Review by Tammy on May 8, 2002.

Rain Fell Within has come out with a second CD. “Refuge”, the dictionary defines it as, a place where one can find shelter or protection from danger or distress. In all honesty I need a refuge from this CD. Although I am not familiar with Rain Fell Within’s previous work, I do have to say that “Refuge” is a horrible, horrible music disk. All music must have a balance, and that balance is placed in the vocals and music. “Refuge” sounds like two different CD’s when it is played, one focusing on the music, two focusing on the vocals. They do not compliment each other at all.

The musicians in Rain Fell Within know half their job; playing good music. The music does a good job of playing on the listeners emotions. The band also does an amazing job of brining in outside sounds and instruments, like in the song ‘In My Dreams’ when the band brings in what sounds like native drums for the intro. My only problem seems to be that these outside influences are only brought in for the introductions to the songs; I think it would be more benificial if they continued these influences throughout the songs. “Refuge” has many quality music tracks, but there is of course the odd one out. In this case ‘Save Your Soul’ has to have the most horrible introduction I’ve ever heard. The way they have used the drums sounds like they want to break out in Polka. The musicians on Rain Fell Within’s “Refuge” have made one drastic mistake. To be considered an excellent musician one must be able to shape their playing around the voice of the singers. A band is only as good as its weakest member, in this case both vocalists.

Both the lead singer Dawn, and the backup vocalist Laurie just don’t strike me as good vocalists at all. Their voices are so completely different that when they sing together it sounds garbled and out of tune. Laurie has a very high soprano voice, her high notes sometimes sound nothing more then screeches, and it sounds like she struggles with some of her notes. The lead vocalist Dawn, has some “odd” tendencies to her voice. As she rises from a simple note to a high note there is no variance in tone, leading the voice to sound flat and out of place with the music behind it. Because both singers sing in an almost “opera” style, they do not suit the rock/melodramatic music at all, and it leads me to think they did not hear the music while recording the song.

In conclusion Rain Fell Within has shown me nothing noteworthy. This band needs to re-think their vocal and musical strategy before recording their next CD. “Refuge” has left a bitter sting on my tongue, and has turned me off from ever listening to this band again. This band needs to take a good listen to the kind of CD’s they are producing.

Bottom Line: “Refuge” has to be the most horrible attempt at an opera/metal CD that I have ever heard. My advice is to burn down any music store that carries it, because they have tainted gothic metal forever.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 7
Musicianship: 6
Atmosphere: 3.5
Production: 2.6
Overall: 3

Rating: 4.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on December 4, 2021.

Ignorance alone is not enough - you also have to be deaf if you don't realize that Aegrus is one of the bands that carry the torch of Finnish black metal with special dedication through the Scandinavian forests and past 1,000 lakes. Luciferian Engravings celebrates its tenth birthday this year, but the style of this anti-religious music is (nearly logically) just like the dogmas of the church: timeless. Regardless of whether the musicians indulge in almost hypnotic guitar sounds flowing into languid rhythms or attack dynamically and aggressively, one thing is certain. The spirit, the special aura of black metal, is omnipresent. It doesn't matter that the rousing opener is called 'Light From The Darkness'. Fortunately, the four pieces do not have much light on offer.

The first official release of the Finns impresses with a very fitting sound. The guitars sound basic, appropriately dark and vicious. They shape the mix without being overly prominent. The genre-typical vocals oscillate between nagging, yelping and screaming and the rhythm section contributes a large part to the solid appearance. Not only that, the phased ride on the cymbals in the third track also sets nice accents.

The average length of the songs (six minutes) speaks for a certain self-confidence of the artists. Indeed, there was no reason for restraint. All pieces are excitingly constructed, avoid unnecessary repetition and bring the apocalypse again a few inches closer to mankind. With a good sense for the right number of breaks and tempo changes, the musicians have succeeded in creating stirring pieces. Okay, the end of the second track may seem a bit lackluster and for a short time the guitar runs of '...of Black Redemption' sound almost cheerful. But especially this piece shows the amazingly early acquired class of Aegrus. Here every friend of the Finland cult will find at least some parts that should please him - if he doesn't appreciate the whole song anyway. Straightforward, almost speed metal compatible sections, quite rapid eruptions after a restrained beginning, but also wild breaks let Luciferian Engravings shine once again in full glory towards the end. Is that innovative? No. Was that innovative in 2011? Not either (you bum, what stupid questions!). Sorry, I had to insult myself for a moment. But since I am not deaf and only sometimes ignorant, such questions are actually forbidden in connection with the music of Aegrus.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Felix on August 13, 2023.

Looking back, I sometimes wonder why I kept buying a new Testament album over and over again. I guess some highlights from their early period had made me blind and so I gave them another chance whenever they had published a new album, although I knew all about the shortcomings of Practice What You Preach or Souls Of Black, to mention their weakest moments. Low is another full-length of the pioneers that falls under the category “ambivalent”. Some tracks are total rubbish, for example the wanna-be emotional ballad 'Trail Of Tears' with its kitschy lines, its soulful vocals and its boring predictability. The instrumental which finishes the album marks another low point (ha, almost a pun). Due to the fact that I originate from the country of the Scorpions, I ask: is there anybody (out) there who thinks such a piece with nothing but floppy guitar lines and playful drums enriches a metal album?

These pieces suck completely, but this would be acceptable if the ten remaining tracks would be two handfuls of killers. But far from it. Songs like 'Shades Of War' or 'P.C.' suffer from vapid, faceless and meaningless guitars. The vocal lines of 'Shades Of War' also sound amateurish and so the song goes down the drain, even if we take into consideration that it partly creates an oppressive atmosphere. 'P.C.' drags itself to the finish without creating just one exciting moment. And, masochists listen closely, there is more bullshit to discover. The quasi-instrumental on position nine offers pretty unusual yet unfortunately rather nerve-shattering tones. 'Low' (the song) wallows in its own mediocrity and falls short of the expectations I have whenever it comes to an opening title track. The very voluminous yet somewhat noisy production does not make things better.

Anyway, you do not just find trace elements of death metal here, but also moments and even songs of high quality. The pretty furious and flattening, alarming and straight 'Ride' is a hidden champion at the end of the tracklist. It gives the album one iota of dynamism that it so desperately needs. 'Legions (In Hiding)' holds some cool lines, a catchy chorus and a powerful instrumental part that make me forget its somewhat brittle mid-tempo. 'Hail Mary' shines in particular with a glorious opening riff. Especially these songs prevent Low from turning into a full-blown disaster.

Summing up, to me it looks like that Testament chased the trend without knowing it exactly. That’s why they connected a pretty non-authentic death thrasher like 'Dog Faced Gods' with the aforementioned ballads. This was actually beneath their dignity, but as we know, unfortunately not an isolated case in their career. Admittedly, sometimes they were still capable of brilliant deeds, but the discipline and the notes for a consistently good record were lost on them. In short: their evolution from high to low was regrettable.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10

Review by Luka on October 14, 2001.

Testament was a band I always avoided for the very reason of always being unoriginal and creating such generic metal songs with boring song-structures, and if you didn’t realize it before, this album will make it painfully clear. Throughout the whole thing I sat there, just waiting for one original song segment that would give this album some personality, something of its own, but that moment never came, from first track to the last, "Low" offered nothing but one mediocre song after another written obediently by the rules of the boring, repetitive rock-and-roll song structure.

There are but two exceptions to the comment I made about "mediocre" songs: 'Legions' and 'Dog Faced Gods'. These two songs, while still employing the repulsive aspect of unoriginality are actually really good. The first endows some very impressive riffs and heaviness while the latter conjures a mysterious ancient Egyptian sound and feeling, and both songs have Chuck Billy experimenting with death metal vocals! I’ve no clue why, but these two songs are the only ones he does them on.

Another track that could be considered a hair above the rest is 'All I Could Bleed', but this is about it. I don’t know what Testament were trying to create with this album or who they were trying to impress but they certainly didn’t do anything about either of these. This sounds like a quickly-written, little-cared-for, mass-produced average album that Testament hoped only their pretty clean reputation would sell. Well, this album has given their reputation a very greasy-filth shit-stain in my book. It’s because of this album I was even known to quote the strong words "Testament sucks". Well, they don’t suck, but this waste of plastic called an album certainly does. Their worst album ever, I’m disappointed.

Bottom Line: I curse the day I bought this album, don’t make the same mistake!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 1
Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 4
Production: 7
Overall: 3

Rating: 4.4 out of 10