Elysium (Stratovarius album)
2011 studio album by Stratovarius
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Elysium is the thirteenth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 12 January 2011 through Victor Entertainment (Japan) and on 14 January through Edel AG (worldwide).[1] It is the last Stratovarius album to feature longtime drummer Jörg Michael, who left the band in 2012. Elysium reached No. 1 on the Finnish albums chart, as well as reaching the top 80 in five other countries.[4][5] "Darkest Hours" was released as a single, reaching No. 4 on the Finnish singles chart.[3]
| Elysium | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 January 2011[1] | |||
| Recorded | 2010 at 5 by 5 Audio in Pitäjänmäki | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 56:29[2] | |||
| Label | Victor | |||
| Producer | Matias Kupiainen | |||
| Stratovarius chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 Collector's edition | ||||
| Singles from Elysium | ||||
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Overview
The official track listing for Elysium was first announced by keyboardist Jens Johansson on the forum of the band's website on 8 November 2010.[6] The album was released on four different formats: a regular CD; a deluxe Digipak edition CD with a bonus disc containing demos of the entire album; a double-disc collector's edition CD with two bonus tracks on a 7" single; and on vinyl.[1] At a length of 18:07, Elysium's title track is by far the longest Stratovarius song to date. The album cover art was created by Gyula Havancsák and features the same star-shaped spacecraft from Polaris (2009).
Critical reception
The album was met with positive reviews Paul Elliot writing for Louder Sound wrote “for connoisseurs of histrionic heavy metal, it doesn’t get much better than this.”[7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [8] |
| Sputnikmusic | 3/5[9] |
| Metal Storm | 8/10[10] |
| Metal Temple Magazine | 7/10[11] |
| Louder Sound | |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Darkest Hours" | Timo Kotipelto, Matias Kupiainen | Kupiainen | 4:11 |
| 2. | "Under Flaming Skies" | Kotipelto | Kotipelto, Kupiainen | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Infernal Maze" | Kotipelto | Kupiainen | 5:33 |
| 4. | "Fairness Justified" | Kotipelto | Kupiainen | 4:20 |
| 5. | "The Game Never Ends" | Jens Johansson | Johansson | 3:53 |
| 6. | "Lifetime in a Moment" | Lauri Porra | Porra | 6:38 |
| 7. | "Move the Mountain" | Johansson | Johansson | 5:33 |
| 8. | "Event Horizon" | Kotipelto | Kupiainen | 4:23 |
| 9. | "Elysium"
| Kupiainen, Kotipelto | Kupiainen | 18:07 |
| Total length: | 56:29 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Hollowed" | Porra | Porra | 5:57 |
| 11. | "Last Shore" | Porra | Porra | 5:51 |
| Total length: | 68:23 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Castaway" | Porra | Porra | 4:40 |
| 11. | "Darkest Hours" (demo) | Kotipelto, Kupiainen | Kupiainen | 4:32 |
| 12. | "Against the Wind" (live) | Kotipelto, Timo Tolkki | Tolkki | 4:02 |
| 13. | "Black Diamond" (live) | Kotipelto | Tolkki | 7:30 |
| Total length: | 77:19 | |||
Personnel
Stratovarius
- Timo Kotipelto – lead vocals
- Matias Kupiainen – guitar, keyboard programming, engineering, mixing (tracks 3, 4, 8, 9), production
- Jens Johansson – keyboard
- Jörg Michael – drums
- Lauri Porra – bass, keyboard programming
Additional credits
- Risto Kupiainen – keyboard programming, orchestral arrangement (track 3, 10), orchestral programming (tracks 1, 3, 10), choir programming (tracks 4, 9)
- Perttu Vänskä – orchestral arrangement (tracks 1, 2, 4, 9), orchestral programming (tracks 2, 4, 9), engineering, editing
- Arzka Sievälä – choir
- Jani Liimatainen – choir
- Aleksi Parviainen – choir
- Tipe Johnson – choir
- Anssi Stenberg – choir
- Marko "Hepa" Waara – choir
- Kalle Keski-Orvola – engineering, editing
- Santtu Lehtiniemi – engineering (guitar)
- Mikko Karmila – mixing (tracks 1, 2, 5–7)
- Svante Försback – mastering
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[12] | 80 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] | 1 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[14] | 70 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 38 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] | 48 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] | 45 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[18] | 47 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[19] | 28 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[20] | 22 |