is a
Finnish Power Metal band from the town of
Kemi , originally assembled in
1996 .
The band was founded under the name of ''Tricky Beans'' and initially played songs which were to a great extent influenced by the
Hard Rock genre and which didn't as much as flirt with the power metal genre. During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to any recording label — ''Friend 'till the End'', ''Agre Pamppers'' and ''PeaceMaker''.
In
1997 the band's name was changed to ''Tricky Means'', and from that point until
1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on
Falsetto and
Tenor voices.
In 1999, the band entered studios to record a demo entitled ''FullMoon'', their line-up composed by vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, bassist Janne Kivilahti and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was then sent to
Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band. A recording deal soon followed and the band changed its name to Sonata Arctica.
