Rain Paint hail from Finland and play a style of gothic
metal that incorporates elements of death and doom. The element of their sound,
however, seem to be more sporadically used, appearing more individually, as opposed
to infusing those elements into a single sound. For instance, the song “Forbidden
Love” is deeply rooted in the sad, gloomy nature of gothic metal, but the
following track “Rain Pain” is an almost, doom/death metal song with hints of
gothic metal added. This formula, seems to persist throughout the album
creating a struggle for which genre the bands wants to play and can sometimes
become off putting. The kicker here is, both their goth sounds and doomy death
sounds are quite good and if they could have merged them into one cohesive
sound, it would have made for a very interning listen.
Aleksi Ahokas has a
nice range he displays on vocals. His gothic style elicits emotions of sorrow
and regret, while at times he’s able to reach a higher pitch, which adds a nice
variety to both the sound and atmosphere of the songs. He also has some very
deep growls and guttural tones, that really remind me of Jonas Renkse’s from October
Tide. The best showing of his vocal combinations is brief, but can be heard on
the track “Death Drive & Fear”. For the most part it is a quicker paced
song, with slower gothic passages and near the end, a thick, doomy death metal
passage kicks in and adds a nice punch to the song, but sadly in ends shortly
after its introduction.
The guitars are generally on the slower to mid-tempo side of
the scale, chugging along and creating a depressive mood for each song. The
riffs offer a blend of groove and slow plodding chords that give way to some nice
solos and guitars fills. At times, the guitars add a sudden burst of melodic
overtone, which almost adds a little cheer to the sound, but then, in true
gothic fashion, the slow pace returns and the worlds darkness once more.
The drums have both an almost hard rock sound to their makeup
as well as a more traditional doom metal sound. At times, they play with an up
tempo pace, pounding and crashing away, while at other times they are slow and
plod along with a sludgy pace. In any case, they provide an adequate rhythm for
most songs and have a nice crisp overall sound. The bass also carries a nice
sound throughout many of the songs. The low rumbling of bass chords can be
heard bouncing away behind the leads and rhythms, which adds a nice complementary
sound. Keyboards are indeed present on many of the songs, but I find they do
not overtake any of the songs, nor do they stand out. They simply add a little
depth to the overall atmosphere.
Overall, “Nihil Nisi Mors” is a nice little find for Gothic
metal fans, but there's enough death/doom to satiate one's hunger for such. It
would be interesting to see what Rain Paint might accomplish if they could manage
to blend their sounds together a little more harmoniously, but at the end of
the day, there’s some potential to be heard on this album.
Highlights: "Forbidden Love", Rain Paint" “Death,
Drive & Fear”
Rating: 3
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