Released: 2011
For everyone who's championed them over the years, I've always found Stratovarius to be a decidedly uneven prospect, with their obvious abilities hindered by a propensity for over-the-top histrionics and a need to be neo-Classical at the cost of all else, fuelled mainly by Timo Tolkki's desire to show the world what a flash guitarist he is.
It appears that with the final, ignomious departure of the tragic Tolkki, the band's creative centre now revolves around 27-year old guitar prodigy Matias Kupiainen, a man who was only just born when Stratovarius first formed. It has never been more clear that new blood can inject life into a tired old band than here: not only did Kupiainen write the majority of the tracks, he also produced, and a remarkable job he has done.
There hasn't been much of an effort at reinventing themselves here. Really, Elysium is Startovarius refining their sound: winding back the overly flouncy keyboards and the overt neo-classicism in favour of song-craft and consistency. With four out of five members of the band contributing tracks, Elysium is the most diverse Stratovarius album in many years, or possibly ever.The first five songs are pretty standard, if solid, power metal songs and the opener is definitely strong. The tone is set early: Jens Johansson's keyboards help fill out the sound rather than dominate it, coming forward only to solo or trade-off with Kupiainen, Lauri Porra's bass is discernible and, perhaps most importantly, Timo Kotipelto's voice is fine. I've had issues with him in the past because he often goes off-key -- either on purpose or because he's stretching his range -- but here he's spot on. "Lifetime in a Moment" makes the transition from good to great for Elysium, where simplicity meets majesty, and "Event Horizon" is not just blazingly fast but heavy, much heavier than usual.
The true highlight of the album however is the title track itself, a sweeping 18-minute epic that dwarfs not only the rest of Elysium but possibly everything they've ever done. Normally a track this long by almost anyone would leave me screaming for the exits, but this is the true display of brilliance that possibly everyone in Stratovarius has always strived for. Every member shines, even the usually almost invisible Porra gets a solo, and Kotipelto has never sounded better. The ebb and flow of the song's three main sections mesh perfectly and the song works so well it doesn't seem anywhere near as long as it is
I never thought I'd write so much about a Stratovarius album without most of it being ridicule, but they deserve only high marks for this.
1. Darkest Hours
2.Under Flaming Skies
3 Infernal Maze
4. Fairness Justified
5. The Game Never Ends
6. Lifetime in a Moment
7. Move the Mountain
8. Event Horizon
9. Elysium
Rating: 85%
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