Ten performances from ten cities form SONATA ARCTICA's forthcoming Live In Latin America, recorded during the band's 2025 Clear Cold Beyond World Tour. The album draws on shows in Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Its worldwide digital release is set for December 18, 2026, followed by a US physical release on February 12, 2027.
Keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg describes the recordings as a document of that particular tour. In the supplied release announcement, he explains: “Over the years we've always enjoyed touring in Latin America. It's been quite some time since our latest live album so we decided to record the Latin American shows on our Clear Cold Beyond World Tour. The tour went really well and we managed to capture some very special moments, which we will now present to you. This live album is a snapshot of how the band sounded in 2025 during those magical nights.”
The live sequence opens with “First In Line” from Concepción, Chile, followed by “Dark Empath” from La Serena, Chile, and “San Sebastian” from Buenos Aires, Argentina. “I Have A Right” was recorded in Caracas, Venezuela; “Angel Defiled” in Medellín, Colombia; and “Tallulah” in Bogotá, Colombia.
The remaining recordings are “Replica” from São Paulo, Brazil, “FullMoon” from Santiago, Chile, and “Wolf & Raven” from Lima, Peru. “Don't Say A Word,” recorded in Temuco, Chile, closes the ten-song live set.
That selection places material from Clear Cold Beyond, including “First In Line,” “Dark Empath” and “Angel Defiled,” alongside earlier songs. Released in 2024, Clear Cold Beyond brought fast power metal back to the foreground after the two Acoustic Adventures albums of 2022 presented the band's catalogue in stripped-back arrangements. The live album retains both the faster material and ballads such as “Tallulah” and “Replica.”
The announcement also cites tour reports describing audience participation in Santiago and Buenos Aires, with “FullMoon” among the songs sung back in both cities. Those accounts provide context for the collection's focus on the band's relationship with Latin American listeners, which dates back to its first South American shows in 2002.
Two studio bonus tracks accompany the live recordings. “Freedom Concept,” released to mark SONATA ARCTICA's 30th anniversary, makes its first appearance on a physical release. Its lyrical subject concerns differing understandings of freedom and the responsibility that accompanies it. “The Elephant,” originally a bonus track on the Japanese edition of The Ninth Hour, receives its first release outside Japan.
The album arrives during SONATA ARCTICA's 30th-anniversary year. The band began in Kemi, Finland, in 1996 as Tricky Beans and adopted its current name ahead of the 1999 debut Ecliptica. Subsequent albums included Silence, Winterheart's Guild and Reckoning Night; the supplied biography places the catalogue at eleven studio albums.
SONATA ARCTICA's lineup consists of vocalist and principal songwriter Tony Kakko, guitarist Elias Viljanen, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, bassist Pasi Kauppinen and drummer Tommy Portimo.
