Raintime - Flies And Lies 2007 review

Raintime - Flies And Lies
Replica Records 2007
www.raintime.com

Well, well, well. This is certainly a first for me. A band with as many growls as clean vocals and I'm reviewing it. Never thought I'd see the day. I loathe death metal, or extreme metal. Clean vocals for me all the way. Raintime, however, are so drenched in class and talent that I just could not stop listening to 'Flies and Lies'. Quite an extraordinary mix of melodic metal and prog metal, with a little goth and a smidgen of nu metal thrown in. Plus the death vocals. But, and this is a big but, the music and the clean vocals are so good that I can put up with the growls. After listening to this a few times I decided to check out some of the other big melodic death bands and Raintime must be an anomaly as I could not stand what I heard from those bands.

This is an album that imposes itself upon you. None of this 'it grows on you' crap. 'Flies And Lies' rampages from track to track leaving rubble in its wake. I'm particularly impressed by the amount of melody in each track. The death vocals are actually a very good counterpoint to the fantastic clean vocals and huge backing vocals. Vocalist Claudio Coassin is quite a find, especially considering the amount of really, really average Italian metal vocalists. There are perhaps a handful that make the grade and Claudio is certainly among those. Guitarists Michael Martina and Matteo Di Bon are more than capable of shredding or providing smooth and emotive lead breaks. I also really enjoyed the use of the keyboards on this album. Excellent work from Andrea Corona.

A number of tracks are quite outstanding, such as the title track, 'Rolling Chances' and 'Tears Of Sorrow', each blistering and exquisite. The guys put the Michael Jackson hit 'Beat It' through the metalizer and it is a pretty good job. Amongst the many jewels on offer there is one that grabbed my attention the most. 'Finally Me' is one of the best songs I've heard lately. A mid tempo pure melodic rock track with Claudio's superior vocals and well placed layered keyboards. And the only track without any growls. A truly great song.

'Flies and Lies' surprised the hell out of me. Not just because it is the first album I've really enjoyed that includes a fair amount of death vocals, but primarily due to the fantastic songwriting, melodies and musicianship. Simply a magnificent band and album.

9.5/10