MONOCHROME OF FEATHERS

A long time ago, maybe not so long, I reccomended the obscure Rainroom to the Prog Archives, and I'm glad they are currently here. Starting as a common melodic doom/death metal band from Finland, Rainroom takes a place into progressive metal. Monochrome of Feathers EP is their second release, right after the full-lenght debut called Netherself. The name of the band probably came from Katatonia's Brave Murder Day track named Rainroom. No doubts, the dissonant, doom and the sad aura of the songs that you will find in this record was pretty influenced by Katatonia, and I think it will please Opeth and post-metal fans. Three tracks during something like 30 minutes at all. The first track, Ba (9:02 minutes) has a depressive melodic intro with a flanger/chorus guitar effect, and reminds me of The Cure. Beautiful riffs and music, featuring a calm down to breath on the middle of the track. When the song gets stronger , I found outstanding drums and the harsh growls are very groovy. It's doom: slow and heavy, with a dark, gothic texture, but if you are not into this genre yet, it's very different than Sabbath or Candlemass "doom" rock/metal. The music is atmospheric, sometimes ambient music, but not the kind of doom that tries to make you afraid. The feeling that I had listening to this doomy riffs are "THEY are afraid playing". Without the devilish guttural singing, I would call it The Cure Metal, just like Katatonia clean vocals days. The second track, Rook (6:31 minutes), is very post-metal, and the discordant dual guitar intro is clearly taken from Katatonia's songwriting method, and that's good, because they are actually not copying anything, they are improving the formula. This track is the shortest of the record, and has a feeling of despair and lack of hope. I've Never Before Heard the Sound of a Bird's Wings (14:52 minutes) is the last track, and of course the lenghty and most progressive, full of variations, including an ambient part. I like the album cover. Well, it's funny to look at that ass while listening to harsh vocals. Now you can find the whole EP, three tracks available for free download on the band Last.Fm page. Rare and underground stuff. Worth a check.