Impending Death

Despite being labelled as groove metal here at MA Caffas Rain are a pretty straight-forward death metal combo hailing from Enschede/Netherlands. There are some more modern accords to be found here as well as an extra portion of melody, but overall fans of the classic school should find enough to enjoy on “Impending Death”, the debut full length. 9 songs and 40 minutes of high energetic riff attacks is what is on offer here.

While Caffas Rain play it quite safe and have not tried to reinvent the wheel they have produced a thundering piece of hard and aggressive music. The sound is powerful, yet raw and filthy at the same time, putting enough dirt into the music without sacrificing any detail. The riffing is straight-forward for most parts departing from the main path only in exceptional cases. Similarities can be drawn to US bands like Malevolent Creation as well as to European peers like Benediction or Sinister, with a lot of groovy and memorable hooks building the core of the sound.

There are a few tremolo pickings to be found as well lending the whole affair a subtly blackish nature in places. Epic lead harmonies reminding of some Gothenburg greats are omnipresent in the background, and there are also a few tasty soloing sections for fans of extended guitar playing. Caffas Rain clearly put a lot of emphasis on this kind of melodic elements, perfectly having embedded them into the bigger picture. Check out for example the nice lead theme at the end of song number three “March Against Tyranny”, which has kind of a lofty and lighter feeling. This contrast adds another layer to the music.

The drumming is on point and although at times a bit more technical and complex thankfully never too chaotic or nervous. Even when the tempo is upped everything stays in line and the clear structure of each song is followed until the end. There are some blast-beat sections but they are only used in certain moments. Most of the time the beat has a nice and straight groove which makes the tracks quite accessible from the first spin onwards.

The vocals are well done, being delivered in classic fashion. The growling is powerful – something that can also be said about the production. For a debut effort the sound is pretty much flawless, very crisp and punchy. The mix is transparent and offers enough clarity for all the instruments as well as the vocal lines. Overall “Impending Death” is a strong piece of death metal and fans of the genre cannot go wrong here.