CAINITES is a melodic death metal band from Italy; “Revenant” is their full-length debut. The band’s music fits firmly into the melodic death genre but it’s much darker than most bands of the genre—and even has occult and Gothic vibes. Considering the album is a concept piece about an Orthodox priest who becomes a vampire against his will, I’d say their musical path is right at home with the subject matter. Throw in British, Scandinavian, and Mediterranean influences, and what I have discovered is an album that has a very horrific atmosphere and sounds unique in its presentation. Although melodic, the album is riff focused and very heavy on the low end—Daniele’s bass and drums are dense, grasping the horror tale with dismal notes that pull the listener in. Andrea ‘s vocals and drums offer a lot of aggression and hammer in the death metal part of their sound. He also plays keys and they are appropriately theatrical although they are not over used. Andrea does offer cleans on occasion as well or lower whispers, both of which are effective in keeping the moody songs flowing.

“Revenant” is a grower. It’s one of those albums that is enjoyable from the first time you hear it but gets even better over time. I love music like that…when it has an impact but continues that trajectory over time. That’s real depth, that’s music that really has heart and soul; these things clearly apply to “Revenant.” Despite the subject matter and the heavy handed nature of its presentation, the album isn’t overly fast or extreme. It’s moody like doom metal and intricate in subtle ways. The songs don’t sound too different from each other but there is still enough change up throughout to keep the interest high. The album opens with “Darkness Awaits,” and wastes little time in setting the story in motion. A theatrical intro leads into pummeling riffs and insanely huge drums. I have bass heavy headphones that I use for reviewing and it feels like this album was made for them—one of the fullest sound/production jobs I’ve heard this year. The chorus is catchy, as are the groovy riffs that follow it. The death growls are delivered in a sort of spoken word quality and just pushes the occult feel of the song off the charts. After the halfway mark, the song turns to clean instrumentation with highly effective cleans before the passage flows back into heavier waters.

“Vampire God,” has a skeleton made of chunky riffs and depressive melodies, lead by ‘dragged across gravel’ growls. The bass and drums let it all hang out, offering a black hole rhythm section. Both the pre-chorus consisting of death growls and the chorus of cleans are catchy as hell. After the chorus lands for the final time, the duo hammers out the rest of the song. I bet this one would be really great live. One of the faster paced songs is “We Lost Our Sanctity,” a banger of a track that lets the band show off their chops. The riffs are sharp, rapid, and moving ever forward to yet another catchy Gothic infused chorus. The final half of the song is a riff fest with several good riffs before it slides back into the chorus for the last time. The band’s namesake song is another standout song. I’m not sure if the band members are actually practitioners of the Cainite beliefs but if they are then I believe it, so convincing is the song. At one point, the vocals scream out over and over “starving for blood,” and it’s unnerving but very effective at the same time.

The final song, “Redemption,” is one of the more dynamic songs, offering a clean intro and rousing riffs that combine “being hit in the face by a train” with interesting harmonies. The clean instrumentation that comes after is twisted and a little depraved, especially when the clean vocals highlight it. CAINITES’s “Revenant” is an interesting melodic death album across it’s storytelling, atmospheric, presentation, and music. I actually haven’t heard a lot of melodic death albums this year outside of a few key bands but this is one of the better ones I’ve come across in this second half of 2024.