''The Days of Grays'' is the sixth full-length studio album by Finnish

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup c ...

. The album was released in South America on 8 September 2009, on 16 September in Finland, 18 September in Europe and 22 September in North America through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. The special edition of the album includes the album along with an orchestral CD as a

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...

. It is the first album with guitarist

Elias Viljanen Elias "E.Vil" Einari Johannes Viljanen (born 8 July 1975) is a Finnish musician from Tampere, Finland, known for being the guitarist for Sonata Arctica since 2007. Viljanen joined Sonata Arctica in spring 2007 in order to replace Jani Liimataine ...

and also the first since 1999's ''

Ecliptica ''Ecliptica'' is the first full-length album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 1999 through Spinefarm Records in Europe and through Century Media in the United States. It is the band's only album featuring bassist Janne ...

'' in which vocalist

Tony Kakko Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko (born 16 May 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band Sonata Arctica since 1996. Biography Kakko was born in Kemi, Finland and ...

also plays the keyboards.

History

Sonata Arctica keyboardist

Henrik Klingenberg Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg (born 21 October 1978) is a Finnish keyboardist, keytarist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour. Keyboardists he has ...

described the album as: The first single from the album is " The Last Amazing Grays". It was released by

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

only in Finland on 26 August. The band ran a fan art contest to choose the artwork for their second announced single, " Flag in the Ground" which the press release calls "an uplifting story about a young couple fighting their way to freedom and their own land in North America back in early 1800s." The winner of the contest was Simo Heikkinen from Finland. The name for ''The Days of Grays'' apparently took a very long time to come to as the band had a name for the record that was deemed more appropriate "for a death metal band or something" according to

. In a French interview, Tony Kakko stated that the original name was ''Deathaura'', the name of a song on the album. The track "Juliet" continues the so called Caleb saga, a series of songs that started on ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

'''s "The End of This Chapter", was continued on ''

Reckoning Night ''Reckoning Night'' is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, as well as the first to feature keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg. The track "Don't Say a Word" continues the so called Caleb saga, a series o ...

'''s "

Don't Say a Word ''Don't Say a Word'' is a 2001 American psychological thriller film starring Michael Douglas, Brittany Murphy and Sean Bean based on the novel ''Don't Say a Word'' by Andrew Klavan. It was directed by Gary Fleder and written by Anthony Peckh ...

", ''

Unia ''Unia'' ( en, Dreams), released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album ''Reckoning Night''. The first single from the album was " Paid in Full", released on 27 April 2007 ...

'''s "Caleb" and would be later continued on '' The Ninth Hour'''s "Till Death's Done Us Apart" and ''

Talviyö ''Talviyö'' (Finnish for "winter night") is the tenth studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released on 6 September 2019 by Nuclear Blast. Background and recording The album was produced by the band and Mikko Tegelman ...

'''s "The Last of the Lambs". "Everything Fades to Gray" features the lyrics "It's not fair, it's not fair, there was a time now" relating to the Twilight Zone episode

Time Enough at Last "Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable. The short story appeared in the January 1953 edition of the scien ...

and "The Truth Is Out There" is about the popular TV series

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...

Track listing

''All music by

except "Nothing More" by

, all lyrics by Tony Kakko, songs arranged by

.''

Personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, additional keyboards *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Marko Paasikoski Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

– keyboards, Hammond *

Tommy Portimo Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...

– drums * Johanna Kurkela – female vocals (on 2, 9) *

Perttu Kivilaakso Perttu Päivö Kullervo Kivilaakso is a cello player for Finnish band Apocalyptica. Like fellow band members Eicca Toppinen and Paavo Lötjönen, he attended Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He plays a German 19th century cello; he started play ...

(

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical- ...

) –

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(on 1, 6, 11, 12 and "In My Eyes You're a Giant")

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Days Of Grays Sonata Arctica albums 2009 albums Nuclear Blast albums