Sonata Arctica’s new single is out now, Broken. Being one of the best ballads that the band has done, Broken is a good choice for a second single to promote their latest studio release, Winterhearts Guild. With four tracks, two of which are completely new and the other two being the album and edit versions of the title track this is a nice little snag for a Sonata fan. The two new songs are Dream Thieves and The Gun. Longtime Sonata Arctica fans might recall back in 2001 after Silence was released there was a statement about a new upcoming EP that would have these two songs. Needless to say, that EP never surfaced or maybe it just transformed into the Orientation EP. Well here they are finally and were they worth the wait?

I’m not really gonna comment on the song Broken itself other than the fact that it is a great midtempo ballad, check out my review of Winterhearts Guild for more info. The edit version of Broken has about a minute cut out and it ain’t that bad really. Anyways, the first “new” song we come to is Dream Thieves. After a short “sprinkley keys” intro we’re greeted by some heavy riffing and Tony’s almost shouting angrily. After this it breaks into a Sonata Arctica trademark riffing segment with Tony singing normally again, as an intro this really grabs your attention. There’s some almost Dream Theater like keyboard work after the first verse, think of the keyboard oddness in Fatal Tragedy to get a good idea of what I’m talking about. The verse comes by at you again followed by the chorus, which isn’t as strong as some other Sonata songs, it can fly by without you noticing it. There is also a quiet interlude moment before Tony starts singing again with some more experimentation with vocal effects. All in all this is a fairly good track and very experimental, I can see how they wouldn’t have put this on Winterhearts Guild but I’m glad it found its way here. The Gun is a bit shorter and reminds me a bit of Peacemaker with its rhythm and delivery. Musically, it is heavier than Peacemaker and has a great chorus. This almost sounds like it could have fit in on Silence without a hitch but would sound really out of place on Winterhearts Guild. A good solid song without too much experimentation, the band must have got it out of their system with Dream Thieves.

Clocking in at under twenty minutes with only two new songs some might ask if this really warrants purchasing. I picked this up for a very good price, $7 US and being a hardcore Sonata Arctica fan, any new material will be instantly picked up by me. I would say this is for people who must have everything by the band ever. I can’t see a casual fan buying this but I can see a hardcore fan buying this and loving it.