SONATA ARCTICA keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg has checked in with the following update:

"Hola People! Just wanted to let you all know that we're alive and well and the new album is under work. We're really excited to enter the studio to start recording our new stuff. Enjoy the fall and keep the metal alive!"

Sonata Arctica recently released a video clip to their song ‘Alone In Heaven’, taken from their latest album, Stones Grow Her Name. Released on May 18, 2012 via Nuclear Blast, Stones Grow Her Name achieved gold status in the bands’ home country after just one week and additionally entered charts worldwide. Among those entries were the top 5 of Sweden Rock Charts (#5), Canada Rock Charts (#7) and UK Rock Charts (#9) and the record debuted at #9 of the US Billboard Heatseeker Charts.

Commented vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko: “’Alone In Heaven’ got sparked lyrically after I had suffered few personal losses in relatively short period of time. Those will make you think about a possibility of after life and such things. At least for me it was like that. I will always remember those passed on thru this song every time we play it. I was initially a little hesitant whether or not this is a suitable track for Sonata, being rather 'hard/soft rockish'. But the guys fell in love with it immediately and it fell right in on the quite mellow mooded Stones Grow Her Name album. I think it's a nice emotional rock song with some extremely beautiful parts to it. It has become a little bit of a fan favorite and crowd pleaser, being quite approachable and straight forward arrangement wise. Very live friendly track we'll surely play also in the future. The video is like the song, fairly simple and …soft. Enjoy.”

As previously reported, longtime bass player Marko Paasikoski left the band due to personal reasons at the end of August. Pasi Kauppinen (SILENT VOICES, ex-REQUIEM, WINTERBORN) has now taken over the low-frequencies for the band.