Broken Rain - Here Comes the Pain (2015) (English Only)

Broken Rain is a hard 'n' heavy band hailing from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. They formed in 2006 as a cover band, but later they started writing their own material, with their first demo released in 2009. Six years later, they released their debut album, called Here Comes the Pain.

The production stands great. It has that old-school vibe which remembers me of those old Indonesian heavy metal bands. It also has a lot of dynamic range, which means the snare drum sounds strong. All the instruments can be heard clearly. The bass is played by Vladislav Gális. Although he doesn't try to impress anyone with his performance, it helps the music sound even heavier than it should be.

Drummer Branislav Končír spends his time playing mid-paced rhythms, so not much can be said about it. Filip Prašovský and Imrich Šimig both play the guitars. They play steel-heavy riffs which harken back to the old days of heavy metal. As with countless other heavy metal bands, they also throw in two melancholic songs, "Wanna Love My Girl" and "Tonight". The keyboards, also played by Imrich Šimig, add to the old-school atmosphere. I got to say, I love their performance.

Last but not least is the the performance of the vocalist Martin Rybár. His performance is best described as the catchiest and most old-school sounding performance. They throw me back to the glorious days of the 1980's.

One thing that surprised me was the bonus track "Broken Rain", which also happens to be my favorite track. It doesn't sound like the rest of the songs. Instead, it sounds like something a 60's rock band would come up with. They just cut the bullshit away and go simple in this song. I like it.

Although this album is not groundbreaking, it is still impressive in an old-school way. If you are a fan of old-school heavy metal, go check these guys. You won't be disappointed at all.

http://bandzone.cz/brokenrain
http://broken-rain.webnode.sk/