Raein – Forme Sommerse

The screamo scene in Italy has been growing since the start of the 2000s, with bands like La Quiete and the subject of this review, Raein, pioneering a new style that was already well established in the North American underground. The two historic bands even shared a drummer in their lineups. Raein’s early projects leaned toward emoviolence, especially in 2002 and 2003, with their second album, Il N’y A Pas De Orchestre, standing out the most. It even received a remastered version in 2024, and it still sounds absolutely dominant. Everything felt right to the point and straight from the heart at the same time.

Theirs is a solid career, filled with gigs across Europe and the US, big tours, and a growing audience that follows the band with deep respect. Over time, Raein have earned key-figure status in this subculture, often being mentioned as a major inspiration by equally phenomenal bands. You can hear that influence just by browsing through the sounds of Italy today, with bands such as the powerful Noverte coming straight from Raein’s early projects but renewing that energy in their own way. I could go on all day.

Knowing this, there has surely been some evolution and reshaping in the minds of Raein’s members, right? The answer is yes, and I must admit, it takes you a bit off guard. The band have shifted from the image of a house on fire, something you can see and lean into if you’re brave enough, to a more abstract view of reality. They now seem to look at things from farther away, shifting everything beyond us as people and making us feel like there is something more to discover, with the band here to tell us about it.

The title itself says a lot. Forme Sommerse translates to “sunken shapes,” suggesting forms of reality that we cannot see or touch, something beyond our immediate senses. The record presents itself in an unconventional way. Instead of a more familiar tracklist, it consists of two very long pieces, condensing what could have been several songs into two “movements,” as the band chose to call them. In all honesty, I found this a bit underwhelming at first, so I made the blatant but understandable mistake of calling it a day and letting the record rot alone for months.

Returning to it a couple of times changed things for me, because you sort of have to accept it for what it is. It is not what Raein used to be, and maybe that is for the best. If you are seeking an astonishingly explosive sound, you can check out alternatives like the already mentioned Noverte. Raein are not here for that sake anymore. Their take on the genre has leaned toward a more philosophical side, and this is reflected in the guitar riffs, which bring that strong screamo sound and structure, blended with sublime crescendos. This is supported by a metronomic drum and bass performance, along with ambient and wider background sounds that create a broader landscape for the vocals to fit into. For that reason, the vocals maybe could have been placed slightly higher in the mix.

The lyrics offer an additional resource to the record. They perfectly explain the band’s frustration, while expressing and confronting this numbness:

“Contemplare un vuoto
che non ha misura
Per un fiume
che conosce solo paludi
Finalmente l’oceano”

Translated from Italian:

“Contemplating a void
which has no measure
For a river
that only knows swamps
Finally the ocean”

This extract contains everything you have learned so far about the album, from the malicious shapes underneath our world to the relief we feel when coming across something as sublime as the ocean.

This record wants to take the listener through a special journey, and the band do not seem interested in letting everyone onto the boat. Instead, the music serves as a filter.

Lastly, the aesthetics of the record, from the abstract cover to the vinyl versions that resemble outer space visions, add to this feeling. It is something you can see quietly exploding from a great distance, yet can do nothing about, because you are already on that journey, and everything feels safer from behind a filtering window.