At that time, Pentti Peura was fired and Marko Paasikoski left due to a lack of gigging. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices. In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring a strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Their first show was about to take place but they were still unnamed, so they had to come up with something. According to Kakko, the band's first name was based on one of their early songs, which was 'about a lady who was tricky and I didn't really know what I was talking about (laughs)'. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to a recording label - Friend 'til the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker. Kakko explained that when he was invited to join the band, Paasikoski said the band was going to play 'a mixture of Megadeth and Spin Doctors'. Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. At the end of 1995, lead vocalist Tony Kakko was added and bassist Pentti Peura joined in early 1996. The band was founded by drummer Tommy Portimo and guitarists Jani Liimatainen and Marko Paasikoski in Kemi. All the musicians of the band's history except Portimo also acted as backing vocalists.Īs of 2022, the band has released ten full-length albums (three via Spinefarm Records and seven via Nuclear Blast), their most recent being Talviyö on September 6, 2019.īiography Formation and early years (1996–1999) The current lineup consists of drummer Tommy Portimo, lead singer Tony Kakko, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, guitarist Elias Viljanen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen. 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. Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland.

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