"As many already know, our guitarist Jani Liimatainen has been absent from the lineup this spring and summer. The reason was his messing around with his compulsory military/civil/prison duty, or rather, complete failure to take care of it.

"This matter, and everything that goes with it, caused a split between Jani and the other band members. This split was impossible to mend without Jani's help and co-operation.

"Therefore we would like to make known the following: 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.

"'Show must go on,' so, facing the facts, we hereby humbly announce that Elias Viljanen is from this day forward a full and official member of Sonata Arctica.

"Throughout this summer, on many occasions, Elias has shown himself to be able to fill the big boots Jani left behind.

"We hope our friends and our fans understand that this was the only choice left for us to make so that our band could continue. Sonata Arctica has always been, and always will be, more than the sum of its parts. The band has become for us a way of life, a lifeline that simply can not be cut off.

"A long 'Unia' tour lies in front of us.

"We extend Elias a warm welcome to the Sonata family, and we hope the fans will, too. Sonata Arctica is whole again.

"See you on the road!"

Sonata Arctica's new album, Unia, was recently certified gold in Finland for sales in excess of 15,000 copies. This brings the band's total number of gold albums to seven, with their debut LP, "Ecliptica", and "best-of" compilation, "The Collection", reaching gold status in the past few weeks.

Recorded and mixed at Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Unia — which has been available in North America since May 22 — landed on the following international album charts: Finland - #1; Japan - #7; Sweden - #27; Germany - #35; Switzerland - #40; Austria - #62. The "Paid in Full" single (video available for viewing here) also secured the #1 single position in the band's native land.

Sonata's third North American tour begins September 12 in Fort Worth, Texas and includes a headlining performance at the ProgPower USA VIII festival in Atlanta Georgia. Complete tour dates can be viewed at this location.