The lead singer in Stratovarius Mr. Kotipelto doesn’t need any presentation, right? Well, he’s back with his 3rd solo album called “Serenity”. The first two ones is called “Waiting for the Dawn” (2002) and “Coldness” (2004).

He is following… almost… the same direction as on his two first albums, namely with a mix of Melodic Power Metal songs in the same style as Stratovarius and mid-tempo Hard Rock songs.

I've read a couple of very negative reviews of this CD, complaining about this album being too soft and boring, but I actually don’t understand why… because I find that “Serenity” is his best work to date. Of course I understand that it all comes down to a matter of taste, but at least I like it.

Maybe Mr. Kotipelto is a tad more melodic on this new release but we can still find a few up-tempo Power Metal songs here on “Serenity”, be sure about that. Just take a listen to tracks like the opener, “Once Upon a Time” and “Angels Will Cry” and you know what I mean. But yes… he is a tad more melodic this time… but so what? The most important thing is the songs… are they any good, or not… and I find most of them excellent.

We get 10 songs with a very good production. Crystal clear to put it simple and in my humble opinion there’s only a few of the tracks that’s not above average, so I’m very curious to hear what he can up with on his next solo album.