Hailing out of Waukesha, Wisconsin in the USA, Scarlet Rayne was formed in 1988 by Danyl Johnston. Members included Danyl J, Kyle David, Marvin "Vin" Vanderweele (aka "Crash"). Former members included Matthew Johnston (Dan's brother), who preceded Vin on drums. Scarlet Rayne finally broke up in 1992. "Crash" had left the year before, and Mike Feighan took his place. The new line-up recorded a second album under the new name, SolScape. The second album was in a different style, thus the name change, but the album was never released. In 1987-1991 Christian music was just starting to gain momentum. Heavy metal was at it's climax and Christian metal was just catching on. Scarlet Rayne took up the call to deliver the good news of Jesus Christ through their style of progressive metal, that was rarely found in the Midwest. Though Scarlet Rayne never became popular that was never really the objective of the band. It was their goal to glorify the name of Jesus even when it was unpopular to do so. Like when they were invited to play clubs or venues where no Christian witnesses would dare enter to bring the light of Jesus Christ into a dark world. They also had the chance to play shows with some of their favorite Christian bands at the time, such as: Whitecross, Deliverance, Barren Cross, Believer, Vengeance Rising, Sacred Warrior etc. Scarlet Rayne released only one full length CD to the world, but quickly gained an underground buzz. And in 2007 Greek label Arkeyn Steel reissued the 1990 album, with bonus tracks.

THEATER HUMANITARIAN (1990/2007) ARKEYN STEEL

Scarlet Rayne were yet another Christian metal act that fell out of my radar back in their day. And that is too bad, because their music is right up my alley. Not unlike Haven or Sacred Warrior, this Wisconsin power trio played progressive power metal in the early Queensrÿche vain. You could also liken them to other underground secular acts, such as Lethal and Wicked Maraya. But even though the music here is interesting enough, Scarlet Rayne never made much headway with it. 'Theater Humanitarian' was the bands only full-length album, released on Toe Jam Records. Some sources state 1989 as the year of release, but I think 1990 is the correct year. The music has a rather dark sound, but I think much of that can be contributed by the less then polished production. This is a no-budget recording, that even the remastering done in 2007 can help all that much. However, back in 1990, when this was a new release, we weren't all that hung up on production. A bands charm and distinctive character was farm more important. And these qualities are present in Scarlet Rayne's numbers. I'm not trying to say that these guys are unique in any way. But they present their music convincingly, and with credibility. The vocals are of the soaring high-pitched variety, which is pretty typical for melodic progressive metal. The guitars alternate between speedy riffing and beautiful melodic passages. And the lyrics reveal a band in it for the Lord. These guys had a passion for spreading the Gospel to the metal crowd. And although they never became as well known as many of their other Christian metal brethren, they still made enough impact to have become a fan favorite in the underground circuits. Thus their one and only CD fetched hefty prices on eBay. So in 2007 Greek label Arkeyn Steel Records secured the rights to reissue 'Theater Humanitarian', with remastered sound, and some bonus tracks. These bonus tracks were picked from a never released second album, recorded after the band changed their name to SolScape. And these songs, while having better sound quality, really do sport the sound of a different band. Much of the warmth of the material is gone, and we are treated to a more clinical and chaotic sound and style. Thus I prefer the 8 tracks originally on the album.

Trivia: "Sands Of Time" was featured in a Czech movie, and the band kept getting paid royalties for years after that.

Killer tracks: Scarlet Rayne, Tales Of The Lost, Covered Fear

Related artists:

Whitecross