Requiem is a veteran death metal band from Switzerland that have just released their fifth album, Within Darkened Disorder on Twilight Vertrieb. Requiem plays a form of war death metal with old school influence as well as a more melodic tone (blackened). One thing is for sure that this album is powerful yet kind of boring. Normal fast paced plodding death metal at its finest and that’s it, nothing more.

Sure Requiem is a little more brutal then their contemporaries but that still doesn’t deny the fact that one has heard these songs a million times before. However what they play, they play rather well.

Their really is little to variation between the songs. In fact every song sounds extremely similar to the last. The listening experience is linear and most of the riffs have been done better by a lot of other bands.

The riffs are strong and had me head banging at a few parts such as 3:20 during “Echoes of War” and 2:20 of “Omnivore.” Then theirs the blackened tinged jams of “Symbol Of Nine,” “I’am Legion,” and the war metal-esque tunes – “Feed The Greed,” “Solemn Sacrifice,” and the title track “Within Darkened Disorder.”

That being said, not even those songs are worth to dive into since one has heard this style of death metal portrayed better by the likes Asphyx, Hate Eternal, and the almighty super group Hail Of Bullets.

The instrumentation is fine and the vocals are top notch. One thing I commend them for is the use of understandable growls and screams.Also, the production on this release is strong and dare I say it very “powerful.” But really that’s all they have going for them.

I wanted to love this release as the album art is amazing and reeks of old school mentality. It’s just the copy-cat riffs and same-y songs don’t cut it for a release of this kind of death metal. If you’re a fan of this style then by all means dig in, but for those that need a little substance in their death metal, you might want to pass.

 

 

 

[Visit the band's website]

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