Red Cain – Red Cain

[nyrating]

18th November 2016 Markus Falkenberg Album Reviews 0

Already a superficial first listening to Red Cain’s self-titled EP will convince many a listener that we are dealing with a very ambitious band here. The production is good and one can literally feel that the band put a lot of lifeblood into their effort. And maybe that is also what keeps this EP from reaching its full potential. This is not to say that this is a bad album, it is just that one cannot shake the feeling that particularly the vocalist is trying a bit too hard to ad an epical feeling to the songs. A slightly more laid back approach would do his vocals good, because frankly, he is good! He has an awesome voice, he can deliver his lines, there is everything that a fan could ask for. But then, maybe that is exactly what you want? Tastes vary after all.

The instrumental parts of the album are extremely convincing though. Heavy drumming right from the beginning, riffs, some guitar solos, violin and piano parts here and there, pretty much exactly what fans of more epical Metal want. But why is the band labelled as an experimental prog band? The answer is that Red Cain is neither afraid to experiment with breakdowns like on Dead Aeon Requiem, nor is it scared to throw in more Rock/Sleaze Metal like elements here and there(Hiraeth). These experiments are more of a side aspect of their music though, but they are still a part of Red Cain’s music which is also what gives me hope for the band’s future. It shows so much potential that the only question is to where it will go to exactly. Maybe it will even go into a more Doom Metal like direction? The final song “Unborn” is pretty dark after all. The fact that this is the song where the vocalist’s particular epical style fits best makes this particularly likely, but who knows?

Anyway, the EP deserves a seven devil rating. Fans of epical Metal who enjoy musical experiments here and there can safely ad another devil.