Type: CD Company: Scarlet Records Release: 2017 Genre: Traditional Reviewer: Frank Hill Published: 12/23/2017
Classic, aggressive, and muscular
Coming off the Edgar Allen Poe influenced 2012 release 'A Tell Tale Heart', metal journeyman Dave Starr (Vicious Rumors, Chastain) has given us fans who like their heavy metal classic, aggressive, and muscular, another solid release--'Beyond the Rain'. This beast is fed with beefy riffs, pounding skins, and wide-open vocals from London Wilde who often sounds like and hits in the high range of Geoff Tate and Fates Warning's early singer, John Artch. The songs are London's cathartic expression of pain, torment, hope, and love based on the real life tragic suicide of her brother Gary in 2012. As such, there's plenty of clensing in water, light, and blood. Title track "Beyond the Rain" and passionate "Double Red" recall Bruce Dickinson's Roy Z-era work and get your repeat button ready for the speedy "Pressing the Wires" and the tremendous "When the Night Falls". At times, it feels the production harmonies could have been dialed back, but this is about as tough as old school melodic metal gets. Within the suffering, WildeStarr is the denim and leather that's reaching up with horns high in the air.
About this Writer: Frank Hill // Frank Hill has been at this site since its slimy, crying birth in '03. He was born on National Metal Day--11/11 and will turn his hearing aids up to 11 when he's 111. He secretly listens to a lot of old Country and Doo-Wop tunes and wants to start a cyberband with lead vocals by Robot Plant. He is still trying to figure out what Judas Priest meant by "paratamize you". If you read this, then he salutes you.
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