by Sebastian Kluth
Par kluseba
After having released a new album every second year since the departure of main songwriter and lead guitarist Timo Tolkki, Finnish power metal quintet Stratovarius took a whopping seven years to release its sixteenth studio album Survive. Many fans have been hoping that the band would sound creative, experimental and rejuvenated on this comeback record. The sad truth however is that Survive offers melodic power metal by the numbers without any songs that stand the chance to go down as future classics.
Opening title track ''Survive'' is an excellent example for this phenomenon. The song doesn't sound too bad upon first contact. The guitar work finds the perfect balance between harmony and heaviness. The bass guitar and drum play work hand in hand to form a thunderous backbone for the song. The keyboards enhance the track's cinematic, dramatic and epic atmosphere without taking too much space. The melodic vocals have a sense of urgency in the verses and sound uplifting in the chorus. The production is loud, modern and almost overwhelming at times. However, one simply can't shake the feeling that this song resembles so many others the band has recently been writing. Take the epic note of ''My Eternal Dream'', the triumphant chorus in a gloomier setting from ''Abandon'' and the catchiness of the chorus of ''Darkest Hours'' and you get a very good idea of what ''Survive'' sounds like. A positive conclusion would be to say that the band remains faithful to its trademark sounds. A more accurate evaluation however makes even the most adamant fan realize that the band is copying itself without reaching the poignant quality of the original material.
Another issue is that many songs rush by and fail to leave a deeper impression. They might sound decent while they last but once the record is over, one simply can't remember anything about them anymore. The term fast food power metal comes to mind. ''Firefly'' for instance is short, focused and energetic but missing the creative spark that makes it stand out.
Or let's take the harmonious campfire ballad ''Breakaway'' that simply can't compete with the band's numerous outstanding calmer songs released in the late nineties and early years of the millennium.
Something similar has to be said about ambitious album closer ''Voice of Thunder'' that sounds enjoyably fluid through more than eleven minutes but fails to come around with a trademark style that made so many past epics stand the test of time.
At the end of the day, Stratovarius' Survive is an aimless record that rehashes past ideas and ends up feeling somewhat hollow. This album can only be recommended to adamant fans of the band while occasional listeners shouldn't waste their money on this uninspired comeback release. The album isn't dreadful to be honest but tamely average and the band's least inspired release since Polaris thirteen and a half years earlier. On an ironic side note, Survive's album cover shows the album art of Stratovarius' controversial self-titled effort on a mountain of trash. However, Survive is only just a little bit better than that oddball and might deserve its own spot on a future dump. To conclude on a positive note, the limited Japanese version of this output at least includes a bonus live album with thirteen songs, including band classics and hidden pearls, that deserves some attention.
Final Rating: 65%
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