Timo Kotipelto hopes it won’t take another seven years for Stratovarius to release next studio album

Stratovarius vocalist Timo Kotipelto spoke with Mexico’s Summa Inferno about the progress of the band’s songwriting sessions for the follow-up to their 2022 album ”Survive” – the group’s first studio release in seven years.

Kotipelto explained the change in their creative process:

“The thing is that we changed the whole working process with the last album. In the past, Matias [Kupiainen, guitar] would compose some songs completely and then send them to the others. I did the same, and Jens [Johansson, keyboards] and Lauri [Porra, bass] too. But last time we wanted to get together and start from zero. Basically, it was Matias, me and Jens sitting in my studio for months, starting the morning with a coffee and asking, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ Then maybe I had some melodies, Matias had some riffs, and we started building. If the song felt good, we worked harder on it. If not, we dropped it and moved on. That’s why it took so much time. And I think it will take time again, but hopefully not seven years.”

He continued:

“We had one get-together last year and started composing, and hopefully we will find time soon to do it again. I already have some melodies, but I don’t want to finish songs by myself – I want the input from Matias and Jens. And it takes time. But we also don’t want to release an album every two years just because someone says you have to, so you can get tours. We want to have a masterwork – very high-quality songs. That’s what we are aiming for.”

Released in September 2022 via earMUSIC, ”Survive” marked Stratovarius’ long-awaited return, showcasing both growth and renewed energy while staying true to their symphonic power metal roots.

The band first rose to international success with albums like ”Fourth Dimension” (1995), ”Episode” (1996), and the ambitious double effort ”Elements, Pt. 1” and ”Elements, Pt. 2”. In 2009, ”Polaris” marked a fresh start after guitarist Timo Tolkki’s departure, proving that Stratovarius were still in top form.