“Too goth to be punk, too punk to be goth” is how Sunderland combo Black Rain cryptically describe themselves, but the truth is they hit the sweet spot right in between. They deliver a deliciously dark sound that owes as much to their slate grey surroundings as it does to their musical influences. Having released a “live” EP earlier this year, the band quickly follow up with an eponymously-titled full length, a nine track affair that allows the band to fully explore their dark art and is sure to cast a spell over the UK (and beyond).
Those with a propensity towards the dark side will find a spiritual home in Black Rain; this is a sound that recalls the golden age of post-punk and brings to mind images of lonely train stations, desolate moors, and weathered gravestones resting against rusting, wrought iron gates. Yet, don’t mistake Black Rain as some kind of retro act because there’s an energy here that places them firmly in the present, and if you need proof then look no further than opening track ‘Inside’. Bursting from the speakers like a runaway (ghost) train, Black Rain immediately prove themselves an unstoppable force, they’ve a vibrancy and vitality, an unbridled energy which renders them totally contemporary. But we can’t escape our influences, however hard we try, and the bass that drives these tunes has more than a touch of Lemmy or Peter Hook. Often times in music the bass is hidden deep in the mix, yet here it becomes the focal point; certainly no shrinking violet it takes centre stage, dictating the pace and rhythm. In juxtaposition, the guitar is thin and reedy, but also sharp like razor wire and slices through the air like cracks appearing in ice. The vocals are suitably vampiric, operating with the timbre of the undead and adding a sense of foreboding and unease. It’s a feeling that permeates the whole release and, comprising five studio tracks and four liver cuts, the aesthetic gives the album a unified feel and ensures it hangs together as a unified whole (not unlike bats in a belfry).
Black Rain doesn’t pander to fads and trends and subsequently it has a timeless quality that suggests it could have been released at any point in the last half century, and you get the impression that it’ll still sound fresh 50 years hence. Gothic rock is often referred to as “the genre that won’t die” and that might be true, but lately the scene feels as if it’s been on life support with bands repeating the same old tropes. Thankfully Black Rain are here to inject some fresh blood, bringing the scene back from the dead and taking their dark delights to a whole new generation.
- Black Rain is released on 14th July 2025 (available here).
Track List:
- Inside
- Save Me
- Satanists
- Shot Gun
- Fear
- Shadows Cry
- Broken Words
- I Suffer Alone
- Dust Tubes
