Rain is our local band, our heroes here in Geneva (Switzerland). After Samael, Rain proves that Switzerland is becoming a metal-trademark - like it is the case for chocolate & watches. And please believe Rain is not a copycat of Samael - it has never been the case actually - as they have their own sound, their own characteristics.

On the wonderful cover (J-P Fournier's best effort), you can read this just below the name of the band : "Industrial Machinery From Earth", which is a good music description of Starlight Extinction, even though I prefer to call it Ice Metal. The rhythm is very "square" (who said Rammstein) and from hypnotic samples to thrashy riffs (Fear Factory), Rain is slowly but surely becoming a wonderful butterfly - yes, Rain was an "ugly" worm at the beginning :)

Describing Starlight Extinction will be a difficult task for me as this band sounds gothic, electronic, industrial, dark (vocals), heavy, thrashy at the same time. What is much easier to describe is the variety of the album as each song as its own rhythm, its own touch, its own feeling. The song writing is really impressive and Drop (guitar, keyboards, programming) confirms he is a genius ! Sin (vocalist) is improving album after album, even though I am hardly waiting to hear clear vocals from him. It will come sooner or later as I know the guy is training a lot. Starclouds & Cosmic Seas (7th track) is a killer and first track, The Four Messengers Of Neptune, will also become a classical Rain song as the melody is better than ever !

Of course, in their quest to sound ice metal, the electronic drum makes sense ... but I am wondering how Rain will ever be powerful on stage without a drummer - as all metal bands have a real drummer, who is generally an important "figure" of the band (Stratovarius, Rage, Slayer, Kiss, AC/DC, Iron Maiden). I think Rain should play with a real drummer as their sound would become better and their music would sound heavier (just listen to Rammstein). Of course, this is just my point of view ...

Rain's evolution since Natural Order (previous record) is really impressive and I am almost sure the next album of our Geneva's heroes will be the day of recognition. This band creates a perfect fusion of industrial metal with traditional metal (gothic, heavy, thrash) and they deserve your attention. If you are a fan of Samael, Rammstein, Fear Factory, The Black League or Darkseed AND you are desperately looking for something new, Starlight Extinction is what you need. In other words, time has come to run !!!

Mp3 songs from Starlight Extinction

Rain - Dance Of Infinity
Rain - The Final Extinction

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