What happened here?
T. Reid | NJ | 05/01/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I thought I was getting a Raintime album. I was sadly mistaken. Not to imply that this band was original because they surely were not. But I found things to like in their albums. This album is a complete deviation from their previous efforts. Again, another bands sells out their fan base for whatever reason. I feel like I was duped. This is one of the reasons why people pirate music. The previous reviewer is too kind on them. This is not good. Not in any shape or form. Plus this is completely boring. They have turned into an old school metal outfit with modern rock choruses that you hear on MTV and the radio. They really don't pull it off well. Growls???..what growls. If you liked the other albums from them do not get this one. It's a disappointment to your senses."
One minute you'll find your jaw hitting the floor and the ne
The NewReview | USA | 03/26/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Italy is known for many great things: The Leaning Tower Of Pisa, Leonardo da Vinci, The Vatican, and my personal favorite, the meatball parmesan sandwich. Italian metallers Raintime are back with their third installment of power influenced modern metal titled Psychromatic. But will this album fill my musical appetite, or leave me hungry for more?
The album opens with the upbeat and heavy hitting "Fire Ants." From the very first key stroke, you are immediately drawn in. Guitarists Daniele Bressa and Matteo Di Bon come out blistering the frets while keyboardist Andrea Corona finds himself stride for stride with the six strings. Instantly, you will notice that Raintime's style and sound can be compared to In Flames and their last few outings (Soundtrack to Your Escape, Come Clarity and A Sense Of Purpose). Now, I'm not saying that these guys are identical, but there's no doubt that the influence is there and burns bright. Vocally, Claudio Coassin does come off sounding quite a bit like Anders Fridén (In Flames) but honestly, I found his singing voice (while not amazing) to be much better than Fridén's. Once thing I noticed throughout the disc is that the growls found on their previous efforts are all but long gone. Replacing them are super clean vocals with a scream here and there thrown in for good measure.
If you feel like breaking some necks on the dance floor, check out "Turned Up and Down." The opening sounds like something off the latest Dirge Within album with its great bounce and groove that could move mountains. Once you get accustomed to the bounce, you're taken in a completely different direction with Enrico Fabris pounding the skins and killing the double bass. The choruses see the band finding their inner "techno geek-meets-Korn" selves. So pull your dreads back, grab your glow stick, and enter the black light circle pit.
"Nothing But A Mistake" is absolute must listen on this album. Bressa and Di Bon's guitar work is phenomenal on this song. Their high octane riffs are filled with enough diesel to make Lamb Of God's axemen proud. This is one of the few songs that gets nasty vocally and it was nice to hear. Everything about this song is top notch with the ferocious drumming, impeccable keys and bottom heavy bass. The choruses are extremely singable and as likable as grandma's home cookin'.
Tracks like "I Want To Remember", "Shift" and "Beaten Roads", while all solid songs, really never captured my attention. "I Want To Remember" comes off like a afterthought Bullet For My Valentine track with its over the top radio friendly vibes and happy go lucky choruses. "Shift" is a slow, dark, and dreary song that is cool when taken at face value, but suffers a major drawback with the way the verses are put together. With his thick accent combined with being layered so much, Coassin's vocals sound odd -- almost like they are backwards, which makes them hard to understand at times. "Beaten Roads" sounds like thrown away Metallica riffs from a bygone era mixed with some of Load's (Metallica) southern charm just for grins. There are parts in the song where the band kicks into a double bass thrash-fest that comes off messy and totally unnecessary. Not to be outdone, they incorporate the generic over the top guitar solo found in most songs from yesteryear.
The album ends on "Buried In You" and "Walk-On Actor." Both tracks have an old school power/progressive style and feel, but combine newer style riffs, vocals and obviously more breakdowns. And if there's a genre that I absolutely cannot stomach, it is progressive/power metal in its true form. In my mind, it's a style that should be shot, burned, buried, dug up and the process repeated. Last time I checked, it isn't 1994 and Awake (Dream Theater) isn't topping the charts. Fortunately for me, Raintime are able to add just enough modern elements to these tracks to keep me from wanting to take a cordless drill to my forehead.
Psychromatic is an album that finds itself somewhere in metal purgatory. It has some outstanding elements of modern metal that really shine, while other parts that flashback to previous decades. With the overplay of clean vocals and near exclusion of heavy end snarls, I feel Raintime may have somewhat backed themselves into a corner. One minute you'll find your jaw hitting the floor and the next, your finger hitting the eject button."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1