Review by Rexorcist for Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica (1999)

I discovered Sonata Arctica through their sophomore release, Silence, and I fell in love with it.  At the time of playing their music for the first time, I was aware that the metal masses consider their best release to be their debut, Ecliptica.  I wasn't fully converted, but I admit this is far better than most power metal albums I've heard.  Sonata Arctica's sense of magical energy and hyper-jovial attitude reached soaring heights right from the get-go as neoclassical guitars effortlessly carry the overpowering mood from one track to another.  Ecliptica boasts some of the finest power metal solos and riffs known to man, and the band made it look easy, proving that they didn't need any time to develop their style over the course of their musical career.  They were already brilliant.  The key factor in the difference between Ecliptica and Silence is that the latter boasted more diversity, switching from power to prog to neoclassical to ballad to jam to epic.  The debut is different in the sense that most of the songs, while typically brilliant, are effectively attempting to achieve the same goal of hyper-jovial energy and riffage.  But nevertheless, this album boasts early stages of brilliance, and it's a shame that the Sonata Arctica albums of recent times can't carry that same spirit anymore.