IN VAIN

I was hoping for more from In Vain on their second endeavor. On the positive side their production has gotten a bit better. But on the other hand, the strong sense of identity that came across on their first album has vanished into thin air. First of all, the diversity on each track has lost its innovative feel and appeal on most of the tracks this time around. Where The Latter Rain always saved its monotonous feel by applying unexpected changes and twists, thus never becoming boring, Mantra causes loss of concentration on many occasions. I do get the doom feel that In Vain might try to express, but the long lasting monotonous parts are taking too much space this time around. This results in a lesser display of originality and identity, which clearly was demonstrated to a higher degree on the last album. Also, some of the melodies appear somewhat too similar to some of those from the last album. There are, however, some exceptions. The track Wayakin stands out as a great melody and original tune. In addition, the second track Ain't No Lovin' is also great, but it is also quite reminiscent of Opeth, and therefore doesn't exactly help to bring In Vain's identity to any higher level. The individual performance instrumentally is still great, and as mentioned previously, the production has gotten better. So there is still hope for In Vain. But as far as Mantra goes, I would definitely recommend The Latter Rain before it.

Though In Vain has been compared to Opeth on countless occasions, they definitely have their own signature. Certain riffs are indeed reminiscent of those of Opeth, and the hammond also brings about a certain 70's feel to some of the tracks, but that is just one aspect of many presented on The Latter Rain. First of all, and let's be honest about this, neither of the vocalist of In Vain are even close to being as good as mister Åkerfeldt. But that isn't the point either. In this context both the clean and growling vocals works excellent. For new acquaintances it should be noted that the growling is not of the death metal kind. It is rather leaning towards black metal growling/screaming. And it works like a charm.

The melodies on this album are also pretty good, and the diversity between the tracks saves this album from ever getting boring. The songs might come off a bit monotonous at times, but this is made up for by good melodies and variety between the individual songs. As for the production, it sounds a bit thin at times. The drums and vocal is good, but the guitars sounds a bit faded when they go into their "progressive-one-string-black-metal-riffing". (I know, a terrible but necessary description.) This has also been a problem with black metal bands since the dawn of the genre. So whatever influences derived from black metal by In Vain could very well be purposeful, in the production as well as the composition of the riffs. The critique on the production is nitpicking though. Allover this is a great effort from the Norwegian youngsters. Especially since it is their debut album. Not many bands can start their promising career with such a strong first album. It also has a long life expectancy, which also signals that greatness is about to be achieved. I little bit more diversity, and a tad better production and their next album will get 5 stars for sure. I look forward to see how these guys will do in the future.