Sonata Arctica "Silence (2008 Reissue, Remastered, Japan, Avalon, MICP-10769)"

Silence is the second full-length album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, released in 2001 through Spinefarm Records. It is the only studio album to feature keyboardist Mikko Härkin, and the first album with original member Marko Paasikoski, who returned to the band the previous year. Stratovarius lead singer Timo Kotipelto sang guest vocals on the album.

The cover art, featuring a landscape divided into night, summer and winter, was meant to depict nature. However, Tony explained that the cover was not supposed to feature too much symbolism, except for the footprints leading away from the campfire. He explained:

That thing is like representing a snippet of your life that really makes you go one way or the other. Either way can be the good way, not the bad way necessarily. The album is one of those things that's a bit different, a more difficult album.... make it go one way or the other.

The title of the album was at first supposed to be longer, but Kakko's then-girlfriend suggested "silence" and he reflected on how important silence was for him:

[silence] is a creating force because when you're on the road for half a year or something like that I can't make new music at all so I need something like a month or two to get my head working again. So that's my "silence" it seems.

The second track "Weballergy" is considered by Kakko to be a sequel to Ecliptica's "Blank File", as both of them cover the theme of Internet privacy.

"The End of This Chapter" starts the so-called Caleb saga, a series of songs that is continued in Reckoning Night's "Don't Say a Word", Unia's "Caleb", The Days of Grays's "Juliet", The Ninth Hour's "Till Death's Done Us Apart", and Talviyö's "The Last of the Lambs".

"The Power of One" is the longest Sonata Arctica song to date, at a length of 10:43, not including an extra minute of silence followed by an outtake from the narrator.

Tracklist:

1. ...of Silence 01:17   
2. Weballergy 03:52  
3. False News Travel Fast 05:18  
4. The End of This Chapter 07:02  
5. Black Sheep 03:42
6. Land of the Free 04:25  
7. Last Drop Falls 05:13   
8. San Sebastian (Revisited) 04:38
9. Sing in Silence 03:51
10. Revontulet 01:33  
11. Tallulah 05:20
12. Wolf & Raven 04:16   
13. Respect the Wilderness 03:51   
14. The Power of One 11:33   
15. PeaceMaker 03:27  
16. Wolf & Raven (Remake 2008) 05:25  

Time:  01:14:43  

Recording information:

Recorded at Tico Tico Studio, Kemi, Finland, during Fall 2000 and Spring 2001.

Grand piano on tracks 4 and 11 recorded at Finnvox Studios.

Mixed at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland in April 2001.

Mastered at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland.