Amusing Band: Sonata Arctica

It's hard to find symphonic power metal music that isn't cheesy. A couple of examples being Rhapsody and Freedom Call. If you're interesting in hearing fast music about battling dragons on an epic quest, this isn't your band.

Besides the lyrical subject of Sonata Arctica and the quality of their compositions and production, they have a couple other unique elements:

I don't know of any other band that has a virtuoso guitarist and a virtuoso keytar player. The keyar and guitar frequently play off each other, similar to a band like Stratovarius.

I've heard many people say that Finland is the capital of metal. Since metal music isn't mainstream most people probably wouldn't have guessed that many of the popular metal bands are from Finland. If you're into metal music I'm sure you've heard of at least one band from Finland. HIM (common, if you haven't heard of HIM...), Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Apocalyptica, Children of Bodom, Amorphis, 69 Eyes, and more...

I've heard people say they can't find Sonata Arctica music? I guess you didn't look in the mall.