Elysiumby Stratovarius

What a huge difference this release is from their previous effort which was a big dissapointment. "Elysium" finds the new Stratovarius in a better direction. Songs are well structured and composed. Very well written songs. It seems that they took the time to work on the songs and present something very pleasing to their fans. The title track is a long monster epic running over 18 minutes. There are all the Stratovarius ingredients plus more. Moving into progresive territory in some parts. They still have the power metal in their style but have evolved and developed a new and better sound. There are still songs that have the classic sound that fans expect like "Infernal Maze" and "The Game Never Ends". The first two songs are maybe the weakest of the album. Should have chosen another song to open this album.