Raintime
Flies & Lies

Question: Is this the kind of Italian sound for export?

Honestly, I hope it is not just this one, because in Italy we have many other realities, decidedly more interesting, which unfortunately are still swimming offshore (meaning they have not reached significant record deals, despite having shown great potential). But if Raintime can serve as a bridgehead to also pave the way for others, so be it, considering that, even if their sound is questionable, they have the potential to achieve good commercial success. And probably, if instead of ending up with the excellent Lifeforce Records (which is strongly characterized in a metal-core sense), they had landed with a label dedicated exclusively to metal, they could have exploited their potential even more evidently.

A potential made of classic heavy metal carried with an obvious prog-metal baggage, with a constant search for melody (to the point that it often seems like facing a sort of power pop metal), some hints of Scandinavian death metal (although never too convincing) and a constant and consistently grandiloquent support from the keyboards.

If Raintime likes it this way, so be it, but often one gets the feeling of listening to a predictable album (even in the cover of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson). I guess this stuff is good for Japan...!