"Stratovarius (Limited Edition)" CD by Stratovarius

Comes as 6-compartments folding Digipak with embossed printing and a Multimedia-part!

It seems obvious why the 13th album of the Finnish Melodic-Metallers is self-titled like a debut album: after many years of internal disputes and after the illness guitarist Tolkki came through this is something like a new beginning. In the classic line-up, by the way! Forgotten are the experiments with female vocals, this is an album that all fans love this band for: bright, technically perfect power tracks in the tradition of Halloween, Rainbow or the Scorpions. That the admiration sometimes also goes a bit too far - like, e.g. in "The land of ice and snow" - is soon forgotten considering killers, like "Manic dance" or "Back to madness". With "Gypsy in me" and the heavy "Leave the tribe", this album also contains two hymns with cult character. "Götterdämmerung (Zenith of power)" sounds exactly what its title proposes: threatening, disastrous and extra bold. With "United" and the swearing refrain, "United we stand, divided we fall" ends an album that leaves no doubts: Stratovarius are back at their very best. (Sonja Angerer)