Stratovarius was founded in Finland in 1984 from former members of the band Black Water. They went through a number of personnel and musical changes before the band found its own voice. In 1984, the name was changed to Stratovarius (a portmanteau of Stratocaster and Stradivarius), an idea of Stråhlman's. By 1984, Timo Tolkki entered the band, replacing Stråhlman in the guitar. He took up the vocal duties as well. Tolkki became the driving force and mastermind of the band assuming almost complete control of the song writing. He brought along not only strong rock influences but also a neo-classical tinge. The band released a demo to various record companies by 1987, finally being picked up by CBS Finland. In 1989, their debut album Fright Night was released followed by two singles.
After being dropped by CBS the band went through several member changes but they managed to release on another label and they also toured a bit. In 1994 they released their third album, Dreamspace, featuring new bass player Jari Kainulainen, (who joined the band when 70% of the new material was already recorded) which was a great success. Tolkki decided to stop singing for the band and they hired a new full-time singer, Timo Kotipelto. The release of Fourth Dimension in 1995 was a great success, but internal differences in the band particularly about the style the band was going for, prompted the departure of long-time drummer Tuomo Lassila and keyboardist Antti Ikonen. Two new non-Finnish members were recruited: Swedish keyboardist Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen fame; and German drummer Jörg Michael. With the fifth release Episode, Stratovarius had finally found its sound and had a strong, diverse line-up. Episode was a grand project featuring a large choir and a string orchestra. It spawned some of the all-time greatest Stratovarius hits, such as "Father Time" and "Will The Sun Rise".
This line-up released three hugely successful albums over the years: Visions in 1997, Destiny in 1998, and Infinite in 2000. With every album their fame and fan-base expanded and they started gaining a stronger following outside the Nordic countries particularly in Japan.
In 2003 the band released its most epic project yet, the two album suite named Elements. With these albums they reached a peak in their progressive and symphonic style of power-metal. The first album, Elements pt. 1, was released in early 2003 followed by a world tour. Elements pt. 1 was naturally followed by Elements pt. 2, also released on Nuclear Blast records in the same year with the hit single "I Walk To My Own Song".
In late 2003 the band broke up with Timo Kotipelto and Jörg Michael leaving after a very vaguely explained conflict. Tolkki hired a new singer, Katriina ''Miss K'' Wiiala, and Anders Johansson of Hammerfall (Jens's brother) temporarily on drums. Tolkki's behaviour rapidly began to become extremely strange. He published a long news article on the band's website, detailing how he had converted to Kabbalah after reading Madonna's autobiography and being contacted by Jesus himself. He wrote extensively on the principles of Kabbalah but according to some Jewish forum members, this has nothing to do with any actually practised form of it. The webmaster removed the news article from the site. Then Tolkki even stabbed himself in the shoulder first claiming that a crazy Spanish fan had done it because of band had broken up. Tolkki also phoned Anders Johansson, speaking nonsense about Adolf Hitler – Anders freaked out and left the band. Nobody really understood the situation and fans were worried about Timo's mental condition. In April 2004 he was hospitalised with chronic depression and a nervous breakdown and, after being released from the mental hospital, negotiations and attempts at reconciliation with the rest of the band began. The rest of 2004 was virtually complete silence from the band.
In January 2005 an announcement was released that Stratovarius had reunited with the old line-up. Tolkki seemed to have recovered from his strange illness. In June 2005 Timo Tolkki announced that the band's bassist, Jari Kainulainen, had left the band due to personal reasons. He was later replaced by Lauri Porra.
Stratovarius then released the self-titled album Stratovarius in September 2005 featuring the popular single "Maniac Dance". During this time Stratovarius began a world tour starting in Argentina. It also included a North American leg where they toured the United States and Canada for the first time in the band's history. They played at such events as Atlanta's "Prog Power", and in well-known venues such as "B.B. King's House Of Blues" in New York and Philadelphia's "Trocadero Theatre". The tour also included some European and Japanese cities.
On April 2 2008 Timo Tolkki announced on his official website that the band has officially stopped due to various issues between the band members.
Timo Tolkki has formed a new band, Revolution Renaissance. He released his first album on june 6, 2008 and it featured guest appearences by Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) and Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia)
The band has since made an announcement on the Stratovarius website stating that the band will continue without Timo Tolkki.
After the announcement, the band began to search for a new guitar player, making the announcement on the band's official forum and in soundi magazine that Matias Kupiainen would replace Timo Tolkki and that 15 songs had already been demoed for the new album.
On May 13 2009 Stratovarius released their 12th studio album, Polaris, now with the new members Lauri Porra and Matias Kupiainen playing bass and guitar respectively.
Early 2011 saw the release of their new album, Elysium, containing the songs that were written during the Polaris tour. Also during 2012 saw the departure of long-time drummer Jörg Michael for personal reasons and his replacement Rolf Pilve.
2013 saw the release of their newest album "Nemesis".
Studio albums:
- Fright Night (1989)
- Twilight Time (1992)
- Dreamspace (1994)
- Fourth Dimension (1995)
- Episode (1996)
- Visions (1997)
- Destiny (1998)
- Infinite (2000)
- Intermission (2001)
- Elements, Pt. 1 (2003)
- Elements, Pt. 2 (2003)
- Stratovarius (2005)
- Polaris (2009)
- Elysium (2011)
- Nemesis (2013)
Event Horizon
Stratovarius Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My breath is steaming
The skies open wide
I hear the silent screaming
Deep in the dark, somewhere in space
Spinning around, leaving no trace
And the boundaries been breached
All matter and shape
Destination's reached!
The star dies, collaping in its core
End of the journey, it won't be seen anymore!
I can see the point of no return
And when the light is slowly turning to red
Life gives away, there's no concern
A force that carries the event horizon lies ahead!
The lyrics of Stratovarius's song "Event Horizon" depict the experience of witnessing the end of a star's journey, as it collapses in its core, and such ending cannot be seen anymore. The symbol of this occurrence is the event horizon, which is a point of no return. The singer in the song is observant of this event from outside and in darkness, as they can see the star's light slowly turning to red, indicating that a force that carries the event horizon lies ahead. The screaming that the singer hears is perhaps the sound of the star's collapse, or the effect of such gravitational force on the universe.
The song creates a somber and ominous atmosphere with its dramatic instrumentals, specifically the guitar riffs, the heavy drum beats, and the keyboard's chords that shift from high-pitched notes to low ones. They symbolize the journey of the star, from its creation, its shining phase, and its gradual demise. The lyrics underline the concept of impermanence and the insignificance of life when it is compared to the universe's forces.
Line by Line Meaning
Standing outside in darkness
I am standing in the darkness outside.
My breath is steaming
I can see steam coming from my breath due to the cold temperature outside.
The skies open wide
The sky is clear and vast as I look up.
I hear the silent screaming
I perceive a muted sound that reminds me of screaming.
Deep in the dark, somewhere in space
There is a location that is remote and obscure within space.
Spinning around, leaving no trace
An object is rotating but not leaving any signs of its presence.
Nothing escapes
Absolutely nothing can break free from this area.
And the boundaries been breached
Even the set limits have been surpassed and violated.
All matter and shape
Both substance and form exist here.
Destination's reached!
The point of arrival has been attained!
The star dies, collaping in its core
The celestial body is perishing and falling upon itself.
End of the journey, it won't be seen anymore!
The passage is over, and the star won't be observable anymore.
I can see the point of no return
I can behold the spot where there is no coming back from.
And when the light is slowly turning to red
As the illumination starts turning crimson-tinged and decelerates,
Life gives away, there's no concern
Existence fades away without any worries.
A force that carries the event horizon lies ahead!
A compulsion that escorts the point of no return is in front of me!
Contributed by Audrey K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
전수환
@하느요런곡들 좋아하시면
Helloween
Sonata artica
Edguy
Hammer fall
Blind guardian
요밴드 우선 추천 드립니다.
교과서죠. 메탈 입문하기 적당한 밴드죠
귀르가즘 ㄱㄱㄱㄱ
Shyfter1215
An 'Event Horizon' is the point of no return from the gravitation field of a black hole. It seems like something symbolic in this song.
stratojim473
The keyboard/guitar bits in the middle are EPIC and immense. As is the rest of the album.
Philip Dollinger
I think no other band can top this epic and fast solo!! I love it !
Mariyan Marinov
My favourite song from the new album.
kingofpowermetal
Uf, ya extrañaba solos como ese y la poderosa bateria en Stratovarius :D
bruce seal
this always makes me think of the film 'event horizon'. such an awesome film and such an awesome song.
faggotsensei
This, darkest hours and the game never ends are the best from this album
José Espinoza
Power metal puro como solo strato puede hacer
verlis is life
I LOVE this song.
Also, somethings been bugging me. This song sounds like another Power Metal song but I forgot which one! I know at 2:50 it sounds a lot like Heavenly's song Bravery In The Field but the chorus of this song is too familiar. Does anyone know? (I think it might be another Stratovarius song, as a matter of fact.)
SmurfQueen279
There are two versions of this album ;3