SilentScream213 This is one of those albums I’d had on my radar for years, but only just gotten around to. As Death Doom, particularly Melodic Death Doom, is my favorite music genre, I had a lot of expectations for this thing.

Well, 30 seconds into track one, my face contorted into a disharmoniously gleeful smile while listening to the aural form of melodic depression, and halfway through track two I prematurely judged this to be a masterpiece, completely meeting all expectations and more. The incredible part is that the album only grew stronger, the main riffs of “Sightless” and “Blue Gallery” in particular absolutely blowing my mind. THIS was the BIRTH of Melodic Death Doom. This was the origin of the brand of music that had come to be my absolute favorite.

Quite immediately, I began thinking “Damn, these guys really listened to Brave Murder Day and just worshipped the hell out of it.” This was less shoegaze-y and more melodic, but the overall style was uncannily similar. I mean hell, the first track was “12 Days of Rain”… you cannot convince me that isn’t a Brave Murder Day reference! Not that it mattered to me. More of something great = a win for me. I later felt stupid, after 17 listens, upon reading that this was composed by the vocalist/drummer and guitarist of Katatonia. And then I was in awe, because the whole thing was done by JUST those two people. Insane how two people crafted an album better than what full bands can do.

Anyway, to talk of the musical merit… some of the best, most melancholic guitar leads ever crafted. Doomy, yet full of energy and power. Ditto to the drumming, simple but perfectly serving the music, generous amount of double bass. Vocals are harrowing and beautiful. Sparse keys/synths round out the atmosphere perfectly. Lyrics are morose, slightly symbolic and poetic. Perfect album, absolutely flawless.

Kev Rowland Formed in 1995 by Katatonia members, Jonas Renkse (Bloodbath) and Fred Norrman, October Tide released two albums before going on hiatus for eleven years. In 2009 Norrman parted ways with Katatonia, and resurrected October Tide, consolidating the band's re-emergence with a new featuring Tobias Netzell of In Mourning on vocals. Now back with their sixth album in total, the band currently comprises Fredrik Norrman, his brother and guitarist Mattias Norrman (also ex-Katatonia), vocalist Alexander Högbom (Demonical), bassist Johan Jönsegård (Letters From The Colony) and drummer Jonas Sköld (Letters From The Colony, Thenighttimeproject). Although Katatonia came out of the Swedish scene they were always a very different proposition to the rest of the bands around them (I still consider myself very fortunate to see them at No Sleep Til Auckland in 2010, one of the very few metal festivals we’ve had here in recent years). The same can be said for October Tide, as although their roots are far more obviously in the melodic death scene, they have also put in plenty of doom and considering one genre is normally very quick while the other is slow, it means they are approaching the music from a quite different area than many. The other, rather refreshing, aspect is that this band keeps getting heavier while many of their contemporaries from the Nineties seem to have forgotten what they started all those years ago.

Look past the death metal style logo, and the rather threatening cover imagery, and even some of the growls, and one quickly realises that what we have here is an incredibly heavy band who are also intensely melodic. True, this isn’t the sort of material one will hear on the radio, and the riffs during “Seconds” would make Iommi proud, but each time I play “Stars Starve Me” I find myself singing the chorus. It’s not intentional, it just happens! I don’t expect it from a band with this style of imagery, and to be honest I certainly don’t expect it from any outfit who are signed to the mighty Agonia Records (one of my favourite, and certainly one of the most consistent metal labels around), yet somehow it just happens. These guys have captured a groove and a style which is lifting them above so many others. Alexander Backlund (singer with Letters From The Colony) undertook production duties, and knowing the guys so well obviously helped as the sound he has captured it huge, while Daniel Lidén did a great job on mixing and mastering.

This isn’t an album I would have expected from either October Tide or Agonia Records, as it is so intensely melodic as well as being incredibly heavy. Certainly worthy of investigation, play it loud.

UMUR "Rain Without End" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish doom/death metal act October Tide. The album was released through Vic Records in 1997. October Tide was at this point a side-project for the two Katatonia members Jonas Renkse (vocals, guitars, drums) and Fredrik Norrman (guitars, bass). "Rain Without End" was already recorded in 1995 between the releases of "Dance of December Souls (1993)" and "Brave Murder Day (1996)" by Katatonia.

...stylistically that´s also how it sounds. While "Rain Without End" is not a Katatonia album, the difference between the music on "Rain Without End" and the music on the early Katatonia albums is minimal. We´re talking melodic, slow and sorrowfilled doom/death metal with growling vocals. "Losing Tomorrow" features clean vocals but it´s a short track and there is no questioning that the growling vocals are the dominant vocal style on the album. The heavy riffs and melodic lead work is complimented by the occasional atmospheric acoustic section, which is healthy for the variation of the album. There are generally not that much variation between tracks though and the tracks have a tendency to feel longer than they are, which of course is a bit of an issue. The too simple drumming isn´t exactly a positive either, but otherwise I´d call "Rain Without End" a pretty strong doom/death metal release.

The album was recorded at Dan Swanö´s Unisound Studio and the band have achieved a decent sound, but the drums sound a bit thin. The musicianship is (besides the drumming) strong and the songwriting is alright too (seldom reaching the excellent mark though), so I guess a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Floating...

Genre: death doom metal

Normally, I am not too fond of doom metal with growled or harsh vocals, because such vocals lack tonality (thus blocking for melody) and are often, in my opinion incompatible with the otherwise desperate and oppressive and melancholic atmosphere of much doom metal.

But there are certain exceptions.

And this is one of them, and I think that one of the reasons is that Mårten Hansen's harsh vocal delivery semi-screamed vocal delivery, while still atonal, has a feel of desperation to it, which suits the doom-ladden music quite well. Also the music, while still heavy is more uptempo than a lot of other doom metal - it bears some similarity to Paradise Lost's early output (discounting "Lost Paradise"), escept the musicianship is better here than it was in the early days of Paradise Lost.

There is a lot of emphasis on melody which is achieved through melodic single and twin lead guitars in minor harmonies, and, on the whole, everything works just fine on this dark and melancholic release.

I think "Grey Dawn" will appeal to both fans of death doom and more traditional doom metal alike.

Prog Geo Outstanding album!The band-continuation of old Katatonia.All the tracks are splendid.The guitars are mourning perfectly.You'll find big amount of inspiration here.There are only two members.Jonas Renkse - Vocals(amazing performance)and Drums and Fredrik Norrman - Guitars and Bass.The lyrical themes are isolation,misery,depression and despair.The whole album has growls except Losing tomorrow(gothic vocals in Robert Smith's(The cure)vein).In the remastered version(Dan Swano has remastered it)there are keyboard and various effects by Morion and violin by Christer Aberg.

The artwork(remastered version)is perfect.A great description of the title of the album.It shows an old man outside of his wooden house(near the sea and it's on the grass)with a stone base and the clouds are very grey(and close to the ground)and it's raining.

My favorite tracks are:12 days of rain(wonderful beginning),Ephemeral(it expresses right this feeling,my favorite track),All painted cold,Losing tomorrow(gothic/doom track) and Infinite submission(just awesome,my 2nd favorite track)

An appropriate album for melancholic metallers(not only).A doom/death metal gem!

My grade:8/10