Unia

Unia is darker and more aggressive than Sonata Arctica's earlier work, with mid-tempo songs, more inclusion of 7 string guitars and a minimal amount of solos. It has been described as a significant "turning point".

Vocalist Tony Kakko has once admitted that Unia being released just after Reckoning Night "was probably a shock to many people".{{cite web|title=Exclusive: Sonata Arctica Interview About "Pariah's Child" 2014 (SUBTITLED)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIRdmPN7nuo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/eIRdmPN7nuo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|work=KaaosTv|publisher=YouTube|access-date=13 February 2014|location=Helsinki|language=fi|date=7 February 2014}}{{cbignore}} He also described it as "a liberating experience. From there we took slowly some other direction". Commenting further on the album, he also stated:

{{cquote|Back then our band thought we are in some kind of pit and that we needed to do something different. To be honest, in that time it would have been better to do a solo album, but there was no time nor possibility for it. Unia is one of the closest albums to me personally.}}

Drummer and founding member Tommy Portimo said that Unia "brought many good things. I think our band needed that little shaking. [...] That album felt very natural. Although we realized it was very far from what we were before. But it was just a natural shaking." Guitarist Jani Liimatainen considers it his least favorite album among the ones he recorded with the band, calling it "too experimental for my taste".{{cite web |last=Begai |first=Carl |title=CAIN'S OFFERING Guitarist Jani Liimatainen On Leaving SONATA ARCTICA - "There Was Not Nearly As Much Drama As Everyone Would Like To Think" |url=https://bravewords.com/news/cains-offering-guitarist-jani-liimatainen-on-leaving-sonata-arctica-there-was-not-nearly-as-much-drama-as-everyone-would-like-to-think |work=Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles |access-date=12 December 2024 |date=15 October 2009}}

The track "Caleb" continues what the band refers to as "the so-called Caleb saga", a series of songs that started on Silence's "The End of This Chapter" and is continued on Reckoning Night's "Don't Say a Word", The Days of Grays's "Juliet"; The Ninth Hour's "Till Death's Done Us Apart"{{cite web|title=Sonata Arctica reveals details about Finnish Tour 2018|url=https://www.facebook.com/sonataarctica/photos/a.10150531618642969.391685.21128872968/10155843846652969/?type=3&theater |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/21128872968/10155843846652969 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|website=Sonata Arctica's official Facebook page|publisher=Facebook|access-date=12 December 2017|date=11 December 2017}}{{cbignore}} and Talviyö's "The Last of the Lambs".{{cite web |last1=Giffin |first1=Brian |title=SONATA ARCTICA // A Little Understanding |url=https://www.hysteriamag.com/sonata-arctica-little-understanding/ |website=Hysteria Magazine |publisher=Hysteria Media PTY LTD |access-date=7 September 2019 |date=3 September 2019}}

{{track listing

| total_length = 58:35

| all_writing = Tony Kakko, songs arranged by Sonata Arctica

| title1 = In Black and White

| length1 = 5:03

| title2 = Paid in Full

| length2 = 4:24

| title3 = For the Sake of Revenge

| length3 = 3:23

| title4 = It Won't Fade

| length4 = 5:58

| title5 = Under Your Tree

| length5 = 5:14

| title6 = Caleb

| length6 = 6:16

| title7 = The Vice

| length7 = 4:08

| title8 = My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare

| length8 = 6:13

| title9 = The Harvest

| length9 = 4:21

| title10 = The Worlds Forgotten, the Words Forbidden

| length10 = 2:57

| title11 = Fly With the Black Swan

| length11 = 5:08

| title12 = Good Enough Is Good Enough

| length12 = 5:30

}}

{{track listing

| headline = European Edition

| total_length = 63:38

| title10 = To Create a Warlike Feel

| length10 = 5:03

| title11 = The Worlds Forgotten, the Words Forbidden

| length11 = 2:57

| title12 = Fly with the Black Swan

| length12 = 5:08

| title13 = Good Enough Is Good Enough

| length13 = 5:30

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Japanese bonus tracks

| total_length = 73:44

| title13 = They Follow

| length13 = 4:50

| title14 = Out in the Fields

| note14 = Gary Moore cover

| length14 = 4:06

| title15 = My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare (Instrumental)

| length15 = 6:13

}}

;Sonata Arctica

• Tony Kakko − vocals, additional keyboards
• Jani Liimatainen − guitars, acoustic guitars (on tracks 11, 14)
• Marko Paasikoski − bass guitar
• Henrik Klingenberg − lead keyboards, hammond organ, piano (on track 2)
• Tommy Portimo − drums

;Additional personnel

• Selestina Choir on "In Black and White", "Under Your Tree", "To Create a Warlike Feel" and "Caleb" conducted by Tarja Vanhala.
• Acoustic guitars, Bouzouki, Chromaharp, Cavaquinho and Q-chord on "They Follow", "Under Your Tree", "The Harvest", "It Won't Fade" and "Fly With the Black Swan" by Peter Engberg.
• Finnish vocals in "To Create a Warlike Feel" by Jarkko Martikainen
• Opening narration in "Caleb" by Milla V
• Vocals, "whatevergod..." ("Caleb") and backing vocals, "just passion and rage" ("In Black and White") performed by Starbuck.

;String orchestra on "Good Enough Is Good Enough"

• Tuomas Airola − cello
• Elar Kuiv − violin
• Kati Niemelä − violin/viola
• Anna-Leena Kangas − viola
• Oskari Hannula − double bass
• Bowed string instruments arranged and conducted by Tuomas Airola.

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col"| Chart (2007) ! scope="col"| Peak position

{{album chart|Austria|62|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

{{album chart|Finland|1|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

{{album chart|France|101|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

{{album chart|Germany4|35|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|id=58233|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

{{album chart|Oricon|23|M|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/99187/products/707948/1/|title=ウニア～夢記|publisher=Oricon.co.jp|access-date=12 September 2022|rowheader=true

}

|-

{{album chart|Sweden|27|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

|-

{{album chart|Switzerland|40|artist=Sonata Arctica|album=Unia|rowheader=true|access-date=12 September 2022}}

|}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Finland|artist=Sonata Arctica|title=Unia|type=album|award=Gold|salesamount=24,604|domestic=true}}

{{end}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Sonata Arctica}}

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Category:Sonata Arctica albums

Category:2007 albums

Category:Nuclear Blast albums