Search - Kotipelto :: Waiting for the Dawn

Yes, this is better than Stratovarius!!!

LiseKatherine | Denver, CO | 03/07/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Often when a someone does a solo project, you wonder why they bothered because all they've done is churn out some carbon copy that their band could've easily done, no new ground covered. Well, I have to say I think Timo's been held back a little in Strato (no tragedy that he's left or been kicked out??)since he wrote everything on this album and all the songs are great-not one mediocre tune in the bunch. What makes this so much better is he wisely decided to forgo the familiar power metal genre, which I'm not so crazy about outside of Strato anyway, and make a more straightforward (but not run-of-the-mill) metal album. So what you get here is a killer melodic metal album with a who's who of metal musicians playing backup and none of the aspects that can make some power metal a little repetitive. I was awfully disappointed when I heard a couple of months ago that Timo was no longer in Strato, but now I can see why! I can barely wait until next month when his new album comes out. Actual rating: 4 1/2 stars."

Solid release from a great vocalist

sweepking | Mililani, HI | 08/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Being a huge Symphony X/Michael Romeo fan, I bought this cd to hear Michael Romeo's guitar work. As always Michael Romeo gives a stellar performance of mind-boggling, yet melodic, guitar wizardry. It is interesting to hear him in a more relaxed, standard time signature effort. His rhythm tone is a little lighter, but this is still some good stuff. The other guitarists are quite good too. Kotipelto gives a solid performance...I would put him in the same class as Mark Boals, but I think he is better. The songs are interesting and the supporting drums/bass/keys are impressive. Any fan of melodic metal would do well to have this in their collection. Fans of Michael Romeo/SyX should pick this up as well, although it is not on par with the epic stuff SyX puts out."

Strato-fans, rejoice!

Sam Allen | Newburyport Mass. | 07/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Do you like Stratovarius? If you do, but haven't heard about Timo Kotipelto's side project, you're missing out on a monster of a group. Principally, the lineup of the band is as follows: guitarist Mike Romeo (Symphony X), one of my favorite power/prog metal guitarists ever, bassist Jari Kanulainen (Stratovarius), another big influence on me as a bassist, keyboardist Janne Warman (Children Of Bodom/Warmen), perhaps the greatest keyboardist in headbanging history, drummer Mirka Rantanen (Tunnelvision), who has some monster blast beats, and of course, Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius) on vocals. Overall, the album is better than any Stratovarius album (but not by a whole lot.) It features an overall better lineup, and a somewhat more progressive sound.



And now of course, the highlights of the album: opener "Intro/Travel Through Time" is pure speed metal pandemonium with a keyboard solo to be reckoned with. "Beginning" is the best song on the album, with a middle tempo and one of the greatest intro solos ever to be heard. And "Chosen by Re" is an epic, 7 and a half minutes, not as long as most epic songs, but still a masterpiece nonetheless. The whole album is awesome and great for Strato-fans.



"In life I have no religion...besides the heavy metal gods!"-Dream Evil"