search for the new keyboard player and got a huge amount of applications from all around the world. Two of the candidates, both well-known and highly skillful keyboardists from Finland, were asked to travel to Kemi for the audition. Since the capabilities of the players were already known among the band, the choose of the new member was a bit extraordinary - the band wanted a player who could fit not only musically but also mentally to the band, so they dragged the applicants one-by-one to the bar. After spending a night in a bar with the candidates, the band voted for Henrik Klingenberg. Henrik had been playing in various metal bands like Silent Voices and Requiem about a decade or so and he proved to be the right man for the job.
The third studio album entitled "Winterheart's Guild" was recorded in the meantime, without the new keyboard player. A fellow mate of the band, Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, offered his helping hand and the band naturally was really pleased to get a world class keyboard player as a guest for their new album. Jens played solos for four songs while Tony handled most of the keyboard duties.
Henrik's first appearance with Sonata Arctica was held on February 21st, 2003 in Tornio. Hundreds of people in the audience coming from all-over Finland greeted the band and the new keyboard player enthusiastically. With Henrik in the band they got a huge amount of extra energy and visual appearance. No more glued-to-the-stage keyboards, Klingenberg took the stage with a true rock attitude and joined the show actively with his portable keyboard.
The second show ever with the new line-up was humbly held at the Tavastia club - the most legendary rock club in Finland!

In Japan, Winterheart's Guild was released soon afterwards. The band hit the road and traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun, playing eight sold-out gigs. According to the audience on the shows, the band was truly on fire making their best live performances ever.

Quick rise to fame continued through the end of 1999 and beginning of 2000. Soon after the release of Ecliptica, Sonata Arctica was chosen as support band for Stratovarius' European Tour, winning over 32 other bands from 15 different record companies. The tour started in April of 2000 with Strato and Rhapsody on the road. It lasted for two months, during which Sonata played over 30 gigs in 10 countries, traveling thousands of kilometers.

Very successful tour was followed by the release of the new mini-CD Successor. This new disk included two previously unreleased tracks, two cover tracks for upcoming tribute albums, some live tracks from Provinssi Rock and one edited track from Ecliptica.

In a small line-up change, Janne Kivilahti made a decision to part with the band due to personal reasons. Janne's last gig took place in Kemi on 30th June in the summer of 2000. Janne was replaced by Marko Paasikoski, who happened to be one of the founding members of Tricky Beans. Being a familiar face to the entire band, the transition was smooth and transparent.

Year 2000 brought not only a big tour, new mini-CD, and a small line-up change, but also media recognition. Sonata was chosen as a candidate for "the best new-comer band" by the Finnish Recording Industry Association in their annual Awards Gala, Emma. The new millennium is also treating the Sonata beans well. In the spring of 2001 Sonata Arctica opened two gigs For Alice Cooper, Dio and Ratt (in Oulu and Helsinki) in Monsters of the Millennium 2001 tour.

Forging the metal while it is hot, the band worked on the second full-length offering from autumn of 2000 through the winter of 2001. Again all the songs were composed by the band's mastermind Tony Kakko. The first single, "Wolf & Raven" from the album, was released in May '01. The album was scheduled for an initial release in Japan in June, other territories following shortly after.
This "right of way" for Japanese fans comes for a reason. The first album, Ecliptica, sold more than 30,000 copies in Japan within the first year of release.

The band also played its first four concerts in Japan in September 2001.

The latter half of 2001 was very busy for the band. In July a Finnish tour kicked off along with separate gigs (including Wacken Open Air in Germany) in Europe. Then the band headed towards the Land of The Rising Sun in September. After the Japanese tour Sonata Arctica toured the Europe as a support act for the heavy metal monsters Gamma Ray along with Vanishing Point as special guests. During the 5 weeks on the road, the band conquered a total of 12 countries with 28 shows. The tour ended with a show in Helsinki, Finland to the delight of the Finnish fans in November. While touring, the second single from the album Silence, "Last Drop Falls", was released. The song got aired quite well in the domestic radio stations, gathering even more popularity for the band.
Three weeks after the European tour, it was time for the second leg of the Finnish tour. Thirteen well-received gigs were played across Finland. The Finnish shows at the end of 2001 and in the beginning of 2002 were just an appetizer for the following tour in South America. Four shows in Brazil and two more in Chile truly showed the huge popularity of the band - the crowds they met were amongst the best and wildest ever. During one of the shows the band couldn't even hear its own playing since the crowd was louder than the huge loudspeakers!

The next release was the live album "Songs Of Silence". It was recorded in Tokyo, September 4th, 2001.
The European and Asian editions had completely different artworks, both made by Janne "ToxicAngel" Pitkänen who also became the exclusive artist for the following Sonata Arctica releases. The Asian version was released in March while the other parts of the world got their live album in July/August.

After the last show of the Silence tour, Jörisrock 2002, Mikko Härkin decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. The band announced their search for the new keyboard player and got a huge amount of applications from all around the world. Two of the candidates, both well-known and highly skillful keyboardists from Finland, were asked to travel to Kemi for the audition. Since the capabilities of the players were already known among the band, the choose of the new member was a bit extraordinary - the band wanted a player who could fit not only musically but also mentally to the band, so they dragged the applicants one-by-one to the bar. After spending a night in a bar with the candidates, the band voted for Henrik Klingenberg. Henrik had been playing in various metal bands like Silent Voices and Requiem about a decade or so and he proved to be the right man for the job.
The third studio album entitled "Winterheart's Guild" was recorded in the meantime, without the new keyboard player. A fellow mate of the band, Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, offered his helping hand and the band naturally was really pleased to get a world class keyboard player as a guest for their new album. Jens played solos for four songs while Tony handled most of the keyboard duties.
Henrik's first appearance with Sonata Arctica was held on February 21st, 2003 in Tornio. Hundreds of people in the audience coming from all-over Finland greeted the band and the new keyboard player enthusiastically. With Henrik in the band they got a huge amount of extra energy and visual appearance. No more glued-to-the-stage keyboards, Klingenberg took the stage with a true rock attitude and joined the show actively with his portable keyboard.
The second show ever with the new line-up was humbly held at the Tavastia club - the most legendary rock club in Finland!

In Japan, Winterheart's Guild was released soon afterwards. The band hit the road and traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun, playing eight sold-out gigs. According to the audience on the shows, the band was truly on fire making their best live performances ever.

The first single of Winterheart's Guild was "Victoria's Secret", a traditional Sonata Arctica tune with its melodic and speedy approach. During the first week the single notched #2 position on the official Finnish charts. The first position was taken over by Darude's new single which was released at the same time. During the next two weeks, Victoria's Secret seized the first position, leaving such names as Eminem, Negative and The Rasmus behind. Though the previous single "Last Drop Falls" was a hit in Finland, it never rose higher than #3 on the charts during its four months on them - Victoria's Secret truly became the most successful Sonata Arctica single until then.

The domestic success continued after Winterheart's Guild was released in Finland. During its debutant week it peaked at #3, this time leaving The Rasmus, Eminem, T.A.T.U and Stratovarius behind. The album stayed five weeks on the top 10. After a successful album release it was naturally the right time for the first leg of the Finnish tour. Eight successive shows in Finland were followed by four more in France. The festival season was opened with Sweden Rock Festival (along with artists like Queensrÿche, Yes, Kamelot, Whitesnake etc.), continued with e.g. Nummirock and the huge Sziget Festival in Hungary and ended with the legendary Wacken Open Air. The summer ended with the second leg of the Finnish tour. During this time 14,000 Finnish people had bought their copy of Winterheart's Guild.

Two more releases were made during the latter half of 2003. The Finnish people enjoyed a new single, "Broken", which included two previously unreleased bonus tracks. The tracks were recorded over a year earlier though, with Mikko still in the band. Japanese fans got themselves an extra tribute in November - an EP called "Takatalvi". The EP was mostly a re-release of the already sold-out Successor EP with some additional material and without the live tracks.

Because the previous recording deal with Spinefarm Records had completed with Winterheart's Guild, the band was marketing for a new deal. Needless to say, all of the major metal-releasing record companies were begging Sonata Arctica to join their ranks. After negotiations Sonata Arctica were signed to Nuclear Blast.

In the beginning of 2004 Sonata Arctica was chosen as a warm-up band for the Japanese tourdates of Iron Maiden. After the Japanese gigs in February, the band came back to Finland just to find out they were one of the nominees for the annual Emma Award in the category "the best hard rock / metal album". The other nominees were Children Of Bodom, HIM and Kotiteollisuus who also won the award.

March 2004 revealed two happy newsbits for Sonata Arctica. First of all, Tommy became a proud father of a newborn baby girl. The band also entered Tico Tico Studios in Kemi for the recording of their fourth studio album.
This time the recording session featured also Henrik who added fresh spices to the soup, later on called "Reckoning Night". After over three months of hard work, the recordings were finally completed. The album was mixed and mastered in the famous Finnvox Studios. The release dates were fixed to the beginning of October.

During the summer 2004 the band played on many festivals, this time conquering also new grounds. Finland's most famous metal festival, Tuska Open Air, got its part of Sonata frenzy in July. German fans got an additional bit of fame since Sonata Arctica played their first single from the forthcoming album, "Don't Say A Word", for the first time ever at the Summer Breeze festival. And finally, United Kingdom got also Sonatized when the band debuted at the famous Bloodstock Festival.

Don't Say A Word (single) was released on August 23rd solely in Finland. Immediately after the release the single hit the first position on the official charts! The next week the single attached the second position, following only Children Of Bodom's new single. A week after that, the EP version of Don't Say A Word peaked at the fourth position and dropped the single to the fifth position - so, during one week, Sonata Arctica made history and had two releases on the top five in the official charts!
The single version kept its second place during the next weeks, being totally six weeks in the top ten with the lowest position of 6th.

The EP was also released in Japan on September 22nd. Slightly after the EP, the Japanese people got once again the pole position for getting the new Sonata Arctica album week prior the European release. In Finland the album peaked at second position for the first two weeks with only Rammstein selling more copies. Finland wasn't the only country where Reckoning Night entered the charts. In Germany the position was 77th, in Switzerland 85th and in Norway 69th.

A headline tour was supposed to follow the release of Reckoning Night, but the band got an once-in-a-lifetime invitation from Nightwish to join their European tour as a special guest. The band opted in - Sonata Arctica toured Europe with Nightwish in arenas with capacities up to 12 000 people! During the tour band also played a handful of headliner shows over Europe.

In October 2004, the band received extraordinary news: they'd exceeded the Gold record sales mark with Silence. Silence had become eventually the most sold album of the band reaching the magical limit of 15,000 copies! Despite some releases being really close reaching the gold disc plateau, Silence was the first release in the history of Sonata Arctica reaching the gold disc status. In November the sold-out audience of Helsinki, Tavastia club - the most famous rock club in Finland - witnessed Sonata Arctica receiving the long-awaited gold discs and thanked the band by applausing with probably the longest applauses in the history of the club.

The gold disc party that started the whole Finnish tour was just the beginning - the following eighteen shows all around Finland exceeded all the earlier domestic tours by the number of shows and by the amount of audience. The final gig of the tour was at the newly-formed Finnish Metal Expo at Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki. From the beginning of the day the once again sold-out audience was eagerly awaiting Sonata Arctica to play, though the band was booked as the headliner and the last act of the whole-weekend expo! After midnight the audience finally received what it was been waiting for the whole weekend, and the entire hall virtually exploded.

The ending show of the Finnish tour was not only performed in front of the sold-out huge audience of the metal expo, but also a good practice for the band for the forthcoming Japanese tour. Sonata Arctica played for the first time ever the same set the Japanese fans were going to receive during the exclusive Japanese tour - and what eventually became inevitable, the same set which would be later on released as their first DVD "For The Sake Of Revenge", recorded in Tokyo on February 4th and 5th, 2005.

After the highly successful Japanese tour Sonata Arctica made a one-off Finnish gig at the 19th annual Emma (the Finnish Grammy) awards gala of the Finnish Recording Industry Association. If a metal band playing in a pop awards concert is a rarity, another rarity was Sonata Arctica performing only one song during the whole night: their first single from Reckoning Night, Don't Say A Word.

The next big thing was going to be a long tour supporting their highly successful countrymen Nightwish, once again, during their first major North American tour, but the headliners were suddenly forced to cancel the tour.

Despite this Sonata was invited to play a short tour of nine shows on the east coast. The band gave everything they got for the North American audience and promised to come back as soon as possible encouraged by the heart warming welcome they received both in USA and Canada.

After the North American trip Sonata Arctica played a dozen of well-received festival appearances in Europe. The size of the venues was everything between the small Hullun Mylly at their hometown Kemi to the gigantic Sweden Rock Festival and the legendary Wacken Open Air.

The festival season ended in August, and on August 24th the Japanese label Marquee/Avalon released the compilation album "The End Of This Chapter". The compilation included one previously unreleased version, an instrumental edition of "Draw Me" from the "Winterheart's Guild" album. The first limited edition of the compilation was equipped with a DVD including seven acoustic songs. The compilation is still TBA for the European and American release.

Sonata Arctica didn't rest in silence, since just a small fraction of time after the release of the compilation album they were ready for the next leg of their European tour traveling all the way from the Netherlands to Italy and back. The following Finnish tour started modestly in October 21st at the Hartwall Arena, Helsinki - the biggest indoor venue in the whole country! Sonata Arctica opened for Nightwish who recorded their forthcoming actual DVD release and also dismissed their lead singer Tarja Turunen during the same night.

The domestic tour advanced about a month after the forever-unforgettable night. This time the band and the management decided to go for the capacity and the quality instead of the quantity - the result leading for only eight concerts, arranged in the biggest rock clubs and venues in Finland. The gambling was successful: the venues were packed up with people from the very beginning to the final second of the tour, and the lucky ones getting their tickets early enough swore to have witnessed definitely the best shows of Sonata Arctica, ever.

The latter half of December 2005 proved once again the magic of Sonata Arctica: their third album "Winterheart's Guild" was confirmed to receive the awaited gold disc status in Finland, selling over 15,000 copies, slightly before the year turning to 2006.

Conquering Finland once and for all and reaching two once-in-a-lifetime goals during one month was not enough for the band, but they also fulfilled their earlier promise to play in the North America again - and this time it was not only few shows here and there, this time it was for real. The tour included 29 shows at 28 different venues, and it wasn't only a showcase for the whole American continent, but also a promise filled for their loyal fans left behind from the previous crippled tour in 2005.

Shortly after "Winterheart's Guild" also the 4th studio album "Reckoning Night" was certified with gold disc status in Finland while the band was still touring in the North America in February 2006. The album was also confirmed to have 100,000 sold copies worldwide - thus being the most successful Sonata Arctica album ever.

After finishing the North American tour in February Sonata Arctica soon continued by touring in Europe to promote their forthcoming live DVD "For The Sake Of Revenge". The band hit the road again in April with their fellow countrymen Altaria - with whom Jani used to play earlier! - and with the German-based hard rock legend Doro. After the tour finished, Sonata Arctica opted in for only six summer festival appearances, all of them in Finland. The worldwide Reckoning Night tour lasted in the end two years and it was brilliantly finished with an exclusive appearance in self-arranged and self-titled Sonata Arctica Open Air festival in Kemi, the hometown of the band.

After their last live appearance in 2006 the band retreated from publicity and began to prepare material for their fifth studio album. The band also received yet another gold disc award, this time from their first-ever live DVD "For The Sake Of Revenge". The DVD not only achieved gold disc status, but it also ended up in the top 10 of the best-selling DVDs in Finland that year - all this, when the album had been for sale mere a few months!

While the band was working hard in different studios recording their fifth studio album "Unia" - Finnish for "Dreams" -, Finnish press announced an official Sonata Arctica documentary being in production. The documentary film will follow Sonata Arctica in their hometown Kemi and also show how a Sonata Arctica song is being formed from the scratch to the very end of the creative process. The documentary will have its first public appearance during the annual music video festival of Oulu in September 2007. Meanwhile the documentary isn't the only non-musical work related to Sonata Arctica, since an official Sonata Arctica 3d role playing game for PC, called "Winterheart's Guild", is in the works.

The fifth studio album of Sonata Arctica is called "Unia". The album was released in May 2007. Before the release of the album a single entitled "Paid In Full" was released in Finland, Germany and Japan. The single featured also a cover version of "Out In The Fields", a legendary song originally performed by Gary Moore and Phil Lynott. The single hit the #1 position in the official Finnish charts, sticked to second place the following week and stayed in the national top ten until "Unia" was released a month later!

During the same week the new single was released the band played four gigs in the biggest rock clubs of Finland. The sizes of the venues varied from 700 to 2,300 people, and each night was sold out. The fans witnessed not one but three never-seen-before events during one show: Not only the songs from "Unia" were performed live for the very first time, but also Sonata Arctica appeared on stage first time ever without its founding member Jani Liimatainen and thus it was also the first time ever the band performed with a temporary replacement guest musician. Each and every show during the over decade-lasting career had been performed with the permanent line-up - until now. The guitarist Jani Liimatainen had to skip the four Finnish shows because of his civil duties for the Finnish government. Because of the length of the Finnish national duties, he is also forced to let the temping guitarist Elias Viljanen replace him temporarily during the summer festivals, the four Japanese shows and the North American tour.

Sonata Arctica is confirmed to perform on a few selected festivals during the summer. In July the band travels to the Land of the rising Sun and the Japanese audience will be the first foreigners to hear the new songs from the "Unia" album performed live. After the festival season Sonata Arctica is ready for a four-show excursion to Mexico. These are the first Mexican shows ever! From Mexico the band continues to USA and Canada.

Europe has been left quite a while without the magic of Sonata Arctica. However, in the end of October this will change when Sonata Arctica begins its massive headlining tour starting from Stockholm, Sweden. During the European tour the band plays in thirteen different countries with their support acts, the Netherlands-based Epica.

With four gold disc awards and multiple sold-out tours Sonata Arctica has got its hands tightly attached to the history of Finnish metal music - and more will definately be achieved in the future!

TONY KAKKO


NAME: Tony Kakko

INSTRUMENT: Vocals, Keyboards

DATE OF BIRTH: May 16th 1975

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Finland

JOINED SONATA ARCTICA: 1996

EQUIPMENT: Shure microphones, Sennheiser in-ear monitors and many different keyboards and softwares.

MUSICAL BACKGROUND:
Studied keyboards for ca. 2 years, otherwise mainly self-educated.

PREVIOUS BANDS:
-

WHY DID YOU START PLAYING?
...and why did you start to breathe?

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT A MUSICIAN?
I think I would be in advertising business.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF WITH 3 WORDS:
Stubborn, musical, fragile.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?
Making music of all kinds for all kinds of projects. And of course for Sonata Arctica. Touring the world!


WORST HABIT:
I still eat too much sweets. Fighting to cut that down.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
People. Animals. Humour. Words. Whitty friendly sarcasm.

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR?
It does not need to be killed. It just withers away...

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW?
Get dressed and warm up the body, voice and mind.

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
Forgetting something. Dementia. Also losing my voice is pretty bad. Equal to broken hand for a guitarist.

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
That someone does something stupid and the world as we know it comes to an end.

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR?
It does not really matter all that much as long as the people in the band are nice, real people.

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER:
I'm not sure anymore. Every show is an embarrasement in a way, but I'm a clown...


CRAZIEST RUMOUR YOU HEARD ABOUT YOURSELF:
Hard to say, can't remember any really crazy. Don't believe ANYTHING you hear about me, folks!

DUMBEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED:
“How can you sing like that?” ranks pretty high.
Does anyone ask Stephen King how can he write like that? I understand it though.
"But how can you ask a question like that?? I'm like...wow!"

FAVOURITES:

Best own gig:
There are many equally great in many many countries and continents. Fans make the show!

Best gig by other band/artist:
Hmm…can’t say.


Sonata song to play live:
Don't have one / changes all the time.

Bands to tour with:
Nightwish, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Vanishing Point thus far. Have not toured with all bands on this planet yet.

Bands/artists:
Many, many in many genres.


Albums:
Don't have one.

Movies:
Forrest Gump, Almost Famous, Back to the Future -trilogy...

TV programme:
News, few series, but sadly (??) I don't have too much time to follow them regularly. So I watch them from DVD. Of those "World at War" is a very captivating documentary series shown on tv in some point when I was a kid.
Same with "Band of Brothers" which is absolutely fantastic! If I only could watch that for the first time again...come dementia.

Actor/actress:
Sean Connery, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt…I'm really not a HUGE fan of anybody.

Food:
I like food. I try to eat something regularly, every day.

Drink / smoke:
Water, different juices, White Russian, Whiskies (Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig... ), beer (Guinness, Kilkenny mostly). / No thank you.

Computer/console games:
World of Warcraft, GTA serie, 1st person shooters, flight simulators...that is, when I have the time to do that.

Books / Authors:
Dan Brown: Da Vinci Code, Deception Point...

Animal:
My own dog. Wolf in more absurd way, as a thought.

Season:
I love and need all seasons the same. Eternal whatever would be terrible.

Place you would like to visit:
Space, Moon, Australia, Iceland.

Sports:
EA Sports, jogging.

Hobbies:
CPU games, movies, life ...while touring: collecting HRC bears.

Life philosophy:
“Every day deserves a new, better tomorrow.”

TOMMY PORTIMO

NAME: Tommy Portimo

INSTRUMENT: Drums

DATE OF BIRTH: September 5th 1981

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Kemi

JOINED SONATA ARCTICA: Original member

EQUIPMENT: Premier drums, Pro mark sticks, Remo skins

MUSICAL BACKGROUND: "Played in a couple of bands before this band"

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT MUSICIAN ?
Maybe plumber.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS ?
Still playing with these great guys.

WORST HABIT:
Smoking

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH ?
My daughter

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR ?
Watching movies, drinking

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW ?
Usually I start warming up 45 minutes before shows.

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
Passing out during a song.

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
If something happens to my family.

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR ?
Metallica


FAVOURITES:


Best own gig:
Santiago, Chile 2002

Best gig by other band/artist:
Any Nightwish show when we were touring in Europe with them in 2004.

Sonata song to play live:
Don't Say A Word

Bands to tour with:
Stratovarius, Nightwish

Bands/artists:
Sentenced, Stratovarius, Nightwish, Him, Children Of Bodom

Albums:
Sentenced - The Cold White Light

Movies:
American History X

TV programme:
24

Food:
Chinese food

Drink / smoke:
Red wine, beer, vodka

Books / authors:
Mötley Crüe - The Dirt

Season:
Summer

Place you would like to visit:
Australia

Life philosophy:
Elämä on ihmisen parasta aikaa. (Life is the best time for humanbeing)

MARKO PAASIKOSKI

NAME: Marko Paasikoski

INSTRUMENT: Bass

DATE OF BIRTH: June 10th 1978

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Kemi, Finland

JOINED SONATA ARCTICA: Summer 2000

EQUIPMENT: Warwick bass

MUSICAL BACKGROUND: -

PREVIOUS BANDS: Played in pre-Sonata Arctica first guitar and then bass

WHY DID YOU START PLAYING ?
-

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT MUSICIAN ?
-

DESCRIBE YOURSELF WITH 3 WORDS:
-

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS ?
-

WORST HABIT:
-

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH ?
-

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR ?
-

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW ?
-

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
-

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
-

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR ?
-

MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER:
-

CRAZIEST RUMOUR YOU HEARD ABOUT YOURSELF:
-

DUMBEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED:
-

FAVOURITES:


Best own gig:
The whole winterheart Japan tour

Best gig by other band/artist:
Joe Satriani in Pori Jazz 2000

Sonata song to play live:
Don't say a word or Black Sheep

Bands to tour with:
-

Bands/artists:
Frank Zappa, Freak Kitchen, Helloween, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Mattias IA Eklund, Billy Sheehan, Mike Portnoy, Terry Bozzio

Albums:
Freak Kitchen - MOVE

Movies:
-

TV programme:
-

Actor/actress:
-

Food:
Pizza

Drink / smoke:
Coke & Beer

Computer/console games:
-

Books / Authors:
-

Animal:
Dog

Season:
Summer

Place you would like to visit:
USA

Sports:
Swimming

Hobbies:
Music

Life philosophy:
JOO JOO!!!

HENRIK KLINGENBERG

NAME: Henrik "Lance" Klingenberg

INSTRUMENT: Keyboards

DATE OF BIRTH: October 21st 1978

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Kokkola

EQUIPMENT: Korg & Clavia Keyboards

MUSICAL BACKGROUND: Classical & Pop/Jazz-education and a lot
of self-studying.

PREVIOUS BANDS: Too many to mention.


WHY DID YOU START PLAYING?
I felt compelled to do so.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT MUSICIAN?
Movie critic

DESCRIBE YOURSELF WITH 3 WORDS:
I love life

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?
Absolutely no idea.

WORST HABIT:
Drinking, smoking & partying too much.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Most things

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR?
Movies & drinks

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW?
Beer & jäger

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
Stödtlen ' 06

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
Don't really have one...impotence maybe ?

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR?
Metallica, Dream Theater or Rush

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER:
I tend to "forget" embarrassing moments....

CRAZIEST RUMOUR YOU HEARD ABOUT YOURSELF:
That I live in a castle with my own brewery and I only eat olives and everyone working for me has to call me Mr. Gnikojylnomai after the old Russian dictator.

DUMBEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED:
When telling a story of myself getting hurt someone leans in: did you die ?...and no they weren't kidding.

FAVOURITES:


Best own gig:
No idea

Best gig by other band/artist:
Metallica in Estonia ' 06

Sonata song to play live:
Don't say a Word or any Unia song

Bands to tour with:
Most bands we've toured with....

Bands/artists:
Pantera, Metallica, COB, Mötley Crüe...whatever.

Albums:
Too many good ones out there.

Movies:
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Crank, Smoking Aces, this changes every day.

TV programme:
Friends, Shield, Miami Vice, CSI....

Actor/actress:
Too many to mention, again.....

Food:
Meat & pasta

Drink / smoke:
Any / almost any

Computer/console games:
Don't really have the time....Winterheart's Guild...hehe

Books / Authors:
On the road / Hunter S. Thompson

Animal:
Koala

Season:
Late spring

Place you would like to visit:
Anywhere I have not been

Sports:
Any combat sport

Hobbies:
Movies, books, music and selected sports very occasionally.

Life philosophy:
“Live free or die hard...haha"

ELIAS VILJANEN

NAME: Elias “E.Vil” Viljanen

INSTRUMENT: Guitar

DATE OF BIRTH: 8th of July 1975

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Pirkkala

EQUIPMENT: Ibanez guitars & Mesa Boogie amps

MUSICAL BACKGROUND: Self-taught, played since I was 9 or 10. Played in
various bands since I was 13.

OTHER BANDS: Elias Viljanen & Evil Spirit, Mess, Arched.

WHY DID YOU START PLAYING?
I wanted to be like Kiss.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT MUSICIAN?
Welder

DESCRIBE YOURSELF WITH 3 WORDS:
Isi (=Daddy), Husband, Guitarist.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?
At the top of the world (=elämä edessä, tukka takana..)

WORST HABIT:
Perfectionism.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Humour.

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR?
Playstation, movies, beer…

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW?
By warming up.

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
No signal from the guitar...

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
That I wouldn´t be able to play anymore...

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR?
Metallica

MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER:
We had a gig and I changed my guitar. I played an intro and the first verse of the song and I forgot to plug my guitar...
My friend in the audience was signing to me that you don´t have a cable attached...
Oh well, what the hell...

CRAZIEST RUMOUR YOU HEARD ABOUT YOURSELF:
---

DUMBEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED:
I can see your fingers are moving, but where are they going?

FAVOURITES:


Best own gig:
Opening for Sonata at Pakkahuone, Tampere (December 2005)

Best gig by other band/artist:
Steve Vai at Tavastia, Helsinki.

Sonata song to play live:
In Black & White, Black Sheep, Full Moon...

Bands to tour with:
---

Bands/artists:
Kiss, Metallica, Slayer, Whitesnake, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Dream Theater, Type O Negative, Vai, Satriani etc...

Albums:
Satriani: The Extremist, Vai: Passion & Warfare, Whitesnake: 1987 and Slip Of the Tongue, Kiss: Creatures of the Night, Eric Johnson: Venus Isle, Type O Negative: October Rust...

Movies:
Spinal Tap, School of Rock, Beavis and Butthead do America

TV programme:
Shield, NYPD Blue, C.S.I., Mythbusters, Late night with Conan O´Brian

Actor/actress:
Bruce Willis, Jodie Foster, Petteri Summanen, Outi Mäenpää

Food:
Thai Chicken with chili and onion

Drink / smoke:
Beer/ --

Computer/console games:
Colin Mc Rae Rally 2

Books / Authors:
Forrest Gump, Kisstory...

Animal:
Parrots

Season:
Summer

Place you would like to visit:
Toilet...

Sports:
Ice Hockey

Hobbies:
Badminton

Life philosophy:
“Fake it ´til you make it"

JANI LIIMATAINEN

NAME: Jani Liimatainen

INSTRUMENT: Guitar

DATE OF BIRTH: September 9th 1980

PRESENTLY LIVING IN: Kemi, Finland

JOINED SONATA ARCTICA: In the beginning

EQUIPMENT: Ibanez guitars, Mesa/Boogie amps

MUSICAL BACKGROUND: Some lessons and lots of studying and reading by myself

PREVIOUS BANDS: Altaria

WHY DID YOU START PLAYING ?
To score a lot of chicks Not really, because I heard these great sounds other people were producing and wanted to do similar stuff myself.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JOB IF NOT MUSICIAN ?
It never was an option.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF WITH 3 WORDS:
perfectionist, introverted,

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS ?
I don't.

WORST HABIT:
Drinking

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH ?
Sarcasm, me

HOW DO YOU KILL TIME ON TOUR ?
Drinking, writing, reading, sleeping, watching movies

HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A SHOW ?
Have a few beers, change clothes and warm up with the guitar

WORST NIGHTMARE ON STAGE:
Equipment breaking with no spare around

WORST NIGHTMARE IN GENERAL:
"Groundhog Day" (if you've seen the movie you know what I'm talking about, and I swear, sometimes it feels like that on tours)

WHICH BAND WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN UP FOR ?
Metallica, Dream Theater, Disturbed

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF YOUR CAREER:
Stödtlen '06

CRAZIEST RUMOUR YOU HEARD ABOUT YOURSELF:
There's been shitloads, but I don't give a flying fuck so I don't remember them.

DUMBEST QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED:
"How can you play so fast?"

FAVOURITES:


Best own gig:
Many good ones, can't choose.

Best gig by other band/artist:
Dream Theater, Helsinki Icehall 2005 or Iron Maiden in Saitama Super Arena 2004

Sonata song to play live:
Don't Say a Word, Black Sheep

Bands to tour with:
Most of the bands we've toured with have been great.

Bands/artists:
Strapping Young Lad, Disturbed, Pantera, Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation

Albums:
Dream Theater - Awake, SYL - City, Disturbed - 10 000 Fists

Movies:
Amadeus, American Beauty, Life of Brian, The Pirates of the Caribbean

TV programme:
Friends, South park, CSI (Las Vegas and Miami), Distraction, Monty Python's Flying Circus

Actor/actress:
Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery, Johnny Depp, Jenna Jameson, Keira Knightley

Food:
Depends on the mood

Drink / smoke:
A lot / occasionally

Computer/console games:
Final Fantasy series, Grand Theft Auto series and Metal Gear series

Books / Authors:
Dan Brown, Noam Chomsky

Animal:
CAT! (I used to have, but then I got allergic and I'm still pissed about that)

Season:
Summer

Place you would like to visit:
Taj Mahal

Hobbies:
Reading, movies, drinking with friends.

Life philosophy:
"A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day" (Not always my philosophy, but it's fun. Try it!)

DISCOGRAPHY:

Ecliptica, 1999


TRACKS

Blank File
My Land
8th Commandment
Replica
Kingdom For a Heart
FullMoon
Letter To Dana
UnOpened
Picturing the Past
Destruction Preventer
Mary-Lou

* Japanese bonus track
Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals, keyboards
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Janne Kivilahti - Bass

Additional Information
Flute on "Letter to Dana" by Raisa Aine

Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, by Ahti Kortelainen.
Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios.


Silence, 2001


TRACKS...of Silence

Weballergy
False News Travel Fast
The End of This Chapter
Black Sheep
Land of the Free
Last Drop Falls
San Sebastian (revisited)
Sing In Silence
Revontulet (Instr.)

Tallulah
Wolf & Raven
Respect the Wilderness *

The Power of One

* Japanese bonus track

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals, additional keyboards
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Mikko Härkin - Keyboards
Marko Paasikoski - Bass

Additional Information
All Songs written by T.Kakko
Arrangements by Sonata Arctica

Grand piano on #4 and #11 recorded at Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmila
Spoken parts recorrded Mika Niilonen
Male voices on #1, #4, #7 and #13 by Nik Van-Eckmann
Female voce on #by Renay Gonzalez

Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, by Ahti Kortelainen during fall 2000 and spring 2001.
Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios in April 2001
Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios

Cover art and logo by Eric Philipp
Inlay drawings by Tero Junkkila
Original logo concept by Janne Pitkänen
Art Direction and background photos by T. Kakko
Band photo by Toni Härkönen

Songs of Silence, 2002


TRACKS

Intro
Weballergy
Kingdom For a Heart
Sing In Silence
False News Travel Fast
Last Drop Falls
Respect the Wilderness
Fullmoon
The End of This Chapter
The Power Of One *
Replica
My Land
Black Sheep
Wolf & Raven
Blank File **
Land Of The Free **
Peacemaker ** (Studioversio)

* Japanese bonus
** Japanese bonus in 2 CD -version

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Marko Paasikoski - Bass
Mikko Härkin - Keyboards

Additional Information
All songs written by T.Kakko
Arrangements by Sonata Arctica

Recorded at Tokyo 4th-Sep-2001.
Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios
Mastered by Mika Jussila Finnvox Studios

Cover art by Janne Pitkänen
Photos in cover taken by Timo Isoaho and Mape Ollila


Winterheart's Guild, 2003


TRACKS

Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited
Gravenimage
The Cage
Silver Tongue
The Misery
Victoria's Secret
Champagne Bath
Broken
The Rest Of The Sun Belongs To Me *
The Ruins Of My Life
Draw Me

* Japanese bonus track

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals, keyboards
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Marko Paasikoski - Bass

Additional Information
Keyboard solos on tracks 3,4,6 and 7 by Jens Johansson
Footballstadion choirs by FC Sonata

Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, by Ahti Kortelainen during September-November 2002.
Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios in November-December 2002.
Produced by Sonata Arctica

All music and lyrics T.Kakko
Artwork by Janne Pitkänen
Art Direction by T. Kakko
Band photography by Toni Härkönen

Reckoning Night, 2004


TRACKS
Misplaced
Blinded No More
Ain't Your Fairytale
Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night

Don't Say A Word
The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Real Puppet
My Selene
Wildfire
White Pearl, Black Oceans ...
Shamandalie
Wrecking The Sphere *
Jam (hidden track)


* Japanese Bonus track.

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals / Backing vocals
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Marko Paasikoski - Bass
Henrik Klingenberg - Keyboards

Additional Information
The MAN on "Don't Say a Word", "White Pearl, Black Ocean" and "Wildfire" by Nik Van Eckmann

All music and lyrics by T. Kakko
except for "My Selene" music and lyrics by Jani Liimatainen
All music arrangements by Sonata Arctica
All vocal arrangements by T. Kakko

The mostharmonic woowoo-choirs and additionalnackground noise performed by Sonatarmeija-Wilderness choir.
Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, by Ahti "Viheltääääääää...khh khhhhhh!" Kortelainen during March, April and June 2004.
Mixed at Finnvox Studios by Mikko "Hevikabaree???" Karmila.
Mastered at Finnvox Studios by Mika "bluelight" Jussila, June 2004.

Produced by Sonata Arctica

Artwork by Janne "ToxicAngel" Pitkänen
Art "Misdirection" by T. Kakko
Band photography by Toni "Varokaa, se on Canon!" Härkönen

For The Sake Of Revenge, 2006


TRACKS
1. Intro (Prelude For Reckoning)
2. Misplaced
3. Blinded No More
4. FullMoon / White Pearl Black Oceans...
5. Victoria's Secret
6. Broken
7. 8th Commandment
8. Shamandalie
9. Kingdom For A Heart
10. Replica
11. My Land
12. Black Sheep
13. Gravenimage
14. Don't Say A Word
15. The Cage
16. Vodkaa (Hava Nagila)
17. San Sebastian *

* Japanese bonus

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Marko Paasikoski - Bass
Henrik Klingenberg - Keyboards


Additional Information
2,3,4/2,8,14: originally released on "Reckoning Night"
5,6,13,15: originally released on "Winterheart's Guild"�
12,17: originally released on "Silence"
4/1,7,9,10,11: originally released on "Ecliptica"

All songs written by T. Kakko, except for Prelude For Reckoning by J. Liimatainen
Arrangements by Sonata Arctica

Following songs courtesy to Spinefarm except for
Prelude For Reckoning, Misplaced, Blinded No More, White Pearl, Black Oceans, Shamandalie and Don't Say a Word courtesy to Nuclear Blast

Recorded at Shibuya AX, Tokyo, Japan on February 5th, 2005 during the Reckoning Night World Tour
Mixed by Pasi Kauppinen at Studio57
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers

Artwork by Gina "Ravnheart" Pitkänen

Unia, 2007


TRACKS
In Black And White
Paid In Full
For The Sake Of Revenge
It Won't Fade
Under Your Tree
Caleb
The Vice
My Dream's But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare
The Harvest
To Create A Warlike Feel *
The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden
Fly With The Black Swan
Good Enough Is Good Enough
They Follow ***
Out In The Fields **

My Dream's But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare (instr.) ***



* Bonus Track on Ltd. European, Finnish, Double-Vinyl & Nuclear Blast Mailorder edition
** Bonus Track on Japanese, North American, Double-Vinyl & Nuclear Blast Mailorder edition
*** Exclusive Japanese Bonus Track

Line-up
Tony Kakko - Vocals / Backing vocals
Jani Liimatainen - Guitars
Tommy Portimo - Drums
Marko Paasikoski - Bass
Henrik Klingenberg - Keyboards

Additional Information
All songs written by Tony Kakko, Songs arranged by Sonata Arctica, vocal arrangements by T.Kakko

Selestina choir on "In Black and White", "Under Your Tree", "To Create A Warlike Feel" & "Caleb" conducted by Tarja Vanhala
Choir arrangements by T.Kakko

Strings on "Good Enough is Good Enough"
Tuomas Airola - cello
Elar Kuiv - violin
Kati Niemelä - violin/viola
Anna-Leena Kangas - viola
Oskari Hannula - double bass
arranged and conducted by Tuomas Airola

Acoustic guitars, bouzouki, chromaharp, Kavaquinho & Q-chord on
"They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade",
"Fly With the Black Swan" by Peter Engberg
Acoustic guitars - "The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden" and
Acoustic guitar solo - "They Follow" by Jani Liimatainen

Additional vocals performances:
"To Create a Warlike Feel" - vocals in Finnish - Jarkko Martikainen
"Caleb" - The Lady in the beginning of - Milla V
"whatevergod..." - "Caleb" and "just passion and rage" - "In Black and White" performed by Starbuck

Recorded at Tico Tico Studio by
Ahti "onneks ei olla ens levyn biisejä soittamassa" Kortelainen

excepts
Guitars and acoustic guitars recorded at Sonic Pump Studio by Nino Laurenne
String and Hammond organ recorded at Studio 57 by Pasi Kauppinen
Vocals, backing vocals and keyboards at 2ndrate Soundcave by T. Kakko
Guitarsolos at Jani's Lair by J. Liimatainen
Keyboards and k-board solos at The Lanceland Room by H. Klingenberg

Mixed at Finnvox Studios by
Mikko "intialaisetkin voi innostua täst musasta" Karmila,
while Tony and Marko drank coffee.
Mastered at Cutting Room by Björn Engelmann

Tony's consultants
- Mape Ollila
- Starbuck; www.buckorama.net.

Album illustration and band photography by
Inferi Art / Janne & Gina Pitkänen

Produced by Tony Kakko & Sonata Arctica 2006-2007

@PICTURES AND LYRICS SOON.

I'm in love with Sonata Arctica's music.. and another amazin thing I band they sound good also live I saw some recordings from their concerts.. is soooo amazing... good topic.. congrats