When I read the first lines of the promo sheet about the founder of CAIN'S OFFERING I thought this would be a SONATA ARCTICA wanna-be. Indeed, Jani Liimatainen used to be with SONATA ARCTICA and in fact was one of the founding members but parted ways with them when he was obliged to do the military service for the Finnish army.
Usually, when a musician leaves a band that was deeply involved and forms one of his own he follows pretty much the same artistic path. So, before the listening session I was already prepared what to expect.
My Queen Of Winter did not prove wrong entering with an up-tempo groove and catchy keyboard melodies. When the vocals showed up STRATOVARIUS came into my mind even though this singer sounded with slightly lower pitch than Timo. But, the lineup informed that in fact it was Timo himself who was behind the mic. Jani teamed up with this highly influential singer to back-up the compositions in CAIN'S OFFERING debut release. Musically the album opener follows the cliche Power Metal structure giving more space to the keyboards. Since, Frontiers Records usually enlists bands from the melodic side of Metal I was convinced to continue listening and avoid stepping into snap judgments. The killer keyboard melody in Oceans Of Regret added greatly in terms of melody proving that the aforementioned label has not changed the 'rules' of enlistment. As I said, Timo sounds in a lower pitch revealing a more melodic side in his voice that actually fits the music perfectly. But, this track does not luck of heaviness at all; the fast break in the middle and the hearty bass guitar sound are the ideal introduction to the fast guitar solo that follows. Gather The Faithful is an instrumental with some minor orchestrations that sounds awesome due to the impressive sound production that gives to every instrument the space to shine.
Thorn In My Side is another album highlight and I feel that this is the musical direction fit for CAIN'S OFFERING. Ok, the electronic sounds are not my thing but the rest of the track is heavy and groovy with Timo's vocals taking the music into the next level. The melodic finishing touches are in the right dosage while the keyboards work towards the personal sound direction. The album closes with the excellent piano based ballad and a catchy-as-hell main melody. You will be humming this one after the very first CD spin. Again I have to underline the different singing style of Timo who managed to make me forget about the weak STRATOVARIUS album.
The question is whether this new Finnish treat will last long enough (taking into account Timo's duties with STRATO) to form a solid fan base and get on the road where the true value of every band is shown. The album has already been released to Asia where I bet it will hit hard on the charts. Let's see what will happen in Europe...