Albums Released in 2009: Top 10

Finnish Albums:
1. Stratovarius - Polaris
2. Sonata Arctica - The Days Of Grays
3. Cain's Offering - Gather The Faithful
4. Korpiklaani - Karkelo
5. Leverage - Circus Colossus
6. Eternal Tears Of Sorrow - Children Of The Dark Waters
7. Amorphis - Skyforger
8. Elias Viljanen - Fire-Hearted
9. Sapattivuosi - Ihmisen Merkki
10. Revolution Renaissance - Age Of Aquarius


Non-Finnish Albums:
1. Hans Zimmer - Angels & Demons OST
2. Doro - Fear No Evil
3. KISS - Sonic Boom
4. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Night Castle
5. W.A.S.P. - Babylon
6. Delain - April Rain
7. Epica - Design Your Universe
8. My Dying Bride - For Lies I Sire
9. Hammerfall - No Sacrifice, No Victory
10. Dream Theater - Black Clouds And Silver Linings

Note: This is just my subjective list of what I think were the best 10 Finnish and non-Finnish albums released in 2009. I obviously didn't listen to all albums that were released the last year, just to those from the bands that I like or some that I was curious about.

Review: Cain's Offering - Gather The Faithful

After parting ways with Sonata Arctica in 2007, Jani Liimatainen started a new band with vocalist Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius, Kotipelto), keyboard player Mikko Harkin (Mehida, ex-Sonata Arctica, ex-Wingdom, ex-Kenziner), bassist Jukka Koskinen (Norther, Wintersun) and drummer Jani "Hurtsi" Hurula (Paul Di'Anno). Cain's Offering released their first album, "Gather The Faithful" in July 2009, and all the music and lyrics were composed by Jani.

Considered by some better than "Unia" and "Polaris", only one thing is certain: "Gather The Faithful" is definitely one of the best albums released in 2009. The melodic instrumental parts and catchy choruses awaken memories of Sonata Arctica songs such as "The Cage", "Weballergy", or "Victoria's Secret", and Kotipelto's voice sounds just as great as on older Stratovarius albums. The first two tracks, "My Queen Of Winter" and "More Than Friends" are a perfect example for that. Songs like "Oceans of Regret" and "Thorn In My Side" start with unusual trance melodies, followed by typical, bombastic power metal parts. The title track is an instrumental and includes orchestral arrangements joined together with heavy sounds. "Dawn Of Solace" is one of the fastest songs from the album, while "Morpheus In A Masquerade" and "Stolen Waters" have certain progressive resonances. The two ballads from this album are probably the highlights, "Into The Blue", a typical power metal ballad with a very catchy chorus, and "Elegantly Broken", the last song from the album is the perfect ending, beautiful but unfortunately very short.

You can't help but have high expectacions when you find out that former and current members of two of the most influential Finnish power metal bands joined forces on a new album. Somehow, these guys have managed to combine the best parts from Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius, and to add new elements at the same time, in a way that the album is reminiscent of both bands without copying any of them. Most bands rarely succeed in releasing great debut albums. But "Gather The Faithful" is, without any doubt, a masterpiece.

Review: 10/10

Tracklist:
1. My Queen Of Winter
2. More Than Friends
3. Oceans Of Regret
4. Gather The Faithful
5. Into The Blue
6. Dawn Of Solace
7. Thorn In My Side
8. Morpheus In A Masquerade
9. Stolen Waters
10. Elegantly Broken

Concert Report: Stratovarius - Rockin' Transilvania 14.06.09

Stratovarius played on the 14th of June at Rockin' Transilvania as the headliners of the festival. The concert was part of the tour promoting their twelfth album "Polaris", that features two new members, bassist Lauri Porra and guitarist Matias Kupiainen, who is replacing Timo Tolkki, a long-time member of the band and the main songwriter for many years.



In spite of performing live for the first time in Romania, by the time the concert started it was obvious that the majority of the audience had come to see Stratovarius, so that one could barely hear Timo Kotipelto's voice during the first song of the concert, "Hunting High And Low", because it was covered by the huge number of fans singing along. Many classic songs like "The Kiss Of Judas", "Speed Of Light", "Forever", "Eagleheart", or "A Million Light Years Away" were the highlights of the concert, and Kotipelto was once again joined in singing by most of the fans.



Only three songs from the "Polaris" album were included in the setlist: "Higher We Go", "Winter Skies", and "Deep Unknown", three very powerful songs that managed to create a small sample of the album and attract the fans' attention. Once again, the number of the people attending the concert was not bigger than 800, but the band seemed to have a great time on stage and they managed to combine some of their biggest hits with songs from the new album and also songs that hadn't been performed in a long time, like "Will The Sun Rise?", in a way that they proved they can still write good songs and also that they are not that different from the old Stratovarius at the same time.



Closing the concert with what is most likely their most known song, "Black Diamond", Stratovarius' show was the perfect ending for a festival where other big names like Jon Oliva's Pain, Bonfire, In Extremo and Korpiklaani had also performed.



More pictures at this location.