Psychromatic

For the longest time, I’ve had it in me that Raintime’s grim finale, Psychromatic, was a rather dire attempt at mainstream success. Not just In Flames/Soilwork success; I’m talking peak Michael Jackson levels of success. Like, if it was on the radio, I’d be hearing it on there still to this day – that kind of success. A rather lofty goal for a melodeath band in the 2000s and especially at the beginning of the next one; it’s like “I don’t know, you know, you never know”. This is something that they elect to demonstrate… with metallic dance pop! I’m not joking! This overly bouncy rhythm with raving keyboards throughout “Fire Ants”, and the mixture of nu-metal chords and a dance music drum track in the chorus in “Turned Up and Down” all gave a rather baffling impression back when it came out in 2010. Like they’re going from Soilwork to… I guess Machinae Supremacy or Blood Stain Child if their electronic influences pointed more towards outright dance music. I mean, this shit makes Flies & Lies sound like The Red in the Sky is Ours by comparison.

But two things on here make it a bitter pill to swallow:

1. They’re the only songs on the album that follow this formula, and the rest are basically streamlined power metal tracks with bite-sized pieces of melodeath in them.
2. They’re all really non-descript and mediocre, and “Fire Ants” and “Turned Up and Down” are only relatively more interesting simply because of their unabashed pop stylings.

That’s the real long-term issue with the album. Going through the jarring transition would’ve been easier if the music was at least good. The issue is that it’s all plagued with stock riffs/chords coalescing into a malaise of nothing melodies. Yeah, the riffs are a bit more complex than what was on Flies & Lies, or at least sound like they got more notes in them. Unfortunately, they fail to contribute towards any worthwhile melodies, instead faffing about with half-hearted renditions of basic poppy power metal ones. But hey, Raintime’s strengths had always lied in the keyboards and vocals. Well, the keyboards do still generate melodies that are both ambient and driving… at least when they’re there, which is largely within the first couple of tracks. Although one thing I am glad is seldom there are the harsh vocals, which sound like old mate’s lost his voice as they lack the power to make them contrast well with the cleans… although even the clean vocals are quite less powerful than before. Claudio’s basically only singing in one register and at about 75% of the power that he would’ve sung it on prior albums. So honestly? The keyboards only really do it on a couple of songs, but just add cool shit to the other songs, and the vocals just seem to go along with it, rather than help drive it. There’s just nothing really going on with these songs. Sure, the guitarists and keyboardist are talented musicians, but it doesn’t mean much when the songwriting amounts to a couple of okay dance tracks and nebulous streamlined power metal.

There’s just this overarching sense that they had an idea for what they wanted to do, wrote the first two songs and then thought the rest would just write themselves. Unfortunately, Psychromatic’s weak if not borderline non-existent hooks and first draft levels of melodicism makes for a bland, forgettable time that made this a right disappointment back in 2010… and still a lackluster affectation in 2023.

Raintime's breakup has cut me deep, as I was a fan of them since the release of their amazing debut Tales from Sadness and tried my best to keep up with what was going on in the band's camp. The loss of Martina on guitars shortly before the recording of Psychromatic dealt a huge blow to the band's creative unit, forcing them to recruit a new lead guitarist who may or may not have been the best individual for the job. Di Bon is still here, though, along with the rest of the Flies & Lies lineup. So what went wrong?

It is obvious that the commercial leanings present on the last album weren't a mistake, as Raintime continues down the same path here on Psychromatic. This damages the lasting power of some of the riffs, as they often have the tendency to drop out and defer to the soaring clean vocals and poppy keyboards. While the leads are more impressive, the rhythm section sounds very stock and lacks an identity of its own. The damage this actually does varies from song to song, as opener "Fire Ants" and "Turned Up and Down" are both memorable and at least as good as the material from the preceding full-length. Conversely, "I Want to Remember" and "Shift" are both boring, slow ballads that just don't deliver enough melodic appeal to make their existence worthwhile.

Coassin's clean inflection here on Psychromatic has earned him a lot of flak, but I'm failing to hear much of a problem. He sounds the same as on Flies & Lies, the only difference being his larger presence here. I actually find his harsh shouting much more offensive. In the past he experimented with both regular death growls and a metalcore-esque shout. The shouting vocals were forgivable on otherwise-amazing cuts such as "Apeiron", but they begin to show signs of decay here, as the rest of the band isn't performing up to par.

Corona is buried, only really making his presence felt in earnest during the first two tracks. His inclusion of the dance drum tracks feels superficial, almost as if the band is throwing anything synonymous with popular music into the mixing pot hoping for a hit. Psychromatic ends up blowing its load early during the first two songs, never again even coming close to matching their grandeur. The one possible exception is the closer, "Walk-on Actor" which is relatively progressive and at the very least manages to maintain the listener's interest throughout.

While well-produced and fairly concise in it's delivery, Psychromatic just simply fails as a metal album. I can understand a band wanting to make different music, but trying to pass it off by halfheartedly injecting it into the old formula results in failures such as this and ends up shortchanging the fans.

Raintime released one of my favorite power metal albums back in 2007, so I'm not quite sure why it's taken me so long to get around to reviewing their latest, Psychromatic.

As always, their signature sound is a unique blend of power metal, melodic death metal, and progressive metal--sort of a combination of Rhapsody of Fire, Soilwork, and Dream Theater.

The guitars hover on the border between melo-death and the heavy end of power metal. The keyboards sound a lot like any other power metal band that uses them, but they never get excessive (they get their due on the synth-driven, soft track "Shift"). The drums are powerful, and at times can get very aggressive (see "Beaten Roads"). But there are still some problems with this record.

The vocals are both sung and growled, but this time around the singing voice seems rather thin. Maybe we could chalk that up to production, as overall it seems a tad flat. That's no excuse for the weaker growls, though. The track list seems to bend more toward ballads--"I Want to Remember" and "Fake Idols" are all-out ballads, but many more songs have ballad tendencies--so much of the power seems to be sucked out of their power metal. This is made worse by the fact much of the softer stuff is toward the front of the list. Still, the Raintime I know is present later, with "Beaten Roads", "One Day", and "Buried in You" being shining examples.

They've also included a lot of variety, including a dance-style beat and a heavy breakdown on "Turned Up and Down", and going epic on album closer "Walk-on Actor".

The Verdict: Raintime has suffered some serious lineup problems of late, including the loss of both guitarists. Whether that's cause or symptom of the problem, it's evidence this was not their finest hour.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

Yet another very strong album from Raintime. This album is very much in keeping with their previous two albums.

The emotional feeling is bouncy, happy-sounding music. It doesn't fall over the line into cheesy, but it makes me want to smile, the music is so upbeat. This is melodic stuff, but with a great sense of rhythm and some bite to it.

I find it hard to describe Raintime's overall sound. Imagine taking a melodeath-style guitar and rhythm section, but replacing the death-metal vocals with something else.

I realize you're probably thinking: how can this be melodic death metal, without death vocals? Well, it can't, I guess. But there's still a strong melodic death metal sensibility, in how Raintime combines strong melodies with aggressiveness, great guitar riffs, and a pounding beat. It's like the band grew up listening to Gothenburg-style melodic death and absorbed the value system, even though they're not actually playing melodeath per se. It's for this reason that I think fans of melodeath might like Raintime. By the way, to be clear: Raintime is very much on the melodic side of melodic death metal; we're certainly not talking brutal death metal. If anything, the music is on the poppy side of melodeath: not sellout-poppy (it's nowhere in the vicinity of In Flames; ick), but melodic and relatively accessible. If I had to compare them to other bands, I think they sound closest to Machinae Supremacy, MyGrain, or perhaps Lords of Decadence.

The highlight on this album is the guitars. Raintime's guitar section is solid. They keep things moving and bopping along nicely. The songwriting is strong, and the execution is perfect. One thing I appreciate is that the band doesn't try to play as fast as they can, right at the limits of their ability; instead, they are firmly in control throughout, and as a result, every note is hit perfectly dead-on. Professional, competent stuff.

Raintime also mixes in some synthesizers, a la Blood Stain Child, Lords of Decadence, or perhaps Lothlorien. The keyboards are tasteful and not out front and center; they're more of a counterpoint. This is not a Children of Bodom type band, with flashy super-fast keyboard solos; the keyboards are more submerged and don't try to draw attention to themselves.

As for the vocals, at first they felt a bit screechy or thin to me, but on further listening they grew on me. Overall, I think they work. I don't love them, but they do convey plenty of emotion.

If I had one criticism of the album, it's that there aren't any particular high points that really stand out. Almost every song is decent, but no song is exceptional. There are no jawdroppingly amazing guitar solos. There are no moments that make you say, wow. It's merely solid, professionally crafted music. However, I can live with that.

Favorite tracks: "Fire Ants" (nice guitar riffs, plus a steady beat that would be good for highway driving), "Walk-On Actor" (there's a nice buildup, which leads up to a driving, headbang-worthy beat).

Overall, if you can't get enough melodic death metal, but you're interested in something different and willing to try music with clean vocals, give Raintime a try. You could start with any of their three albums; they're all comparable. Personally, I think I enjoy Flies & Lies best, with Psychromatic a close second, but any would be a fine starting point. I'd especially recommend Raintime to fans of Blood Stain Child, Brimstone, Idols Are Dead, Lords of Decadence, Lothlorien, Machinae Supremacy, MyGrain, or Norther.