Album review: Statovarius – Survive

FINLAND’s symphonic metal powerhouse, Stratovarius, have endured the fickle nature of the music industry for many years. After over 30 years of releasing quality studio albums and touring the world to large audiences, they are in fine form on Survive. Containing their signature style of symphonic mastery interspersed with heavy riffs and memorable chorus melodies, they still found ways to branch out with acoustic sounds and use different approaches to arrangements.

The album’s material is largely written by vocalist Timo Kotipelto, guitarist Matias Kupiainen and keyboardist Jens Johansson, with additional contributions from lyricist Jani Liimatainen. The quality is top notch, with only about half of the demos put forward for the album actually making the final cut, and whilst produced and mixed by Kupiainen, the pandemic studio restrictions meant that even with Kotipelto’s own studio in Finland being primary for recordings, drums were recorded in Helsinki and Johansson’s parts were done in his own studio in Sweden. The artwork is also striking, painting a somewhat bleak view of the future, as the album theme centres largely on environmental and man-made induced issues.

Starting off with the heavy, down tuned riffs of the title track, “Survive”, there’s no question about Stratovarius’ metal pedigree. It’s a hammering statement of a song, with great backing vocals to bolster a soaring chorus, with plenty of virtuosity from both Johansson and Kupiainen, backed by superb rhythm section work from bassist Lauri Porra and drummer Rolf Pilve. The following track, “Demand”, has that harmonious Helloween sound, plus some neoclassical style keyboard and guitar soloing harmonies, and trade-off soloing sections.

“Broken” has a Meshuggah, gated rhythm feel, held down by a tight rhythm section. Fluid, exotic sounding guitar runs effortlessly segue with keyboard parts and a dropped key change outro part is executed perfectly, with Kotipelto’s vocals stunning throughout. The next track, “Firefly”, is the closest the album gets to power metal pop but does it with energy, layered vocals and bouncy rhythmic feel, as muted guitar figures push the chorus delivery.

Production and arrangement skills are notably evident in the next couple of tracks. “We Are Not Alone” sees instrumentation work together to enhance the chorus, as additional layers of synthesisers and other sounds come into play within the second verse, making the guitar solo tone stand out more when it hits. “Frozen in Time” uses some atmospherics, keyboards and building vocals, making for heavier chord bursts when the drums drive changing rhythm figures, including interludes to let some neoclassical guitar runs loose, embellished with Kotipelto’s unique falsetto.

One of the album’s very strong singles is “World on Fire”, which powers along with harmony and melody, enhanced by a heavy down-tuned guitar riff, big sounding vocal segments and quick guitar soloing. The video for the track looks to be about warfare, given events that unfolded after the album’s recording, when it is actually about global warming. Regardless, it is a fantastic track and generally indicative of the quality of the album, overall.

For a traditional metal vibe, “Glory Days” has a galloping rhythm, pedalling bass and a vocal performance that has plentiful amounts of both vibrato and projection power. The chord progression also adds some symphonic elements, further explored during the solos, the instrumentation therein, and the phrasing utilised.

Grandiosity is also at play during “Breakaway” but the dynamics work well during the slightly sparse verse sections before the chorus parts usher in the full band. It is a tasty, mid paced track that would fit nicely on a Scorpions album, with a guitar solo that builds to high notes with minimal sense of effort. Meanwhile, “Before The Fall” has a live singalong approach despite a fast riff and a cracking snare drum sound. Again, juxtaposition of fast and slow dynamics here adds musical variety.

The final track on Survive, “Voice of Thunder”, is not just an epic 11-minute track, but also shows the unquestionable musical maturity of Stratovarius at this point in their long career. Starting with acoustic guitars, a subtle keyboard wash, and vocals, the added storm-like atmospherics lend the song to a storytelling experience. However, it is not long until the heavier musical styles kick into gear as the keyboard figure bounces across the rhythm power. The vocal delivery here is outstanding, as the backing vocals launch a higher register chorus into earworm territory.

Post chorus and bridge section guitar parts are intertwined with keyboard lines and even as the operatic aspects become prominent, the rhythm section stays on the riff, and does so when key change transitions take flight. A half time, vocal led section sees a crescendo guitar figure before the song fades out, into some atmospheric rain sounds. Ambitious indeed but a band like Stratovarius knows what they are doing and succeed on every level.

Stratovarius have returned with one of the best albums of their post Timo Tolkki era, and the increasing depth of their attention to song writing concepts is clear. Survive is an enjoyable album for fans of metal and of quality music in general, with enough broad appeal to see them widening their influence in the music world. It has been a long wait but they’re delivered on every level with this latest album. Trends will come and go but fans know they can depend on a Stratovarius album to set the benchmark for symphonic metal, yet again.