BLACKRAIN – Into The Black (CD)

It all started under the name Just A Quick Stop, at the time as a duo featuring guitarist Ronny Blylod (Destynation) and singer Daniel Söderberg. They released a pretty promising CD. The band was reinforced by bass player John Vigebo and drummer Henrik Söderqvist and they now became – Blackrain. I first saw the band at the Rock Out Wild festival in 2011, and was truly blown away by the band’s live performance. Into The Black is an outstanding debut, I must say! If you’re into melodic hard rock with a touch of King’s X meets Alter Bridge, but with classic hard rock elements in the mix, this is a must. Heavy, groovy and melodic with singer Söderberg really taking it to the next level. The sound is very organic, in your face, honest and may as well have been recorded live in the studio with some additional overdubs added afterwards. It’s by no means over-produced and even though I really like it, I think it’s here it shows it’s a self-produced production. The song material is really great with lots of cool groovy riffs and nice hooks. The band sounds tight and they really deliver on all levels. It’s very even album with no low points, and no extreme highs either. This is however not a bad thing. I much rather have an even, strong album, that one with 2-3 killer tracks and the rest below average. This is an album you can fully enjoy start to finish. Well done! Already looking forward to the next one!
Janne Stark
Year: 2011
Label: JAQS
Country: Sweden
Link: www.myspace.com/blackrainsweden <http://www.myspace.com/blackrainsweden>