02. Under Flaming Skies
03. Infernal Maze
04. Fairness Justified
05. The Game Never Ends
06. Lifetime In A Moment
07. Move The Mountain
08. Event Horizon
09. Elysium
Bonus tracks:
10. Castaway (Japan bonus)
11. Last Shore (Collector's Edition bonus)
12. Hallowed (Collector's Edition bonus)
Released worldwide in 14th of January, Elysium is the 13th full length album of Stratovarius, the 2nd after the troublesome departure of guitar player and main composer, Timo Tolkki. If the previous release (Polaris) was the joint effort of a band without their main composer to rise again from the ashes, this new release is more solid and witnesses the emergence of a new main composer for the band in the body of Tolkki's replacement in the guitar, Matias Kupiainen, leaving for Timo Kotipelto most of the lyrics.
What to say about Elysium? It's not Destiny, Visions, or even Infinite, but oddly enough, with all these changes, it's still Stratovarius. I think part of it is due to the unique tone of Kotipelto's voice, and also the way Johansson handles the keyboards, but other part I believe is something that is already part of the band as a whole, no matter who is composing or who is playing, and that was quickly embodied by the new members.
So I believe that this record is the second step of Stratovarius second life, and maybe in the future they can present us something as good or even better than the best of the band previous life, they are going in the right direction, but Elysium is not at that level yet.
One last word about the title track, Elysium, with it's 18 running minutes is the best song of the album, and the one that better portraits the revival of one of the legendary Symphonic Power Metal bands out there. It's a long song but never gets boring and is definitely worth listening, even if Stratovarius is not really your cup of tea.
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