Thunderstone

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Thunderstone

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It shouldn't be no real shock to anyone insterested in heavy metal and Stratovarius that Thunderstone hails from the figid land of Finland. In fact, Thunderstone's music isn't that much different from their fellow countrymen. I've heard people refer to them as "shameless copycats" and all sorts of other terms that I can't exactly write here (but feel free to use your imagination).

While that might be true in some respects (for example, listen to the opening of the song "Eyes of a Stranger" - does it sound fimilar? It should if your a Stratovarius fan, considering it is a carbon copy of the opening of the Stratovarius song "Tommorrow", from their 1996 album Episode), Thunderstone is still solid heavy metal any way you look at it, even if it might not be hyper-original (what is original in today's world anyways?) Songs such as the speedy "Let the Demons Free" and "Like Father, Like Son", the soothing "World's Cry" and "Spread My Wings", to the mid-tempo "Virus" and "Eyes of a Stranger" prove that Thunderstone covers every corner and every kind of song you would expect a heavy metal band to cover on a album.

Still, Thunderstone is far from from being its own metalic entity like Sonata Arctica (who took an exsisting style - a.k.a. the Stratovarius style - and infused and tweaked it enough with their own touches to put it above and beyond the copycat label, well at least in my book). Add to the fact that even though this is a very good debut record, it never reaches the level of Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica or other extremely powerful debuts by other bands.

Thunderstone is definately a band to watch out for. Their sophomore release "The Burning" is a also good as well (even though I like this album more), and is a step in the right direction, as the band has begun to explore and experiment their own sound more and less dependent on sounding like other bands as much.

Finland is known as the home of several first-rate metal bands, including Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Nightwish, and Children of Bodom. When it comes to progressive/power metal bands, the focus tends to be on technical proficiency rather than aggression. That's why it was such a pleasant surprise to discover Thunderstone. I ran across a copy of Burning just before catching the band live at ProgPower USA in 2006, and was impressed with just how much they flat out rocked. They had a power metal sound that leaned more towards fiercer bands like Symphorce and Tad Morose, and that was very refreshing to my ears.

Unfortunately that energy and aggression is not as apparent on the band's 2002 self-titled debut album. Sure, it's fairly heavy - it is a metal album after all, but you can tell they were trying their best to follow in the Stratovarius mold. There are lots of pretty melodies, intricate guitar solos, and plenty of keyboards. When they break free and rock out (see Me, My Enemy for example) it really gets your blood pumping. Afterwards though, you're left thinking "why don't they do more of that? I already have Stratovarius CDs."

This is still a very solid progressive/power metal album, and the band can be forgiven for not yet carving out their own unique sound on their initial outing. It helps to know that they do just that on The Burning, which features a much heavier (and more enjoyable) metal style.

If you're looking for quality power metal, Thunderstone is definitely a band to check out. Just pick up The Burning or Tools of Destruction before coming back around to this album. You'll getter a much better feel for the band's sound, and an appreciation of how far they've come in a relatively short time.