The brainchild of Finnish guitarist/songwriter Jani Liimatainen (founding member of one of Finland's biggest music exports Sonata Arctica), Cain’s Offering is an inspired and frenetic slice of fast-paced European Power Metal, symphonic metal and progressive hard rock.
As the musical description should allude to, this album is a full blown rollercoaster ride of over the top guitar and keyboard histrionics with some beautifully melodic and powerful vocals from Stratovarius’ Timo Kotipelto.
This is a massive sounding release. The amount going on within the album requires a very deft hand as far as the production goes (handled by Jani and mixed by Matias Kupiainen) – thankfully both guys got it right here.
As much as is happening at any given time, it’s all very clear and sonically pleasing.
I really like the contrast of the heavy, manic delivery of the songs against the melodic and anthemic vocals of Timo.
Plenty of highlights in this hour long opus; the opening track Stormcrow is majestic in its arrangement and the chorus; The Best Of Times is double kick drum madness, with a strong orchestral chorus; I Will Build A Rome is even faster, but still delivers a great hook; the epic 6 minute orchestral ballad Too Tired To Run is great; I don’t know how anyone can drum as fast as is the case of Constellation Of Tears; My Heart Beats As One is a cool combo of keyboards and guitar while On The Shore is one of the more straight forward numbers here.
A must have for prog/symphonic metal fans. Simply put. It’s a huge record with much to enjoy, with exquisite production and performances.
'The Best of Times' is taken from 'Stormcrow', the new album from Cain's Offering. Pre-order 'Stormcrow' to get 'Stormcrow', 'I Will Build You a Rome' & 'The Best of Time's' INSTANTLY:
iTunes - http://radi.al/COStormcrowiTunes
Amazon - http://radi.al/COStormcrowAmazon
Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the release of the second CAIN’S OFFERING studio album entitled “Stormcrow” on May 15th in Europe and May 19th in North America.
Cain's Offering is the brainchild of Finnish guitarist/songwriter Jani Liimatainen, founding member of one of Finland's biggest musical exports, Sonata Arctica.
Drawing its musical influence from both the classic Hard Rock scene, fast-paced European Power Metal and a very modern Heavy Metal sound, CAIN’S OFFERING is, just as expected, another perfect example of today's incredible Finnish music scene.
Joining Jani on the band’s sophomore release, coming after 2009’s acclaimed debut “Gather the Faithful”, are Stratovarius vocalist Timo Kotipelto and keyboardist Jens Johansson, plus Jonas Kuhlberg on bass and Jani "Hurtsi" Hurula (Paul Di'Anno) on drums. “I was approached about doing this second Cain’s Offering album already a few years ago” explains Jani, “but back then I was way too busy with other projects to even consider taking the time to write an album worth of material, but last year when I was approached about it again I thought that the time might be right and felt like I could really focus all my energy on the album”.
Jani continues “I think musically the new album is a bit more focused and coherent. “Gather The Faithful” was the first album where I wrote all the music and lyrics by myself, and in retrospect maybe I was a bit too ambitious, trying to prove that I can actually write really good, complex songs. It’s been six years since the first one and I think that I have matured as a writer, not trying to prove anything anymore, just trying to write the best possible material. It’s still very much vocal and melody orientated writing, since to me the melody is always the king, but I did try to keep things a bit more simple this time. Although I think Timo would still say some of the vocal melodies are quite complex!”
“Stormcrow” is a tour-de-force of who's-who in the Finnish heavy metal scene, and yes, this does sound like a dream come true for all fans of melodic Heavy Metal. And guess what - the final result is going to blow you away as this album melts the best of SONATA ARCTICA and STRATOVARIUS together in a new, exciting and powerful sound!
