Review by Saxy S for Coldrain - Nonnegative (2022)

My interactions with coldrain have been limited due to the Gateway spheres I frequent being slightly more on the progressive side. But I have heard plenty of tunes from this band thanks to the many song recommendations for monthly playlists. And in all honesty, I might have liked this band more during the 2000s as opposed to discovering them in the late 2010s. Their brand of melodic metalcore is fairly generic and the alternative leanings such as melodic songwriting sounds formulaic.

Case in point, the bands newest album, Nonnegative. When coldrain isn't directly ripping off older bands such as Slipknot on "Cut Me", Parkway Drive/Shadows Fall with "From Today", and a laundry list of chug-chug-chug metalcore bands on "Rabbit Hole", these tunes just are not that interesting. The album might have a decent guitar melody from time to time, but the vocals just feel forced and lacking in emotive drive. Nowhere is that more apparent than on the No Doubt cover of "Don't Speak", which, while not a great song in its own right, Gwen's vocals were timid and hushed as the protagonist goes through a breakup. The vocalist of coldrain doesn't seem to have a problem singing like the lead singer of a power metal band here, creating a weird dichotomy; not just between the vocals and the lyrics, but the instrumentals as well.

It all leaves me with a feeling of nothingness because I've heard all of this before...twenty years ago. coldrain's newest album does not do anything interesting to its influences, and when it does it isn't very good. It's attempts at alternative metalcore are met with a resounding "meh" from me as I have heard plenty of newer artists (i.e. Spiritbox, Bad Omens) and even older groups like Northlane growing the sound beyond the Of Mice and Men and The Devil Wears Prada's of the world. At least when BABYMETAL came out of the new J-rock scene, it was something new and got people talking. Maybe coldrain don't want to be BABYMETAL and that's fine and they will find their audience. But a well oiled machine has to keep moving, and coldrain are still stuck on ten year old technology.

Best Songs: Before I Go, Boys And Girls, PARADISE (Kill The Silence)