Conceived in 2002 as a project of guitarist Nino Laurenne and bassist Titus Hjelm, friends since their days in Antidote, the Finnish progressive power metal act THUNDERSTONE has grown into a full-fledged band and released its fourth full-length album on Nuclear Blast. As the band says, "Evolution 4.0" will mark the beginning of a new period in the group's history -- the start of a "fourth stage of evolution." Indeed, the band's style, which combines entirely unique ideas of their own with elements drawn from such giants as EVERGREY and NEVERMORE, has undergone changes -- not drastic, but noticeable. The main emphasis now is on making the sound heavier and darker -- just listen to Roots of Anger and Holding on to My Pain, whose chunky riffs, if made slightly more brutal, could almost be called death metal. On the other hand, the excellent strained vocals of Pasi Rantanen remain, still reminiscent of Jorn Lande and Steve Lee (GOTTHARD), along with the band's signature depressive atmosphere and beautiful guitar melodies. But it's not all good news -- the hit potential of the material and the catchiness of the choruses have largely remained on past albums. Out of eleven compositions, only a handful of truly excellent tracks stand out: the already-known pre-release singles 10.000 Ways and Forevermore (with the latter, as far as I heard, the band was supposed to compete at Eurovision, but as we know, Finland was represented, for reasons unknown to me, by singer Hanna Pakarinen), the gorgeous mid-tempo banger Holding on to My Pain, and the semi-ballad Down With Me. Thus, we can only chalk up all the mistakes and shortcomings to the growing pains of the band's transitional period and hope that by the next album, THUNDERSTONE will have completed this stage of evolution, presenting listeners with a new, fully formed style.
