SONATA ARTICA Announces Elias Viljanen as Offcial Member

SONATA ARCTICA guitarist Jani Liimatainen has been absent from the line-up this spring and summer due to his compulsory military/civil/prison duty.

Consequently, members of the band have come to a decision and their statement is below:

During fall of '06 and spring of '07, Jani's personal matters and actions drove us to a situation where we had no option but to ask Jani to leave the band. Jani was notified of this in May, and the separation was amicable.

We wanted to give Jani the chance to get his life together before making this public, which is why we didn't make this announcement earlier. We wish Jani well on his chosen path.

Facing the facts, we hereby humbly announce that Elias Viljanen is from this day forward a full and official member of SONATA ARCTICA. A long Unia tour lies in front of us. We extend Elias a warm welcome to the family, and we hope the fans will, too.

See you on the road!
Best regards,
Tony, Tommy, Marko, and Henrik