Things hadn’t been well in the Stratovarius camp for some time so it was no surprise when main man Timo Tolkki decided to break up that band and start afresh and the oddly named Revolution Renaissance is the result. 

The songs on this album were originally slated for inclusion on what would have been the next Stratovarius release so it’s no great surprise to find that there isn't any real change in musical direction for Tolkki despite the fact that this is a "new band". So in that respect  “New Era” ticks all the right melodic power metal boxes, there’s the double bass drum pounding of “Heroes” and “Glorius And Devine”, the epic ballads in “Angel” and “Keep The Flame Alive” and some mid-paced melodic Euro metal in “Last Night On Earth” and the thankfully not a Sinatra cover of “I Did It My Way”. Timo hasn’t settled on a new line up for this band yet so there are various guests taking part and the vocals are shared between Michael Kiske, Tobias Sammet and Thunderstone’s Pasi Rantanen. They’re all good as you’d expect and the latter’s raspy tones on “Born Upon The Cross” make it sound remarkably like Dio-era Sabbath. The songs may lean more towards melodic metal than power metal overall but that’s not really a major change in style from the last couple of Stratovarius albums. 

While there are no surprises on this album there is much to like. The quality of the song writing is excellent throughout and the playing and production is top-notch. It does however have the feel of a stop-gap release and with the different singers doesn’t have a band vibe to it. I think they’ll have more of a band identity once the line up is settled. Then again maybe Timo thrives on conflict as he’s parted company with record company Frontiers already and the album’s not even released yet! Now that must be a record!

Ian Sutherland