Rainfall / Umbra - Arboreal Eternity
Arboreal Eternity is a split featuring Florida’s Rainfall on two cuts of black metal and Australia’s Umbra on four tracks of dark ambience. Despite their frequent juxtaposition, the two styles don’t fit together well here, though they share a lyrical affinity for nature themes.
Rainfall – MoonlightUmbra – Drawn to Rotting Caverns
Rainfall’s black metal is plodding, one-man business, with a harsh, raw recording. The riffs are somber and enjoyable, but there’s no reason for them to carry on for nine and seven minutes. “Long” does not necessarily equal “hypnotic.” The vocals are jarring, with powerless rasps that feel unnatural and affected. If you sing about casting yourself “into the fires of the astral plain,” then sound like it!
Umbra’s tracks fare better, though they’re undercooked. They’re truly “ambient” in that they don’t command foreground attention. Instead, they rest on vaguely foreboding pads with occasional environmental sounds. Percussive sounds drop in at times, but instead of taking flight into, say, industrial territory, they inevitably yield to soft pads. A track called “Awakening of the Forest’s Malevolence” should sound like the wrath of the Ents! There’s potential here, especially in the processed vocals, so hopefully future efforts will be more challenging.
You can download the split for free here; a CD-R release is due out shortly on Greek label Daemonokratia Productions.
