Rainmaker / Øjne - Split

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Published by UK’s Dogknight Productions the Split of Rainmaker and Øjne, definitely two sweethearts of European screamo, was highly anticipated.

The first time I heard of this collaboration was at last year’s Fluff Fest in Rokycany during the set of Øjne. Well, what should I say? I was pretty excited from the very first moment on and eight months later we can finally hear the result in the form of one new song each band. And hell, those new songs are beautiful in every way possible. But, let’s start with some visual impressions first.

The artwork was made by the talented Christian Brix of Reason To Care. You might recognize his style from the recently presented poster for the second edition of the highly anticipated Miss The Stars Festival. The cover of the split pictures a woman, lying in her bed with her eyes open, still awake. The expression on her face is frozen, sad and thoughtful, looking into the distance of her pillows. The image is lend something mysterious, as there’s a black starry hole pictured on the woman’s left cheek, mirroring the nocturnally firmament, which is extended to the horizon on all directions, creating a calming atmosphere. On the inside of the foldable sleeve, which is home for the 7’’ colored vinyl, optional in white limited to 150 pieces or clear light blue limited to 350 pieces, you can see a great burning tree habiting a treehouse. One might assume that the woman on the cover lies inside the endangered cabin.

Just like the artwork, the inner values of this beauty are flawless. In almost 10 minutes playtime the Swedish / Italian liaison unites everything, you could ever wish from a record like this.

Following their celebrated debut full-length, this is the third release of Rainmaker from the suburbs of Malmö and the new song called “Le Poids Des Ombres“ connects easily in respect of sound and quality. The interaction between every single instrument creates a melody full of hope, still supporting the angriness of the spoken vocals. Flattered by the melody, the yet melodious vocals, mainly declaimed in French sounds like a beautiful song by its own. This effect is supported by chorusing voices in the back, which come in from time to time. Over the last third, the song contains some tempo alternations, garnished with a temporary change to English vocals.

“And the rain will draw the outlines of their cells,
of their shaky skeletons in unoccupied bodies,
streaming tears revealing our faded graves,
as if you and everyone else
In which we'd wish to fall asleep...”

Straight away the first tones of the new Øjne song made my heart leap of joy. It felt like a flashback to last year’s summer, where I had the chance to see them at three concerts during their tour, including Fluff Fest.

The band from Milan creates a dreamy soundscape, characterized by twinkly guitars and towards the end you can even hear some mighty post-rock influences. Carried by those sweet melodies, the vocals of “Da Qualche Parte, Nel Momento Giusto” are distraught and mesmerizing, letting the listener feel the desperation and pain.

Only the fact that there are just two songs on the split EP is a little bit disappointing, leaving me with the hope that those songs function like a teaser for shortly upcoming material of both bands.

“Every night, when the light is turned off,
nothing remains but the burden
of the sarcasm in which I drown,
as if you and everyone else
were all just names
written over an arm.”

Maybe in 10 years‘ time we will look back to this release and realize that those two bands have become something to us, that RAEIN and Suis La Lune are to us today. That’s how brilliant I think it is.

So, if you have the chance, do yourself a favor, go and checkout either of the bands at one of their shows during their upcoming European tours.

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