03/02/03

RAPTURE / SONGS FOR THE WITHERING

Rapture hail from Finland and this is their second CD; their brand of Melodic Death Metal tinged with Gothic highlights is very pleasing to the ear indeed.

Their influences include My Dying Bride, Sentenced and Paradise Lost amongst others and I know that a lot of you miss the older straight forward Death Metal but every genre has to grow to survive. Arathorn and I were talking about this only the other day and I know he misses the original simpler sound but if last year proved anything it was that Death Metal is moving on and hopefully get a wider audience.

Any way putting my soap box aside there is a lot going on in here musically, most people cant get past the rough vocals but if you can you will find some very complex music that sounds simplistic until you really listen then you hear the chromatic harmonies and multilayered guitars as witnessed in "Enveloped", "Raintracks" and "Two Dead Names". The final track "Farewell" is 7 minute sombre giant that starts off so simple and fragile and grows into a giant and will send shivers down your spine.

TOTAL PLAYING TIME = 45 mins + 9 TRACKS