Raving Season: Amnio

The title of this album comes from amniotic fluid, the liquid that protects and surrounds unborn babies. For Raving Season, the word suggests something more broadly, not just new life but also a new season, a time of regeneration. I don't know much about this band's history, but if this album represents a fresh start, then I'm all for it.

The music on this album is best described as atmospheric, but the mood it creates is always a mixed one, bringing together elements that are gothic and doomy. There's also a hint of black metal lurking in the background. I like this kind of music because it serves different moods simultaneously. Whereas some forms of extreme music drown out everything else, this music both rewards careful listening and serves as cool background music.

With no disrespect to the rest of the band, the heart of the overall sound here comes from the two female vocalists, Judith and Federica. The former sings with the clean, melodic, and lyrical qualities, we might call operatic. The latter delivers the growls. On the whole, the two singers alternate rather than harmonize but their respective vocal blend together effectively. In fact, the music plays to the strengths of both styles so well that they never feel like they compete one with the other. Instead, things come together in a more seamless style, transitioning smoothly from note to note and track to track.

Some readers won't like this album because it moves so far away from more conventional aspects of metal music generally and doom metal specifically. Although the sound here is best described as doomy (at least in parts), it should not be seen as a failed attempt to channel bands like Black Sabbath (or some other similar band) and force them into a sound that is more melodic, maybe even something more classical. Instead, this band should be understood to be invoking a larger mood, one that leans on the qualities of doom and takes them into the even darker heart of gothic music. The result is a thoughtful, cerebral, and theatrical album of good songs.

Track Listing:
1. Turandot
2. Dusk Dance
3. My Last Murderer
4. Silent Lake
5. Restless Pain (il rumore della pioggia)
6. My Darkest Season (pt. 2)
7. Testament
8. Suspended in a Spiral
9. Amnio

Added: October 17th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1950
Language: english

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