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"Perfecting his style, Stratovarius takes a new step with this "Fourth Dimension", an excellent album combining melody and speed."
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4/5
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With "Dreamspace", Stratovarius took off both commercially and artistically. This album was certainly not perfect but it showed a band and its composer/guitarist Timo Tolkki, largely in progress. For this "Fourth Dimension", Timo Tolkki decided to leave the vocals to Timo Kotipelto that the band had already met some time before. And this choice is going to be determining for the future of the band so much Kotipelto is going to prove to be the man of the situation.
The new vocalist, who sounds like a mix between Bruce Dickinson and Michael Kiske, is indeed very comfortable in all registers and surpasses everything that Tolkki could do on vocals. He shines on 'Against The Wind' and 'Distant Skies', two unstoppable melodic speed metal anthems, on 'Galaxies', more aerial with a beautiful rise in power and prominent keyboards or the power ballad "Winter" all in nuance and tinged with emotions.
The music of Stratovarius turns out to be less dark, faster and heavier, with keyboards that start to be heard. The structures become more complex giving excellent tracks to listen to like 'Twilight Symphony' with many symphonic aspects carried by omnipresent keyboards and violin passages or the excellent 'We Hold The Key', quite progressive in its construction with once again an unstoppable chorus and technical and melodic guitar parts.
In spite of some weak tracks ('030366' or 'Stratovarius'), "Fourth Dimension" remains an excellent Stratovarius album. The band is refining its style, a clever mix between melody, speed and technical guitar passages. It takes a new step and lets guess a great margin of progression as it opens new tracks in the composition and the technical aspects. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Against The Wind (03:48)
02. Distant Skies (04:10)
03. Galaxies (05:01)
04. Winter (06:32)
05. Stratovarius (06:22)
06. Lord Of The Wasteland (06:10)
07. 030366 (05:47)
08. Nightfall (05:09)
09. We Hold The Key (07:53)
10. Twilight Symphony (07:00)
11. Call Of The Wilderness (01:30)
LINEUP:
Antti Ikonen : Claviers
Jari Kainulainen: Basse
Timo Kotipelto: Chant
Timo Tolkki: Guitares
Tuomo Lassila: Batterie
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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(0) COMMENT(S)
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READERS
3.5/5 (2 view(s))
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STAFF:
3.8/5 (4 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH STRATOVARIUS
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