Reading the info sheet of this album, I was prepared to listen to a melodic Death Metal CD. By seeing the cover, though, something told me that things would not go that way.

RAINTIME is the child of Claudio Coassin, Matteo Di Bon and Matteo Barzan (ex-drummer) and was formed in 1999 in Italy. The band, that started as an instrumental one with their demo "Jump In The Past", changed members almost every year. Their first full-length CD was out in 2005, followed by their second one (and first under the umbrella of Lifeforce Records) called "Flies & Lies". So, three years later they have their new album ready to go out late in April.

I still try to find where the hell the melodic Death Metal style is met. OK, they may have some heavy riffs and a few harsh, not growling, vocals but that doesn't make them an - even melodic - Ddeath Metal band. RAINTIME owes everything about their sound to the scene of Gothenburg and bands like IN FLAMES and EVERGREY plus some DREAM THEATER touches in some choruses; melodic riffs with a pinch of heaviness and most of the times clean vocals. Keyboards and electronic samples are everywhere, something I didn't like a bit. If I try to describe their music, I would say that they play this modern Metal thing, with some heavy riffs, with a few "prog" moments and some harsh vocals, just to show that "we are metallers". The production is the one that I was expecting: very good indeed. And I can't say that I didn't catch myself to move my head two or three times, but that's not enough for me in order to buy an album, especially in the middle of an economical crisis.

I may be harsh with "Psychromatic", since it is not exactly my cup of tea. But I think that just by having some harsh vocals and some heavy but still melodic riffs it doesn't make you a melodic Death Metal band; it makes you a modern Metal band. And for me that is not good. Just because some people I know said a few good things while I was listening to the album and for some songs like "Never Ending Stairway" (that is miles far from being called a Death Metal composition)...