RED CAIN - Näe'bliss

RED CAIN

Album: Näe'bliss

Genre: Powemetal / Melodeath

Release Date: June 2nd, 2023

Country: Canada

Label: Self-Released

Band Links: WEBSITE / BANDCAMP / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

Fantasy and metal normally go well together, so does the musical storytelling about a common “good” standing against an “evil” antagonist. For their third album, which is called “Näe’bliss” and came out on June 2nd, Canadian four-piece RED CAIN drew their inspiration from Robert Jordan’s epic “Wheel of Time”. Fascinated by the carefully crafted narrative and beautifully balanced universe, they found puzzling, unexplored gaps that they were determined to delve deeper into, but also spinning the connection to reality.

While the opening track "Fisher King" is clearly rooted into powermetal with anthemic singing and a straight rhythmic, the following "Blight" turns heavier and moves into modern progmetal fields, with complex rhythm patterns and sophisticated guitar runs.

Over the next tracks, they come up with elements of melodeath, symphonic-, prog- and powermetal, melted together by the expressive vocal performance of singer Evgeniy Zayarny, who convinces with his full tone and an impressive range. Funnily enough, my favorite track is the mighty, instrumental "Sightblinder", which could easily appear on a Paul Wardingham record, slighty followed by "The Great Hunt" and the earlier mentioned "Blight". Even though some transitions feel a bit stumbling, most of “Näe’bliss” is well written, varied and dynamic, telling the stories about a common “good” against an “evil” antagonist in a great way.

Written by Katha (originally for The Progspace)