Label: Wormholedeath
Review by Tony Cannella
From Spain, the Gothic metal band Rainover was founded in 2003 using the name Remembrances. In 2011 following the completion of the album “Crystal Tears”, the band suffered a mass exodus as four of their five members decided to depart. That would be crippling for a lot of bands both old and new, but Rainover has soldiered on and returned with a new line-up, a new label (WormHoleDeath) and most importantly a new album, “Transcending the Blue and Drifting Into Rebirth”. This album title is rather appropriate because for Rainover this is a bit of a rebirth, I would say.
While Rainover is often cited as being a Gothic metal band – and yes there are those elements – I would say that they have far more to offer. The songs on “Transcending…” sometimes take on a more up-tempo hard rock vibe. Musically I might compare them to modern day Within Temptation – with a darker edge. Lead vocalist Andrea Casanova has the same sort of vocal style as Sharon den Adel without sounding like a clone. There are also some male vocals (both clean and extreme) sprinkled throughout the album, but 80-90% of the vocals are Andrea’s and she is more than up to the task. So, after listening to “Transcending the Blue…” I have to give it an enthusiastic “thumbs up” or maybe it should be “horns up?” Based on the strength of songs like: “Rebirth”, “Cycles”, “H2SO4”, “Dust and Dawn” and “In Free Fall” (among others), Rainover manages to create an album worth of songs that are both accessible whilst maintaining a foot in the underground. That’s not an easy line to walk, but Rainover is quite successful at it.
Given the line-up changes that Rainover has had to deal with, it would be understandable for them to call it quits. But they didn’t, and that says a lot about their character and determination for that reason (and also the fact that it contains some pretty cool songs) I would label “Transcending the Blue…” an artistic triumph.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Rebirth
- Despair
- Cycles
- Rain Over My Tears
- H2SO4
- Oh, My Cross!!
- An Ocean Between Us
- Dust and Dawn
- Hopeless
- In Free Fall
- Remembrances
Line Up
- Andrea Casanova – Vocals
- Anthon Lo – Guitars
- Arturo Hernández – Keyboards
- Antonio Perea – Bass & vocals
- Quini Pelegrín – Drums
Links