After two acoustic albums, Finnish power metal titans Sonata Arctica have been secretly working on a new full-length. Fans can expect a return to their golden power metal roots on the group’s forthcoming opus. Slated for release in the spring of 2024 via Atomic Fire, the band is pleased to unveil a first taste of what’s coming with “First In Line.”
Frontman Tony Kakko elaborates, “This is the first power metal song I wrote for the forthcoming album which is laden with them. Its demo title was ‘First In Line’ and I managed to stick with it. The song handles the worry about raising a new generation of people with or rather letting an electronic screen — namely tv, pad, or some such — do a big part of raising this generation of human beings. We think that we buy ourselves time with these gadgets, but are these devices the right ‘nanny’ for our kids or should we maybe slow down a bit, read books, teach that happiness can be and often is something we reach by stopping and letting go of constant stimulation of all our audiovisual senses? In ways, we are flying blindly with these things. Things are advancing too fast in many ways...”
More details on Sonata Arctica‘s upcoming full-length will be announced in the months to come
In related news, The Nordic Power Metal Titans 2023 European tour, featuring Sonata Arctica alongside Finnish countrymen Stratovarius and rising international power metallers and labelmates Induction will commence this weekend. The twenty-four-date trek stands among the most anticipated tours of the year. See all confirmed dates below.
SONATA ARCTICA – Nordic Power Metal Titans 2023 w/ Stratovarius, Induction:
10/14/2023 Northern Rockfest @ Energi Arena – Umeå, SE
10/15/2023 Cozmoz Arena – Borlänge, SE
10/16/2023 Vulkan Arena – Oslo, NO
10/17/2023 Trädgår’n – Gothenburg, SE
10/19/2023 Slaktkyrkan – Stockholm, SE
10/20/2023 Gimle – Roskilde, DK
10/21/2023 Kulturpalast – Hamburg, DE
10/22/2023 Hellraiser – Leipzig, DE
10/24/2023 TivoliVredenburg (Ronda) – Utrecht, NL
10/25/2023 Garage – Saarbrücken, DE
10/26/2023 Bataclan – Paris, FR * No Induction10/27/2023 Konzertfabrik Z7 – Pratteln, CH
10/28/2023 Alcatraz – Milan, IT
10/30/2023 Backstage – Munich, DE
10/31/2023 Szene – Vienna, AT
11/01/2023 Barba Negra – Budapest, HU
11/03/2023 Fuzz Club – Athens, GR
11/04/2023 Principal Club Theater – Thessaloniki, GR
11/06/2023 FORM Space – Cluj-Napoca, RO
11/07/2023 Quantic – Bucharest, RO
11/09/2023 Sono Centrum – Brno, CZ
11/10/2023 Colos-Saal – Aschaffenburg, DE
11/11/2023 Hell’s Balls Belgium @ Xpo – Kortrijk, BE
11/12/2023 Matrix – Bochum, DE
7/31-8/03/2024 Wacker Open Air – Wacken, DE *Sold Out*