TAINE

Taine biography
TAINE are one of the most revered and influential Romanian metal bands, despite having put out a short but consistent catalgoue. The band was formed 1993 and has gone through all the stages of an underground act (releasing demos, playing clubs, then festivals) up until 1999 when they released their studio debut album, Cealalta Parte (The Other Side). The album can be considered the first fully professional sounding metal album released in Romania. Enjoying a good dose of underground success, the band moved to the next stage of development in the new decade, now getting to film videos, play outside Romania, and open for major bands such as KREATOR, VADER, NAPALM DEATH, ANCIENT, SEPULTURA, OBITUARY, ATHEIST, QUO VADIS and others. Two DVDs were released in 2006 and 2008, though unfortunately no new studio albums were recorded so far (a new material is promised).

TAINE are usually described as technical death metal, which can be misleading, as the moment they represent in the evolution of this style is an early one. While their full studio album was released in 1999, one must remember the socio-political context of Eastern Europe. As metal music was more or less forbidden during the reign of totalitarian Communist regimes, local bands had to go through the whole evolution of metal genres on fast forward after gaining freedom by the revolutions of 1989. This is the reason why a good part of TAINE's music can sound as psychedelic thrash metal with shouted vocals reminding of the late 80s.
While comparisons can be drawn with DEATH and ATHEIST, TAINE did not pursue the jazzy technicalities from their music, but a more balanced approach. The songwriting (the band's main forte) goes in a decidedly progressive direction, attempting to enrich the metal sound and formal structure they are building upon. The pieces develop a strong narrative character through evocative shifts between different themes, abrupt psychedelic intermezzos and atypical solos. Influences from 70s heavy metal and progressive rock can be detected.

Pioneers of embedding progressive songwriting in the early extreme metal, TAINE deserve a wider recognition as one of the leading Eastern European metal bands.

Biography by harmonium.ro (Alex)