ANTHEM TO CREATION

Until Rain is a progressive metal band that was formed back in 2004 in Thessaloniki, Greece. It took until 2009 for their debut album to appear, and they are now back with their second, and yet again I find myself at a total loss to try and work out how come I haven't come across these guys before? There are some great bands coming out of Greece at the moment, and Until Rain are definitely part of that group. Here is a band that is bringing together elements of prog metal, melodic and experimental metal, art rock, electronic music with some AOR sensibilities, so that they come across as Threshold mixed with Dream Theater, Dragonforce and Symphony X, with bits of King Crimson thrown in for good measure. Yannis Papadopoulos is an incredible singer, with great range and control, and behind him is a band with every skill one could wish for. Lefteris Germenlis has a deft touch on the keys, sometimes being over the top and at others adding just little nuances, while bassist Bill Gkagkavouzis is happy to play in and around the beat adding his own melodies, or just to tack it down while drummer Alex Hughes is monstrous. Then last, and certainly not least, we have Theo Amaxopoulos, who is a shredder par excellence.

There are times when the band is heavy, really heavy, and Theo is providing an incredible note density yet at all times he knows that he has a part to play within the whole and the result is a band that are always on the edge, always striving for that little bit more, but never allowing any single person to take over the whole show. Until it is time for he solos that is, when they all use the opportunity to shine without forgetting that it is a band effort. Along with the aforementioned bands, fans of Savatage and Stratovarius should be aware that here is a band that are mixing the prog metal, symphonic metal and power metal genres into something that is intense, melodic, powerful and essential, all at the same time.

I notice that the band are currently offering a special deal on their albums and EP so now could not be a better time to discover yet another incredible act from Greece. And if someone asked me to pick between these guys and Firewind, it would be Until Rain that would win out. For more details visit www.untilrain.com