JANI LIIMATAINEN

'Jani Allan Kristian Liimatainen' (born September 9 1980 in Kemi, Finland) is the former guitar player and one of the founding members of the power metal band Sonata Arctica.
Most of his technique is self-taught, even though he had a few guitar lessons early in his life. He is endorsed by Ibanez and plays a Destroyer DT 200 Custom and the Ibanez JPM4, John Petrucci's signature model. He cites Freak Kitchen, Dream Theater and Pain of Salvation as his biggest musical influences.
As well as playing, he has also contributed to the band's songwriting with ''My Selene'' on 2004's Reckoning Night.
He was fired from Sonata Arctica in May 2007, although this was officially confirmed in August. He was replaced by Elias Viljanen.
Jani also played with Altaria, recording 2 full-length albums, before leaving them to concentrate on his work with Sonata Arctica. He also has a side-project going with his Sonata Arctica bandmate, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, a melodic death metal band called ''Graveyard Shift''.