Band: Rainwound
Band Website: www.rainwound.com
Label: Independent Release
Label Website:
Release Date: 2008
I’ve said this before, but the ability to self-produce your own music and release a CD independently has really kick-started
the creative juices for a lot of people. Not only that they are able to put material out into hands in prospective fans but also to
be able to maintain a higher quality level of the music being created. These are the first thoughts that come to mind as I listen
to the independent release from Brandon Strader. Under the band or project name Rainwound he has released a CD entitled Shrouded Destiny.
I first came to know of Strader from his vocal and guitar efforts with another independent release entitled Subject to Thoughts
I reviewed here some weeks back. Shrouded Destiny is Strader’s solo work and here he’s in charge of all the instruments and all the
programming, as well as writing and performance. It’s a real one-man show, but for all the criticism hurled toward these kinds of
projects, there is much to appreciate here and much to recommend for fans of his musical style. This finished work incorporates an
earlier demo release of much of this material, here it is polished and is best considered Strader’s first official CD. As such the
music of Rainwound is at the junction of classic styled symphonic prog and progressive metal. Many of the songs are long, either 8
to 10-minutes, with one over 16-minutes allowing for plenty of shifts in mood and atmosphere. The CD’s second track “Companionship”
(10:56) is typical starting out with lightly plucked acoustic guitar and softly sung vocals before morphing into a heavier electric
guitar crunch that easily recalls a death-metal style with growling vocals and all. But then it goes back to the acoustic before changing
into some lovely, angelic piano and string synths. All of that within the first six-minutes and the song continues to work within
those changes to the end. In fact throughout the disc, but especially on the longer tracks there are many softer more acoustic moments
that neatly interact with the harsher aspects of his music. While the emphasis tends to be on the guitar there is an abundance of
keyboard support and many keyboard solos so the compositions are quite well balanced. You’ll hear lots of grand organ sounds, string
synths and plenty of piano. Sprinkled throughout the decidedly melancholy sound are many beautiful melodies. So heavy yes but with
a nice balance of other moods as well. Strader’s vocals have a plaintive, mournful tone that’s almost detached from what’s going on
musically and yet most of the time it works well conveying the composer’s lyrical intentions.
It should be stated that Rainwound,
for all the metal and heaviness incorporated within it’s compositions is still much softer and lighter in tone that Strader’s more
aggressive projects such as In Staid Grace which is perhaps best described as ‘prog-black metal.’ But as far as Rainwound goes, I
think a lot of fans of heavier symphonic prog will want to check this out and get in at the beginning of Strader’s work. His website
indicates a follow-up to Shrouded Destiny is soon to be released and he says it will be even slightly more progressive than this release,
so we have much to look forward too.