OCTOBER TIDE — Rain Without End (review)

OCTOBER TIDE — Rain Without End album cover Album · 1997 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
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.
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