Silence (Sonata Arctica album)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Silence is the second full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, released on 21 June 2001 through Spinefarm Records. It was recorded from 2000 to 2001 at Tico Tico Studio and runs 61 minutes and 53 seconds. This album is the only one to feature keyboardist Mikko Härkin, and it is the first with original member Marko Paasikoski on bass. Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto contributed guest vocals.

The cover art shows a landscape divided into night, summer and winter and was meant to symbolize nature, with footprints from a campfire providing a focal point. The title arose from Tony Kakko’s idea that silence can be a creative force, especially when touring makes it hard to write new music.

All songs were written by Tony Kakko. The track “Weballergy” is considered a sequel to Ecliptica’s “Blank File,” both addressing Internet privacy. “The End of This Chapter” starts the Caleb saga, a storyline continued in later albums with songs such as Reckoning Night’s “Don’t Say a Word,” Unia’s “Caleb,” The Days of Grays’ “Juliet,” The Ninth Hour’s “Till Death’s Done Us Apart,” and Talviyö’s “The Last of the Lambs.” The album’s longest song is “The Power of One,” at 10 minutes 43 seconds, not counting a minute of silence and an outtake that follow.

Silence sits between the 2000 Successor EP and 2003’s Winterheart’s Guild in Sonata Arctica’s discography.