Review Summary: Cold sparkling wine flowing richly out of the bottle.
I don’t remember exactly what spurred me to listen to Cain’s Offering’s debut about fifteen years ago, but I surely wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. Timo Kotipelto is a force to be reckoned with, and I’ve learned to appreciate him in time, but back then he certainly was not one of my favorite singers. In fact, I struggled to get into Stratovarius for a long while precisely because I had trouble adjusting to both Timo Tolkki and Timo Kotipelto’s voices. As for Jani Liimatainen, the man behind Cain’s Offering project, his tenure with Sonata Arctica was certainly a plus in my book, but I was still sure that Sonata is Tony Kakko and any other musician in the band just follows his instructions. So, the main reason why I even bothered to listen to “Gather the Faithful” was that I was bored at home and simply didn’t have anything better to listen to one day. And yet, as soon as the first notes hit, I was instantly hooked.
In the year when Sonata Arctica released an interesting but overcooked “The Days of Greys” and Stratovarius only started to recover from all the Timo Tolkki drama through competent but predictable “Polaris,” Stratovarius singer and former Sonata guitar player teamed up to create an album full of absolutely fresh, high-speed, and engaging songs that wouldn’t have felt out of place on those early Sonata albums. Already the first two songs are classical power metal tracks with soaring guitars, fast-paced drumming, and a dash of electronics for more melodic touch. Later on, this sound is expanded into neo-classical and even progressive territories, most notably the fully instrumental title track, but all of them bear that distinct early Sonata DNA. Except, in my opinion, Cain’s Offering in 2009 beats Sonata Arctica in 2009 on two important aspects. Firstly, all experimentation remains focused and does not overwhelm the songs, whereas Tony’s attempts to expand his band’s sound often resulted in songs that go in all directions at once, never arriving anywhere. What’s even more important is that there’s a palpable sense of inspiration and creative joy in this batch of songs, again in contrast to rather heavy-handed approach that Sonata often employs since Unia and beyond.
Of course, I just have to highlight the importance of Timo Kotipelto’s contribution, a singer whose voice I considered to be too high and shrill for my taste for a long time. “Gather the Faithful” is the first album where I really liked Timo’s vocals, and this experience actually prompted me to get into Stratovarius and find some appreciation for the band. Timo fits like a glove on these songs, adding an extra level of vigor and class to them. He sounds especially youthful and enthusiastic here and it’s possible that these recording sessions provided a welcome respite and distraction from the drama and uncertainty that surrounded his main band at the time. Besides, Kotipelto is one of the seminal figures of Finnish power metal and his involvement on a project led by a younger colleague is an interesting development in itself. Kinda like if Rob Halford sang on an Adrian Smith solo album or something of the sort.
One thing that may be problematic for some listeners is the album’s slightly poppier and more melodic direction in comparison to what Sonata usually does. There’s a bit more electronics used throughout the album and their role is quite prominent, and the closing fully piano-based ballad “Elegantly Broken” sounds particularly ready for radio rotation. However, I personally have always loved the song, its melodies are great, and Timo’s singing is gorgeous. Also, the album is markedly less intense overall in comparison to Sonata Arctica efforts. Tony normally aims at very layered, almost “wall-of-sound” approach, whereas “Gather the Faithful” is an airier, lighter effort. However, this works to the album’s advantage as well. The songs are not cluttered, the guitars, synth, and rhythm section are not elbowing each other or “speaking” at the same time. Every instrument is given enough room to breathe and open up. I think the album would benefit from rawer production, but do any Finnish metal bands ever go for rawer sound anyway?
Besides, it’s not like the guitars maintain only nominal presence. Jani is a guitar man first of all, and the guitars here are not over-polished, they still maintain heavy and crunchy sound at a normal power metal level. For instance, “Oceans of Regret” starts with a poppy electronic melody, but develops into a rather heavy song, especially in its closing section. Likewise, “Morpheus in a Masquerade” starts like a song meant for ballrooms, but it contains enough metal alongside with some progressive tendencies. However, it’s those fast-paced power metal songs that I wanted to hear first and foremost, and the band delivers in spades. Some of them are more focused on speed, like “Dawn of Solace,” some are more intense, like “Stolen Waters.” They don’t have that dark undercurrent characteristic for Tony Kakko songs with his penchant for exploration of darker mindset and obsessive feelings, and Tony is without a doubt a stronger lyricist overall. However, what “Gather the Faithful” lacks in the lyrical department, it compensates with excellent flow, reasonable variety, and inspired songwriting and performances from all musicians involved. In a nutshell, this album is a glimpse into a parallel universe where Timo Kotipelto fronts Sonata Arctica circa 1999-2004. Just one extra early Sonata album made by a guy who clearly took a part of the band with him when he left.
. But there is a grand total of ONE positive review in my recent reviews section. Of the next two only one will be grumpy though. Those big gaps between paragraphs stem from the fact that there were no gaps at all in my first review, so now I am overcompensating. I'll fix it at home, thanks for the tip
