Review Summary: Have some other stuff to do?
As far as European emo/screamo goes, it’s become common knowledge that the genre is getting stale. It seems that a common production sound and a generally typical style have become the essence of the Euroemo scene. At the same time, people are branching out, trying new things, adding new layers of sound to their work, and expanding the genre (Mesa Verde, Daitro, etc.). Well, Raein can’t be said to be doing any of that, as Natri da Altri Padri is a fairly typical piece of European screamo, but they can be applauded for being able to make almost 17 minutes of enjoyable tracks, even if they do lack anything of too much interest or originality. As far as I can tell,
Natri da Altri Padri means something such as “Born from Another Father.” In a sense, this is pretty true; the album is a similar sound to most other albums of the European screamo scene, especially their own Italian scene. In fact, this could be mistaken for another band quite easily.
The EP’s 6 songs, cleverly titled
1 di 6 all the way to
6 di 6, is like a nice little chunk of skramz for you to munch on. They’ve got the familiar, not-too-good-but-oh-so-suitable production values of their compatriots in the skramz world, and, to a degree, have a similar sound to La Quiete (especially since Raein shares a member with them) and other bands of the scene, although, if anything, are a watered-down version of them. Not to say the EP is terrible or skramz knockoff material, but it’s not enough to really grab and keep an interest; it’s what you would listen to if you had other *** to do in a sense, there to keep you company but not there to keep your attention.
There are good qualities to the album; for one, the band is a pretty talented group of musicians. The drummer is rather proficient and the guitarists do some interesting things, often playing some quirky riff or adding some flavor here and there to spice things up, even adding what sounds like an attempt at a jazzy guitar run in the opening of
5 di 6. The instrumental parts are enjoyable, while the vocals are done quite tastefully, especially considering the production quality of the album. In fact it’s quite exciting to hear Italian being barked by the singers of Raein in an overlapping style, or being simultaneously sung and chanted as in the final 2 minutes of
2 di 6; of course, tracks like
3 di 6 are a testament to how overindulgence in that song style can leave a bitter taste in the listener's mouth. Then again, there are moments of glory, such as the entire 2 minutes of
6 di 6, and the opening of
2 di 6 with its rather soothing guitarplay. But the moments aren’t consistent, and the EP threatens to drag; thankfully, it’s only 17 minutes, so it doesn’t drag too much.
But it’s just too damn
similar ; nothing you hear here will make you see Raein differently, and nothing expands the genre or makes an attempt to (save for that jazzy lick in
5 di 6. It’s pretty much just your typical European screamo band, albeit with some quirks of post-rock added occasionally. Oh, and a kick for yelling over each other.
Enjoy this while you’re doing something else.
