The story of Israeli death/doom sextet Tomorrow’s Rain makes for a convoluted tale fraught with personal struggle. They were formed as Moonskin in 2002 by singer Yishai Sweartz and producer Maor Applebaum, who later moved to LA, establishing himself as a successful producer with a diverse roster of clients from Yngwie J Malmsteen to Mayhem. Sweartz remained in Israel, becoming a successful promoter. With personal circumstances taking him increasingly further from the band, it was on the advent of his 40th birthday that he finally scratched a lifelong creative itch with the release of Hollow. It’s a record filled with sorrow. Mournful to the last, with huge, vengeful riffs permeating ponderous gloom.
For a relatively unknown band, Sweartz’s professional connections came in handy, snagging an impressive guestlist. My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe adds his mournful timbre to Fear’s protracted meander, only for another gothic heavy hitter, Paradise Lost’s Greg Mackintosh, to add his hushed menace to In The Corner Of A Dead End Street, which in its transition from baleful to enraged also boasts Rotting Christ’s Sakis Tolis and countryman Orphaned Land’s Kobi Farhi, as well as one of the most hair-raisingly epic solos you’ll hear this year.
Death/doom inspirations are given healthy representation on chugger Misery Rain, featuring Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro and Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow The Sun. The guests keep coming - Jeff Loomis on the lick-laden Into The Mouth Of Madness, Septicflesh’s Spiros Antoniou on the claustrophobic despair of Hollow… the list goes on. The guestlist shouldn’t detract from the main point of interest of Hollow, however. It stands as testament not only to the catharsis that metal can bring to one’s life-long existential struggles, but also provides a window into Israeli metal the likes of which is rarely seen. A unique proposition that consolidates two decades’ worth of musical endeavour.
