THE BLACK RAIN - Night Tales (2012)

*

THE BLACK RAIN born in Bologna, Italy, in 2002, but had to wait until 2010 to attain its final line-up and ten years to see their first album "Night Tales" released.
The Black Rain style is deeply rooted in the eighties & seventies with a retro smell from all angles; 10 songs, eighties-like artwork, the album title, traditional analog-based recording and a sound akin more Classic Rock than Hard Rock.

"Lake Trip" opens the CD with a one minute introduction sounding as like the band is warming-up to go to the stage. The song is a classic rocker with an American bluesy vibe and a jammin' all over, followed by "Won't Let Go", a much more commercial and melodious track solid in instrumentation and with a fine chorus.
But I think the real potential of The Black Rain explodes in "Plastic Love", a sweaty hard rocker with a hot riff and tap-footing chorus. Here is where the lead vocals really gets loose and rocks the place.

The band goes for a ballad in "Sugar In Poison", an effective midtempo with a melancholic melodic line.
The strong riffs return with "Hot For A Night", perhaps the more Euro hard rock sounding track of the album, "Mama Let Me Be" adds a calmer yet groovy vibe to the tracklist, and then "My Sweet Mistake" rocks a again in a very US way.
The almost title track "The Black Rain Motel" has a quite melodic development, strangely absent of chorus but the song is so driving that don't need it. Cool guitar solo here.
The recording ends with the only real ballad, and one of the best tracks on the album; "As I Lie" is very classic, the first half only supported by a piano and the good lead vocals by Mirko Greco.

The Black Rain is a well assembled Classic Rock / Hard Rock act from a country that does not stop to produce bands with a sound from an era when rock 'n roll used to be 'rock'.
This young quarted is more focused in melody than a melting attack, guitar riff-based but not metallic, all sounding really early '80s, Classic Rock oriented.
Songwriting and musicianship are good and obviously always could get better (as production), but this is a debut album and it's a good one for a novel young group.
"Night Tales" delivers an agreeable set of classic rock songs performed in a warm, organic manner, as it used to be aforetime.
Good One.


01. Lake Trip
02. Won't Let Go
03. Plastic Love
04. Sugar In Poison
05. Hot For A Night
06. Mama Let Me Be
07. My Sweet Mistake
08. The Black Rain Motel
09. Coming Home
10. As I Lie

Mirko Greco - Vocals
Eugenio Bonifazi - Guitars
Marco Molteni - Bass
Raffaele Marchesini - Drums


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