October Tide
Rain Without End

THE REVIEW

Jonas Renkse in the Death/Doom Metal field is always a guarantee. As the father of the monumental Katatonia together with Anders Nyström, the Swede brings to life, along with his friend Fredrik Norrman, the October Tide project, and the first full-length is this "Rain Without End".

The group's sound may initially seem very similar to the old Katatonia, but gradually the sound becomes personalized also thanks to the precious help of Christer Âberg's violin. Norrman on guitar performs riffs and solos that scream the word "desperation," each note is extended to the extreme, the slow riffing takes the listener to a world of desolation and solitude accentuated even more by the violin breaks, only some more typically Death Metal accelerations proposed by the group allow the listener to exit the dark world created through listening. Renske's growl is that of the good old days, always very intense and expressive, giving a significant contribution to the success of the songs, some passages are truly chilling.

The CD maintains a consistently high level but contains three tracks that, in my opinion, stand above the other tracks. The opening song "12 Days Of Rain" is the longest track on the album, perhaps the one closest to Katatonia's sound, but always very valid, it almost manages to hypnotize the listener in the first minute thanks to a repeatedly drawn-out riff before Renske’s voice comes in, truly an excellent episode. "Losing Tomorrow" is the most peculiar song on the CD, Jonas sings in a clean way (for the only time in the album) and his voice is accompanied by a backdrop created by Âberg and a keyboard, the track is not very technical but of high emotional level, whereas the true masterpiece of the album is, in my opinion, "Sightless", which is characterized by several tempo changes, made of accelerations, guitar solos, violin interludes, truly the triumph of despair, Renske's growl is particularly dark and cavernous and contributes to creating an even darker atmosphere...

In essence, "Rain Without End" is a true "endless rain," a rain of emotions, particularly heavy emotions, sad and oppressive, those who miss Katatonia from "For Funeral To Come" and "Brave Murder Day" cannot miss this truly praiseworthy work.