Sonata Arctica - I Have A Right (2012) - American emo radio rock meets European disco beats - 15% (18/05/12)

When I first got into the metal scene seven years ago, I started listening to a lot of classic heavy metal, to a solid dose of German Medieval Rock and also a lot of European power metal. When I was young, I discovered and adored bands such as Edguy, Gamma Ray, HammerFall, Helloween, Primal Fear, Saidian or Stratovarius but there was always one band I found to pop orientated and tame among these other melodic metal acts: Sonata Arctica. Over the years, a couple of metal fans told me that Sonata Arctica had gone through changes and would sound different and more mature nowadays. They told me to give their new releases a chance. That's what I tried to do when I checked out the band's newest single.

Yes, the band has changed. But the band has changed for the worst. This track sounds a mixture of electro pop bands such as the German Baracuda, American radio pop around acts such as Three Days Grace and a dose of soft power metal as from the commercially acclaimed years of Stratovarius ten years ago or so. When I take a look a the emo style video clip and the new looks of the band and especially the singer I ask myself if these guys are in a serious midlife crisis. Maybe they want to get some chart success to play some festivals with Simple Plan, 3 Doors Down or My Chemical Romance. With this silly piece of garbage they're on the right way but somebody should tell these guys that they've have arrived almost ten years to late to catch the mainstream train. On the other side, I guess that this song might definitely divide their fan basis into a pop and a metal camp with the latter one that might live a huge disappointment.

The single version of this track is just centered around a boring chorus that is repeated way too much. From a positive point of view, you can call the chorus catchy but I would call it irritant. Add some cheesy keyboard sounds to this plus an out of tone young boy's monologue about teenage emotions and you get a solid idea of this song. It's a shame that the band uses the words "sonata" and "arctica" in their band name, they should actually chose something more appropriated and call themselves "Sample Beach" or "Emo Disco" or something like that. I still give ten points for the band's courage to seriously release this kind of music nowadays and to go through changes by taking the risk to lose the reputation they have achieved - I don't know how and why - in the rock and metal world over the years. The other generous five points are for the fact that this track is catchy and stays in my mind even if I desperately want it to get out of it. If you don't want to live the same ashaming dilemma, I give you the advice to stay away from this at all costs!