Jani Allan Kristian Liimatainen (born 9 September 1980) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

musician, songwriter and backing vocalist, currently a member of

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band

Insomnium Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland. The sound and lyrical themes of their music portray darkness, sorrow, loss, pain, and nature. They are primarily a melodic death metal band with occasional elements of doom metal and ...

. He is the former guitarist and one of the founding members of the

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...

. He has also performed with

Cain's Offering Cain's Offering is a Finnish power metal supergroup that formed in 2008. History Cain's Offering was formed by former Sonata Arctica members Jani Liimatainen and Mikko Härkin, Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto, Norther and Wintersun bass play ...

, Altaria and

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

vocalist

Timo Kotipelto Timo Antero Kotipelto (born 15 March 1969) is a Finnish musician best known as the lead singer of the power metal band Stratovarius, whom he joined in 1994, as well as fronting his own band Kotipelto. Biography He studied vocals at the pop/ja ...

(his bandmate in Cain's Offering). Most of his technique is self-taught, even though he had a few guitar lessons early in his life. He is endorsed by

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

, plays a Destroyer DT 200 Custom, the Ibanez JPM4 P4 (which is

John Petrucci John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced (often with former member Mike Portnoy before he departed the band in 2010 ...

's signature model), and Ibanez "Streetwise" USA Custom guitars & Ibanez Rg 2020X. He cites

Freak Kitchen Freak Kitchen is an experimental rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1992. History Freak Kitchen's style of music is influenced by many genres besides traditional heavy metal, ranging from jazz to pop. The band described their third ...

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

, and

Pain of Salvation Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive metal band led by Daniel Gildenlöw, who is the band's main songwriter, lyricist, guitarist, and vocalist. Pain of Salvation's sound is characterised by riff-oriented guitar work, a broad vocal range, o ...

as his biggest musical influences. He was born in

Kemi Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...

, and currently resides in

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish. ...

Biography

Jani was one of the founders of Sonata Arctica in 1995. Besides playing, he also contributed to the band's songwriting with "My Selene" on 2004's ''

Reckoning Night ''Reckoning Night'' is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica, as well as the first to feature keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg. The track "Don't Say a Word" continues the so called Caleb saga, a series o ...

'' and "Prelude for Reckoning", their introduction tape in "For the Sake of Revenge". He has also co-written three songs for the band's first album,

Ecliptica ''Ecliptica'' is the first full-length album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 1999 through Spinefarm Records in Europe and through Century Media in the United States. It is the band's only album featuring bassist Janne ...

, "8th Commandment", "Replica" and "Picturing the Past". In May 2007, as a result of his failure to do his mandatory civil/military service he spent one month in a Finnish prison until he decided to perform these duties, because of this he and the other members of Sonata Arctica reached an agreement that they would go their separate ways. He left the band on good terms and was then replaced by

Elias Viljanen Elias "E.Vil" Einari Johannes Viljanen (born 8 July 1975) is a Finnish musician from Tampere, Finland, known for being the guitarist for Sonata Arctica since 2007. Viljanen joined Sonata Arctica in spring 2007 in order to replace Jani Liimataine ...

. Jani also played with Altaria, recording two full-length albums, before leaving them to concentrate on his work with Sonata Arctica. In addition, he has (or possibly had) a

side-project In popular music, a side project is a project undertaken by one or more people already known for their involvement in another band. It can also be an artist or a band temporarily switching to a different style. Usually these projects emphasize a ...

called Graveyard Shift with former Sonata Arctica band-mate

Henrik Klingenberg Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg (born 21 October 1978) is a Finnish keyboardist, keytarist and singer. He joined the Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica in late 2002 and currently resides in Kemi, Finland, when not on tour. Keyboardists he has ...

. He also played in a band called Sydänpuu (Hearttree), that plays rock music in Finnish. In Sydänpuu, he sings and plays guitars, bass, and keyboards alongside drummer Risto Koskinen under the Alias of Allan Anderssén. In October 2007, he was the lead guitarist for metal singer

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (born 17 May 1958), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is a British/Brazilian heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albu ...

's Finnish tour. Since mid-September 2007, Jani has worked with new band

Dream Asylum A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

with Altaria singer/songwriter and former band-mate

Marko Pukkila Altaria is a Finnish heavy metal band from Jakobstad, who have released four albums on the record label Metal Heaven, a fifth on Escape Music and a sixth on Reaper Entertainment. History In January 2008, the band decided to part ways with t ...

. They are yet to make any formal releases but have recorded a few demos. In April 2009, Jani announced on his MySpace page that he would be playing in a band by the name of

. Info about the new lineup was also released in the April issue of ''

Burrn! is a monthly Japanese magazine for fans of heavy metal music, published since September 1984. It is the major publication on heavy metal music in the country. As of 2013, it is published by Shinko Music Entertainment in Tokyo. The magazine's c ...

'' magazine.

and

Mikko Härkin Mikko Härkin (born 25 May 1979 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish power metal keyboardist, who has performed with Sonata Arctica and Kenziner. History Härkin begun to study piano at the age of 5. He joined ''Kenziner'' in 1998 and with them rec ...

(ex-

) were also a part of the band. The band has released two albums, Gather the Faithful in 2009, and Stormcrow (album) in 2015. They also released an acoustic covers album in 2012 titled ''

Blackoustic ''Blackoustic'' is a collaborative acoustic album by Stratovarius and Cain's Offering vocalist Timo Kotipelto and ex-Sonata Arctica and Cain's Offering guitarist Jani Liimatainen (credited as Kotipelto & Liimatainen). The album was released on O ...

''. In 2013, Jani Liimatainen contributed both lyrics and music on two tracks on Stratovarius' ''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

''. His band Sydänpuu released their first single, ''Malja'' in July 2013. On 29 August 2017 it was announced that Jani would be collaborating with former

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

vocalist

Anette Olzon Anette Ingegerd Olsson (born 21 June 1971), known by the stage name Anette Olzon, is a Swedish singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish from 2007 to 2012. She is also the vocalist of Swedish class ...

for a project called

The Dark Element The Dark Element is a Swedish/Finnish symphonic metal band formed by former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon and former Sonata Arctica guitarist Jani Liimatainen. History In 2016, Frontiers Records offered Jani Liimatainen to record and publis ...

. The debut self-titled album was released on 10 November 2017. On 16 July 2019, Jani was announced as a full-time member of the band

, in conjunction with the announcement of their new studio album. He has toured on and off with the band since 2015. In 2022, Jani released a solo album called ''My Father’s Son'', which has several guest singers, including Timo Kotipelto and Anette Olzon.

Discography

Solo

*''My Father's Son'' (2022)

Sonata Arctica

*''

'' (1999) *''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

'' (2001) *''

Winterheart's Guild ''Winterheart's Guild'' is the third studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica. It was released in 2003 through Spinefarm Records. In a 2014 interview, vocalist, keyboardist and songwriter Tony Kakko said inspiration for writing "The Ruin ...

'' (2003) *''

'' (2004) *''

Unia ''Unia'' ( en, Dreams), released on 25 May 2007, is the fifth full-length studio album by the power metal band Sonata Arctica, following the album ''Reckoning Night''. The first single from the album was " Paid in Full", released on 27 April 2007 ...

'' (2007)

Altaria

* '' Invitation'' (2003) * ''

Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

'' (2004)

Cain's Offering

*'' Gather the Faithful'' (2009) *'' Stormcrow'' (2015)

Stratovarius

* ''

Elysium Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...

'' (2011) – ''backing vocals'' * ''

'' (2013) – ''Acoustic guitar, songwriting and backing vocals'' * ''

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

'' (2015) – ''Songwriting'' * ''Survive'' (2022) - ''Songwriting''

with Timo Kotipelto

* ''

'' (2012)

The Dark Element

* ''

'' (2017) * ''Songs the Night Sings'' (2019)

Place Vendome

* '' Close to the Sun'' (2017) – ''Songwriting''

Insomnium

* ''

Heart Like a Grave ''Heart Like a Grave'' is the eighth studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Insomnium, released on 4 October 2019 via Century Media. It is the first album to feature guitarist Jani Liimatainen. ''Loudwire'' named it one of the 50 best m ...

'' (2019) * ''Argent Moon'' EP (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liimatainen, Jani Finnish heavy metal guitarists Sonata Arctica members 1980 births Living people People from Kemi Seven-string guitarists Cain's Offering members Altaria (band) members Insomnium members