ALBUM REVIEW: …And Then The Rain Stopped – Birthmarks

With the world not knowing what day it is and everybody trying to get themselves into some sort of temporary routing among the chaos, it’s inevitable that certain things will get a little sidetracked. That’s the case with …And Then The Rain Stopped, the debut album from new British band BIRTHMARKS. Self-released at the end of last month, the record has already been given props by Alex Baker from Kerrang! Radio, who described it as the soundtrack to ‘a beautifully directed, unsettling movie’. At this current time, that sounds pretty perfect in terms of reflecting the global state of affairs. The question remains though; does it live up to it?

By and large, Baker‘s comment are spot-on; …And Then The Rain Stopped is a haunting piece of post-rock music that captures the mindset of the majority in 2020 well. Ambient electronica is complimented well by the sounds of drawn out electric guitars and a near-constant echo on the vocals of main singer Daniel Cross. Perhaps the song that fits the bill set by Baker best is Pale, which could accompany a wide shot of a film character slowing sinking through water as they fall towards the bottom of an ocean, but along the way there are other moments of quality.

You Are One feels a little industrial, harking back to the works of NINE INCH NAILS in the late nineties, whilst opening track How Do You Rule Me could have easily been created by BRING ME THE HORIZON over the last five years. Meanwhile, for a perfect metaphor to the last three months in a nutshell, look no further than Eclipse (Empty Shell), which starts familiar enough in terms of the overall album feel but develops into a maelstrom of noise and chaos.

There are a couple of moments that could have done with improving, however. Wax comes off the back of a drop in pace in the mysterious sound of Breathe but strips back the musicianship further, leaving Cross, acoustic guitars and a gradual synth to guide us through. It doesn’t quite work, particularly not with the echo effect that was previously mentioned.

By contrast, Charcoal takes those effects away and Cross is left a little exposed. For all the rawness of the lyrics, his voice doesn’t seem strong enough to really make an impact, and as a result the song suffers. Perhaps most tellingly is that the album struggles to hold your attention in terms of the songs; they’re well crafted, but the album is far stronger as a whole, and retaining any of the tracks – even after repeated listens – is a challenge.

For all the imperfections, one thing that stands out, and that is …And Then The Rain Stopped has come at exactly the right time. In a world of trauma and uncertainty, where the general outlook is bleak, what better than a collection of melancholic post-rock tracks to put on as you remain indoors and wonder just when you’ll be able to see your friends again? Birthmarks have ticked that box welly and truly.

Rating: 7/10

…And Then The Rain Stopped is out now via self-release.

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