Album Review: Root Zero – Dark Rainbow (Self Released)

Welsh progressive metal band, Root Zero will release their much-anticipated debut album, ‘Dark Rainbow’, on May 16th, 2025.

A huge album, expansive and expressive, that makes progressive metal that little more accessible, while proudly showcasing Root Zero’s incredible experimental abilities. Dark Rainbow is a very special release, and one that is guaranteed to be on regular rotation as the weeks and months go by.

Beginning in haunting fashion, The Good Times Never Last is a dramatic introduction track, slow and methodical, and with layers of gloom. It nicely leads into the first of many big sounding tracks, Inner Turmoil, where Root Zero start to show off their progressive ways, while keeping alternative vibes front and centre. One of the coolest aspects of the band is the different vocal types and styles, and this track really shows them off, alongside intense bursts of melody and metal.

They’re just getting started though, and things really grow in stature with I Drowned in the Desert. Not just because it’s a much longer track, but because of how Root Zero use that to tell a story, one that is highly experimental. It’s a track you can’t help but study, and while not everything works (the choppy electronica is odd), the whole thing impresses. As does the following Notti D’Inverno, with its cold, comforting melodies and heavy flareups. The metallised intensity crossed with dreamy layers of Ignis Fatuus, and the chunky, suffocating boldness of Tumbleweed. Each is unique, each challenge, and each feels larger than life, even if the connection felt is more personal.

As tempting as it is to go into immense detail about every single track here, this review would be far too long if that was the case. Which should tell you all you need to know about the depth this album has and the creative tear Root Zero were on when they wrote it. It’s a big album, with every track feeling like the equivalent of falling down the rabbit hole with Alice. Even more so when dealing with theatrical efforts like Dry (the keyboards are immense here) and the stylish experimental atmosphere of Depression.

Enjoy the lull of the latter, because the final section of the album pushes the progressive bar to even greater heights and sees Root Zero really flex their musical muscles. First, with the eleven-plus minute title track, a gargantuan effort that showcases all the impressive elements of Root Zero’s dynamic sound. Then with the near nine-minute Litha and the near ten-minute The Infection. I kid you not, these are the tracks that end the album, and your reward for your time and patience is a set of intelligent, bold, and accomplished efforts. Showing how modern progressive metal can be transformed into something so much more.

You will find it compelling, but you will also find it challenging, and considering it’s a debut, that’s particularly impressive.

Root Zero – Dark Rainbow Track Listing:

1. The Good Times Never Last
2. Inner Turmoil
3. I Drowned in the Desert
4. Notti D’Inverno
5. Ignis Fatuus
6. Tumbleweed
7. Dry
8. Depression
9. Dark Rainbow
10. Litha
11. The Infection

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