Cain's
Offering
is the brainchild of former Sonata Arctica and Altaria guitarist and song writer
Jani Liimatainen and something he has been working on ever since he left Sonata
Arctica in 2007. Joining him on the quest for success is some of the premier
musicians of the Finnish metal scene: keyboard player Mirkko Harkin (Solution
.45, ex-Sonata Arctica, ex-Kenziner etc.), bass player Jukka Koskinen (Norther,
Wintersun) and drummer Jani Hurula (Paul Di'Anno).
Each of them
shines and is delivering a stellar performance on this album, but the guy, who
makes this album something else, something special is Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius,
Kotipelto), who sings as strong as he is capable of, something he really hasn't
done for some time... His performance is up to par with his performances on
'Visions' and 'Destiny', more than ten years ago.
The
expectations are always very high when we are presented with some form of
super-group, and I must say that this belongs among some of the very best in
recent years. 'Gather the Faithful' is a very well written and performed album
with ten strong melodic power metal songs that shows five very talented
musicians. Still not convinced then try "Morpheus in a Masquerade" and hear a
band clicking on all cylinders at the same time...
The balanced
and crystal clear production is helping elevate the album to a higher level and
with no further ado it is my pleasure to introduce to you, the next big thing in
melodic power metal: Cain's Offering.
