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You've got the blistering tempos, icy keyboard atmospherics, theatrical intensity, layered harmonic vocals in Tony's inimitable style, and 'dark fantasy' pathos. This album is the turning point between the first phase of the band - let's call it its 'classic' phase - and its second, more experimental and progressive phase. This is as apt a description as 'Reckoning Night' as any the band sounds more fully like themselves than ever before and ever would again. There must have been something in the water in the Finnish symphonic power metal scene in 2004, which saw the arrival of Nightwish's 'Once' alongside 'Reckoning Night.' Another reviewer on Metal-Archives wrote of 'Once' as the record on which Nightwish sounded most fully like themselves the record on which they fully established an independent identity. I've not only bumped the score up to a 92%, but have much more to say about it now. Nowadays I would quickly call it one of my favorite metal albums. But after a couple of years of spending more time listening to them than any other band, exploring their entire discography with a considerable degree of intimacy, and growing attached to them, my opinion of 'Reckoning Night' has only risen. Back then, I judged it as a superior slice of melodic power metal. I first wrote about this album almost two years ago, as I was first digging into Sonata Arctica's discography. Reckoning Night is rather a record for faithful fans of the band who already own most of the other releases. I would recommend to start chronologically and listen to Ecliptica first. Still, Reckoning Night is not a good starting point if you want to get into this band. The first four songs of the record are all over the place while the final six tunes show a more focused songwriting effort that saves this record. The songwriting of all these tracks sounds fluid yet inspired, focused yet courageous, coherent yet progressive. Power metal fans will get a dose of fast and melodic songwriting with ''My Selene'' that sounds a little bit too fluffy for my taste but is objectively above average material. ''Shamandalie'' is the mandatory and predictable power ballad somewhere between Bon Jovi and Helloween but performed with genuine passion. ''White Pearl, Black Oceans.'' is one of Sonata Arctica's atmospheric, melodic and smooth progressive power metal pieces that invites you to dream yourself far away. This song can be seen as a turning point as the second half of the record saves the day and is a drastic improvement over the first half. We have neither unnecessary moments of silence nor three-minute long instrumental wankery here but simply a song that manages to find the right balance between being catchy and offering ambitious changes in a smooth way. The first four songs of the album are more or less forgettable until the dynamic, engaging and melodic single ''Don't Say a Word'' saves the record's first half from being a complete failure. Let's take the quasi title song ''Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night.'', an atmospheric keyboard instrumental that could come from a Myst computer game of the mid-nineties which painfully tries to introduce the next song but fails to add anything to it. And whenever the band tries to experiment on this album, it sounds, wait for it, misplaced. Is the record broken? Did something happen to my sound system? No, it's just Sonata Arctica trying to be experimental.
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Ironically titled ''Misplaced'', the opener would be an exchangeable standard European power metal song, if it weren't for that unnecessary and weird break after about ten seconds that leaves the listener confused. However, if an album starts with an underwhelming track, it can leave a negative impression even if the album improves. If the opener is great, it will have a positive impact on a record that might have a few fillers later on.
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The opener of an album often has a massive impact on everything that follows. The band has talent and its very own dark fairy tale style but the songwriting is at times odd and tough to get into. However, the record confirms what I have always thought about Sonata Arctica. He recommended Reckoning Night and since the album got very positive reviews, I decided it was worth a shot. Having become a fan of Sonata Arctica thanks to their passionate live shows, I asked the merchandise guy what records I should buy to start getting into the band since I had occasionally heard a track or two before but couldn't get into the band.