Yet another surprising example of an American band sounding distinctly European, Rain Fell Within is an East Coast band offering a sound that is one part Nightwish, one part My Dying Bride and a whole lot of doom metal. However, the band's overall sound rises far above a lot of the more depressed brethen to create a style that is both pensive and uplifting. The obvious focal point for many has to be the lead vocals of Dawn (no, they don't offer a last name for any of the members, so stop looking up the Virginia white pages) which are classically trained soprano. Much like Nightwish, her vocals soar throughout the album. But unlike Nightwish, the band plays a style that offers more doom oriented leads, with occasional airy passages and a sprinkling of keyboards. Each of the five tracks are fairly lengthy, but move nicely throughout. Best of all, the album is not quite forty minutes long, which is actually a perfect length as the band does not overstay their welcome. Too many bands are guilty of putting out way too much music for the amount of attention span they deserve. Thankfully, Rain Fell Within avoids that pitfall.

Fans of Nightwish or doom metal in general are advised to check out Rain Fell Within. Believe is by no means a genre breaking release, but it is more than pleasant enough to deserve having a copy for the occasional good listen.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 11/2000

Back to top 

Rain Fell Within was sort of like a doom metal version of Nightwish. Featuring an operatic soprano vocalist plastered over a lush, heavy doomy sort of backdrop, the band added a classy touch to a somewhat brusque style of music. Granted, Rain Fell Within goes for a softer touch and probably was more in touch with their feminine side (after all, Refuge featured not one, but two lady vocalists) than, say, Disembowelment. I mention all this about Rain Fell Within in past tense since the group disbanded not terribly long after the release of this album, only their second.

Refuge is not really an album that I instantly warmed up to. The lead vocals of Dawn Desireé are very much in the soprano range, a voice that sounds very classically trained. Meanwhile, the music ranges from lush keyboards and orchestrated arrangements to a bit more traditional form of heavy metal. The music works best when the backdrop for Dawn's vocals are the lighter, more airy passages that allow her to soar. The album falters a bit when the heavier guitars kick in because it seems everything suddenly is competing for sonic space, no longer working together. Perhaps the band was aware of this and that led to the dissolution of the outfit. Rain Fell Within sometimes reminds me a bit of an unexperimental 3rd & the Mortal or the aforementioned Nightwish-peforming-doom. Either way, Refuge is a solid, decent outing, but not the type of thing that will result in instigating a letter writing campaign to bring the members of the band back together for a third album.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 05/2003

Back to top