SONATA ARCTICA frontman Tony Kakko recently spoke with My Global Mind about the band's new album, Pariah's Child, and various points of their career. An excerpt is available below:

Q: With the new record you wanted to go a step back to the roots. What led to this decision?

TK: "Few things. First we had to start the preparations for our 15th-anniversary tour, which meant going thru all the old stuff we’ve recorded. That was a surprisingly nice task. I surprised myself. I thought the whole thing would be total pain in the arse. I have not heard some of those songs in more than ten years. I found myself smiling. The other thing was an Ecliptica remake, requested by our label in Japan. We decided to say yes after a long discussion with the band. These two things combined inspired me to try out what it would be like to write a song in that Winterhearts Guild/Reckoning Night-style. The result was what came to be 'The Wolves Die Young'. The whole band liked the song and mood it had and that was when we decided to take the album a little bit more into that direction. Going back to the roots never meant going back to Stone Age, but rather finding that intersection in time when we got a little side tracked. Without forgetting everything we’ve learned in the last ten years. That was quite a long side track…"

Q: You know, with Unia you did a radical change in style and many people are still complaining that you don’t play traditional Power Metal anymore and all that stuff. Does that make you sad or angry sometimes? Do you still care?

TK: "I never really considered myself being a metal head. I just drifted into doing this by being totally into Power Metal, or more closely STRATOVARIUS, back in late 90’s. And then the band I was in suddenly scored a recording deal with this Power Metal styled demo. Holy shit…I think in some ways I am writing my music for the wrong people! (laughs) Or I take it back. I write my music mainly to please myself. If others like my songs, it’s a nice bonus, naturally. Unia was a necessary step. I would have quit Sonata had the guys not given me a green light to go into that direction. And afterwards I chose to do whatever I like musically in the future as well, come hell or high water. Life is too short to fulfill your passion by doing things you don’t feel right. These complaitns don’t make me sad or angry, although it’s frustrating at times. I understand them very well. The thing is we never really even played the traditional Power Metal to start with. It was always 'a little different' from that industry genre definition. And lots of Power Metal fans even in the beginning claimed we’re not real Power Metal, although I did feel we were at the time. It just left me feel musically homeless. A drifter. But for over a decade now I have chosen to not give a shit about genres. Music is music."

Click here for the complete interview.

Pariah’s Child is the band’s eight studio album and the follow up to their successful Stones Grow Her Name. The artwork and tracklisting follow:

'The Wolves Die Young'

'Running Lights'

'Take One Breath'

'Cloud Factory'

'Blood'

'What Did You Do In The War, Dad?'

'Half A Marathon Man'

'X Marks The Spot'

'Love'

'Larger Than Life'

The band recently launced the second track-by-track video for the new album. In the new episode the whole band gives an insight on creation of tracks 6 - 10 on Pariah’s Child. See both clips below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

‘Cloud Factory’ lyric video:

The Pariah's Child World Tour will mark the North American on-stage debut of Sonata Arctica’s new bass player, Pasi Kauppinen (SILENT VOICES, ex-REQUIEM, WINTERBORN), who replaced long-time band member Marko Paasikoski this past summer.

Tour dates:

September

3 - Mexicali Live - Teaneck, NJ
4 - Stage 48 - New York, NY
5 - The Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA
6 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
8 - Club Soda - Montreal, QC
9 - Imperial de Quebec - Montreal, QC
10 - Mavericks - Ottawa, ON
11 - MOD Club - Toronto, ON
13 - Soundstage - Baltimore, MD
14 - Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA
16 - Agora Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
17 - Mojoes - Joliet, IL
19 - Park Theater - Winnipeg, MB
20 - The Exchange - Regina, SK
21 - Starlite Ballroom - Edmonton, AB
22 - The Republik - Calgary, AB
24 - The Venue - Vancouver, B.C.
25 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA
26 - Hawthorne Theater - Portland, OR
28 - The Grand Ballroom at the Regency - San Francisco, CA
29 - House of Blues - West Hollywood, CA
30 - The Grove - Anaheim, CA

October

1 - Club Red - Tempe, AZ
4 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
5 - Granada - Lawrence, KS
7 - Tricky Falls - El Paso, TX
8 - Backstage Live - San Antonio, TX
9 - Trees - Dallas, TX
10 - Scout Bar - Houston, TX
12 - Diamond Pub & Billiards - Louisville, KY
13 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
14 - House of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, FL
15 - Orpheum –Tampa, FL

The band will tour Russia in November during their Pariah's Child World Tour. In addition to that they will also visit the Ukraine and Belarus for the first time.

Tour dates:

November

2 - Volta - Moscow, Russia
3 - Premio Centre - Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
5 - Bingo - Kiev, Ukraine
6 - Re:public - Minsk, Belarus
8 - Avrora - St. Petersburg, Russia

Tickets are available here.