Stratovarius’ “Dreamspace” lineup back as Timo Tolkki’s Strato

The “Dreamspace” lineup of Stratovarius has reformed, returning under the moniker Timo Tolkki’s Strato. Featuring Timo Tolkki (vocals and guitar), Tuomo Lassila (drums), and Antti Ikonen (keyboards) who recorded the classic “Fright Night”, “Twilight Time”, “Dreamspace” and “Fourth Dimension” albums. Originally released in 1994, “Dreamspace” was the last Stratovarius album to feature Timo Tolkki on lead vocals and includes such fan favorites as “Chasing Shadows“, “Hold On To Your Dream“, “We Are The Future” and “Wings Of Tomorrow“. Tolkki recorded his vocals for the “Fourth Dimension” album demos before deciding to focus on guitar only and recruited Timo Kotipelto as vocalist. “Fourth Dimension” included a number of standout tracks including “Against The Wind“, “Distant Skies“, “Galaxies” and “Twilight Symphony“.

In the summer 2022 Timo Tolkki, Tuomo Lassila and Antti Ikonen met to discuss ideas to reform the original line up, deciding to call themselves “Timo Tolkki’s Strato”. In all secrecy, they have rehearsed in Tuomo’s garage (real back to the roots!) since January 2023. This reconstituted lineup has signed a deal with Warner Music Japan, and is currently recording their debut album titled “Return To Dreamspace” to be released on 27.10.2023, preceded by the single “(Is this the) Brave New World?“. A Japanese Tour is planned for spring 2024, and Timo Tolkki will visit Japan in November 2023 to promote the album — his first time there since 2007. Tours of Latin America and Europe are also in the works. In concert the band will be performing songs from “Return To Dreamspace”, as well as from the Stratovarius albums, “Fright Night”, “Twilight Time”, and “Dreamspace”.

Eric Cerda, Timo Tolkki’s manager, describes the music as “sounding like the classic ‘Dreamspace’ era but updated for the 2020’s. Fans of melodic Power Metal — a genre that these guys pretty much defined — will love the new songs of Timo Tolkki’s Strato, with fans of early Stratovarius being especially pleased.”