Winterheart's Guild

Winterheart's Guild is the third studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 2003 through Spinefarm Records. In a 2014 interview, vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter Tony Kakko said inspiration for writing "The Ruins of My Life" came from the film Braveheart.[1] In 2019, he would refer to the album's recording process as a "nightmare" because he only had "two or three" songs ready when the band went in the studio.[2]

Winterheart's Guild
Studio album by
Sonata Arctica
Released21 February 2003
RecordedSeptember - November 2002
StudioTico Tico Studio
GenrePower metal, symphonic metal
Length54:57
LabelSpinefarm
ProducerSonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica chronology
Songs of Silence – Live in Tokyo
(2002)		 Winterheart's Guild
(2003)		 Reckoning Night
(2004)

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Lords of Metal90/100[4]
Sea of Tranquility[5]
Sputnikmusic4/5[6]

Loudwire named the album at eleventh in their list "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time."[7] Metal Hammer also included it in their 2016 list of 10 essential power metal albums.[8]

Track listing

All songs written by Tony Kakko

No.TitleLength
1."Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited"5:36
2."Gravenimage"7:00
3."The Cage"4:36
4."Silver Tongue"3:58
5."The Misery"5:08
6."Victoria's Secret"4:43
7."Champagne Bath"3:57
8."Broken"5:18
9."The Rest of the Sun Belongs to Me" (Japanese edition bonus track)4:22
10."The Ruins of My Life"5:14
11."Draw Me" (In the Japanese edition, the silence after 5:05 between studio outtakes are removed.)9:27
Total length:54:57

Personnel

Technical personnel

  • Recorded by Ahti Kortelainen at Tico Tico Studios in September–November 2002
  • Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios in November–December 2002.
  • Produced by Sonata Arctica

Charts
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 3
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 63
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 88
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 18

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[13] Gold 24,986[13]

References
  1. Sabrina, Elise (February 25, 2014). "Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) | Interview". Metal Chest Of Wonders. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  2. Giffin, Brian (3 September 2019). "SONATA ARCTICA // A Little Understanding". Hysteria Magazine. Hysteria Media PTY LTD. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. Hinds, Andy. "Winterheart's Guild - Sonata Arctica | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. Tuinman, Ferdinand. "Review Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild". Lords of Metal. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. Popke, Michael (May 24, 2003). "Review: "Sonata Arctica: Winterheart's Guild"". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  6. Stagno, Mike (October 26, 2006). "Sonata Arctica - Winterheart's Guild (album review 2)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  7. DiVita, Joe (July 5, 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  8. Lawson, Dom (October 19, 2016). "The 10 essential power metal albums". Metal Hammer. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  9. "Sonata Arctica: Winterheart's Guild" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  10. "Lescharts.com – Sonata Arctica – Winterheart's Guild". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Sonata Arctica – Winterheart's Guild" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  12. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  13. "Sonata Arctica" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.


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