Stratovarius, a band you either love, or love to hate; a band that is immensely popular in their home country Finland but still struggle to reach the bigger European markets. Anyone who has read the review of their previous release, Elements Pt. I, has already seen the side of the naysayers. Arguments against the band revolve around the same theme: everything is terribly predictable. Well, Elements Pt. II won’t change the opinion of those who don’t like Stratovarius, nor will it change the opinion of those who do like the band. The fans ask and Stratovarius delivers; this CD is as safe as it gets. But enough words wasted; time to let the music do the talking…

The album opens with one of the best songs, “Alpha & Omega” which is pretty epic in Stratovarius terms; slow paced drumming, epic background keyboards and a heavy dragging riff. The sound is phenomenal and singer Timo Kotipelto sounds great, although he still lacks power, but that’s something that won’t ever change.

I sit back and relax and I’m wondering “if Stratovarius would play more songs like this, they might actually convince me.” And then, reality calls. The second song, “I Walk To My Own Song” is as predictable as Ozzy Osbourne cancelling shows. I’m certain that the average Stratovarius fan will absolutely love this track, but come on, this musical food has been eaten, digested and re-eaten already a couple of times. Do I smell the pumpkins of Helloween? And wasn’t there another Finnish band called Thunderstone who specialized even in tracks like this? Oh well, Stratovarius never proclaimed to cross musical boundaries.

If you thought you’d smelled the pumpkins, now it’s time to taste them as Stratovarius thunders into the extremely corny “I’m Still Alive”.

Stratovarius uses their template song once more; nothing bad, just predictable melodic speed metal, which they’ve played already tons of times before. Definitely time to taste the pumpkins! At least I can safely say that they’re not rotten yet… But they’re getting dangerously close with “Know The Difference”, another one of these template tracks, and easily the worst of all three.

As you can see, the band played it pretty safe. There are some decent slow tempo ballads like “Season Of Faith’s Perfection” and “Luminous”. Again nothing new and especially the former reminds a lot of Helloween but nevertheless a welcome break from the pretty straightforward melodic speed metal. There’s however one song that is absolutely brilliant and it’s “Awaken The Giant”, which follows the same pattern as the opening track: an epic and heavy mid tempo banger with sober but great guitar work and easily the best song of Elements Pt. II. Finally we get to hear a surprise. Finally the band manages to escape the shackles from their self made prison of predictability. If Stratovarius would play more songs like this, they might finally convince me that this band has the talent needed to break through to an even bigger audience.

Elements Pt. II is an album that will satisfy the fans but will have a hard time convincing anyone else. Two very good and surprising songs won’t be enough for that. One thing is certain though, Stratovarius is on the right track, and have at least partially managed to win me over. Although I can’t always control the urge to skip past the corny pumpkin songs.