Finnish melodic metallers SONATA ARCTICA have completed their eight studio album and have unveiled the artwork to Pariah’s Child, due out in North America on April 1st.
On the follow-up to 2013’s Stones Grow Her Name, SONATA ARCTICA vocalist Tony Kakko explains his thoughts behind the band’s new release:
“As always it's pretty hard coming up with a name for the new baby. I tried to approach it from many angles; how this is our 8th album and how easy it would be to abuse that fact. All the symbolism of figure eight, eternity, and so on. But that just did not feel right as it's been done so many times. Then I started to think how we'd in ways abandoned our ‘totem animal,’ the wolf and all what comes with the territory. As the music on the album is bowing more towards the ‘old’ SONATA - meaning more power metal style elements and wolves in many of the songs in one form or another - it was clear we needed a wolf on the cover. An abandoned wolf. A pariah. Or Pariah's Child, actually. The new generation to bring the old logo back.”
Beginning January 29th, SONATA will embark on a 9-date tour through their native Finland celebrating their 15th anniversary as a recording artist that will also mark the on-stage debut of their new bass player, Pasi Kauppinen (SILENT VOICES, ex-REQUIEM, WINTERBORN), who replaced long-time band member Marko Paasikoski this past summer.
