SONATA ARCTICA - New Album Complete; Keyboardist Issues Studio Update
SONATA ARCTICA keyboardist Henkka Klingenberg has issued the following studio update on their forthcoming album, entitled Unia:
"Finished, done, concluded, complete !
Just came back from the mastering and the album is officially done. It was a nice three days in Stockholm with a lot of happy smiles and naturally a couple of beers. Now we have a couple of days to kick back before additional photo sessions, video shooting, promotion etc. starts. Maybe we even have time to squeeze in some rehearsals before the first shows in April.
There's not much more I want to say about the music, I think I've misled you enough with the few comments I made already. Nevertheless this record is a new beginning of sorts and will far surpass its predecessors at any measures. In a couple of months you'll all hear what I'm talking about. So maybe a little more on what went down in Stockholm ?
On Sunday afternoon (18.2.) I flew down to Helsinki to catch up with the guys and continue to Stockholm. Waiting at the airport for 6+ hours usually sucks and this was no different. About two hours before our connecting flight Tony & Tommy joined me at the bistro. Our arrival to Sweden was relatively normal (except that the airlines lost Tony's bag) and a train ride later we're checking into the hotel. Because of the work to be done the next day we decided to take it easy and just a couple of minutes after 0200 I was at sleep.
I'm not too fond of Mondays and waking up around 0700 doesn't help at all. A shower, breakfast and a taxiride later we're at the Cutting Room. The day quickly passes by as we oversee the mastering work of Björn Engelmann. It's truly a privilege to follow a true professional at work, occasionally discussing decisions with the whole bunch. The music sounds better than ever and it seems like it was a good idea to come here. Around 1600 we're done mastering all the tracks, so Tuesday will mainly consist of working out the tracklists etc. A quick stop by the hotel and then it's time for dinner. Not being able to decide where to eat we make a compromise and head out to the hardrock café where there's a little bit of everything available. The Anchor (or that's what I think it was called) a bar nearby is the next stop for some of us, while others head for the hotel. At the bar they have somekinda music-quiz going on and of course we participate.... however with a poor result. Well, you can't always win right ?
Come Tuesday morning and it's kinda hard to know what really went wrong. At least there's some happy news: Tony's bag is delivered to the hotel. Later on when we're back at the Cutting Room we work the final masters out and even have time to make a conference-call to the producer of our video. A couple of beers and then off to the airport and towards home....and that's basically it. We we're actually not partying even half as much as I suspected so maybe we're getting old or something.......or perhaps it was just the hangover from FME that held us back. Nevertheless the album rules and that's the end of the studio diary."
Cheers & Loud Music,
Henkka
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