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This is the first of the two releases Rain Fell Within produced before they broke up, and was the first taste of what this band could do. "Believe" is very polished and professional for a debut, with some excellent songwriting and fine performances.

RFW played a kind of gothic doom metal with rolling guitar harmonies and the powerful classical vocals of the extremely hot Dawn Desiree. They were less metal than, say After Forever and used no harsh vocals. Given their style and location (Virginia) it is far from surprising that they were picked up by Dark Symphonies, those yankee providers of fine dark music.

This has five songs on it, but this is no EP, clocking in at almost 40 minutes. All five songs are long without noodling, though it must be said the songwriting here is not as varied or focused as on the following "Refuge". Nevertheless there is some fine music here, with the title cut still holding as one of the best songs the band ever recorded, and the most memorable song here.

The CD package is nice, if a bit minimal. What the hell, this was only the seventh release from the label. Lyrics are included and are quite good, if predictably gloomy. The band pics suffer from a distinct lack of more pictures of Dawn. Damn.

This a very cool little CD, and if female-fronted gothic metal is at all to your taste you should love this. While not as good as the following album, "Believe" is more than deserving of a place on your shelf.