Detail-oriented Italian death metalists Raintime formed in 1999. Inspired by their common love of Dream Theater, Claudio Coassin (keyboards), Luca Michael Martina (guitar), Matteo Di Bon (guitar), and Michele Colussi (bass) formed the core of Raintime and recorded the instrumental demo "Jump in the Past." Soon after the demo sessions were over, the band went through a lineup change, with Coassin moving from keyboards to vocals, new drummer Enrico Fabris joining the fray, and Andrea Corona taking over keyboard duties. As their sound moved into a wider spectrum (and they maintained a continuing interest in progressive metal), the influence of Scandinavian melodic/extreme metal and the riffs and guts of metalcore and thrash found their way into the mix. They released their debut album, Tales from Sadness, on Arise Records in 2005 and followed it up with Flies & Lies, produced by Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids) and released on the Lifeforce label in 2007. ~ J. Scott McClintock