Frontiers
2009
1. My Queen of Winter
2. More Than Friends
3. Oceans of Regret
4. Gather the Faithful (Instrumental)
5. Into the Blue
6. Dawn of Solace
7. Thorn in My Side
8. Morpheus in a Masquerade
9. Stolen Waters
10. Elegantly Broken
A collaboration between Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica members seems to be at the same time entirely appropriate and fairly boring. This is not a knock at either band, but more me pointing out the obvious that both bands are very similar anyways. I wouldn't expect much of anything original to come out of a collaboration like a pairing of Timo Kotipelto and Jani Liimatainen.
Well my expectations are pretty much met on this album. This is by no means bad, in fact it's pretty cool, but I knew basically what this was going to sound like before I threw on the album. If you like these two bands and this sort of melodic keyboard oriented metal than I don't doubt you will at least like this album. Certainly the debut from Cain's Offering is pretty good at what it does, but I do find it a little familiar. This does not stop my head from moving on Thorn In My Side and Stolen Waters in particular though which while light and flowing in overall sound, do have some pretty heavy sounding riffs added in the mix. The guitar doesn't really take a front seat, but does make it's presence known and songs like this are my favorite on the disc. There are moments when this album does get a bit poppy, but it's not really surprising from either Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica and I'm ok with it personally. What both these bands pretty much go for is good flowing melodies and sometimes that comes with a little poppyness in the sound.
Basically, if you like Kotipelto's singing and this sort of power metal than there's probably not a reason you won't like this. Cain's Offering doesn't really reach outside the box or bring any new dimensions out of either Kotipelto or Liimatainen, but it's in a style that fans of both will probably like. I'd call this album safe.
Highlights: Thorn In My Side, Stolen Waters, My Queen Of Winter
Rating - 3.5/5
2. More Than Friends
3. Oceans of Regret
4. Gather the Faithful (Instrumental)
5. Into the Blue
6. Dawn of Solace
7. Thorn in My Side
8. Morpheus in a Masquerade
9. Stolen Waters
10. Elegantly Broken
A collaboration between Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica members seems to be at the same time entirely appropriate and fairly boring. This is not a knock at either band, but more me pointing out the obvious that both bands are very similar anyways. I wouldn't expect much of anything original to come out of a collaboration like a pairing of Timo Kotipelto and Jani Liimatainen.
Well my expectations are pretty much met on this album. This is by no means bad, in fact it's pretty cool, but I knew basically what this was going to sound like before I threw on the album. If you like these two bands and this sort of melodic keyboard oriented metal than I don't doubt you will at least like this album. Certainly the debut from Cain's Offering is pretty good at what it does, but I do find it a little familiar. This does not stop my head from moving on Thorn In My Side and Stolen Waters in particular though which while light and flowing in overall sound, do have some pretty heavy sounding riffs added in the mix. The guitar doesn't really take a front seat, but does make it's presence known and songs like this are my favorite on the disc. There are moments when this album does get a bit poppy, but it's not really surprising from either Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica and I'm ok with it personally. What both these bands pretty much go for is good flowing melodies and sometimes that comes with a little poppyness in the sound.
Basically, if you like Kotipelto's singing and this sort of power metal than there's probably not a reason you won't like this. Cain's Offering doesn't really reach outside the box or bring any new dimensions out of either Kotipelto or Liimatainen, but it's in a style that fans of both will probably like. I'd call this album safe.
Highlights: Thorn In My Side, Stolen Waters, My Queen Of Winter
Rating - 3.5/5
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