Review Summary: A delightful album any Italian can really be proud of.
I’m an Italian American, so whenever I see Raein mentioned I get a little bit happier. They play kickass music and they’re from my homeland. Their latest album (something along the lines of On The Horizon Line Between My Life and That of All Others) (I had to use google translate, I don’t actually speak any Italian) is no exception to the “kickass music” rule.
Sulla Linea is thirty-five minutes of screamo with some of that post-rock nonsense all those Frenchies are incorporating. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, as the combination provides a beautiful dynamic contrast, but post-rock/screamo is a very tired combination and Raein doesn’t do enough to differentiate themselves from the reset of the European screamo pack.. Guitarists Alessio Valmori, Giuseppe Coluccell, and Riccardo Bresciani contribute excellently to this piece, with beautiful twinkling melodies played over open chords, and more incisive melodies over angry power chords. Most bands with three guitarists fall flat when it comes to actually utilizing all three; Raein’s trio complement each other and build off each other wonderfully.
The rhythm section is also wonderful. Drummer Michele Camorani possesses both an uncanny ability to bring both a pounding force and an unrelenting assault even though he is quite low in the mix. Nicola Amadori’s basslines are somewhat simplistic, but are mostly audible, and given the odd mix, this is forgivable.
Raein’s lead vocalist Andrea Console pens some very dramatic lyrics and pours out his heart with ragged yet beautiful screams of passion. While much of the poetry is lost in translation, his lyrics bring a faint glimmer of hope to the desolation portrayed by his style of screaming.
Raein’s
Sulla Linea is a very precise work of melodic screamo. Everything going on throughout this record can be difficult to grasp at times due to the self-production, but every note is there for a reason. This Italian six-piece have been working towards a release like this for their ten years of existence. While
Tigersuit was a great tune, this album is full of slightly-less-memorable tracks, and is easily Raein’s best work yet.
