Rainwound: Shrouded Destiny

Brandon Stradner is Rainwound, Rainwound is Brandon Strader . Although he calls Rainwound (odd name) a band, at this point in time it's basically him playing all the instruments and singing. The music on Shrouded Destiny is death metal mixed with plenty of elements of prog rock, somewhat in the vein of Opeth. Crushing guitar riffs and venemous growls are interjected with lush acoustic guitars, keyboards, and various effects. Though a tad long at just about 80 minutes, the CD contains some epic tracks that have a lot going for them, like "Christmas", with some majestic keyboard work and emotional guitar solos, "Rainwound", which mixes black metal and prog quite nicely, the Opeth-influenced "Companionship", and the lengthy 16 minute "Opressing the Past". The latter is part symphonic prog, and part technical metal, with complex guitar work, manic electronic drum programming, and varied styles of clean vocals. "Loves Sacrifice" is a rather nice piece, with lots of atmospheric keyboards, piano, and pastoral acoustic guitar work. While there are a lot of good ideas on Shrouded Destiny, and Brendan is obviously a talented musician, the vocals are really not that good, and the production leaves a lot to be desired. My suggestion is to get a real drummer and singer, find a label and producer, and let those natural skills do the rest. If that happens we will be hearing a lot about Rainwound, trust me.

Track Listing

1. Sentience/The Task
2. Companionship
3. Rainwound
4. Christmas
5. Oppressing The Past
6. Final Battle
7. The Glory
8. Love's Sacrifice
9. Task Completed

Added: August 21st 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3615
Language: english

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