Requiem Eternam - Visions of Eternity

December 16, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

Release Date:  2010
Label: BloodDivine Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Abandon Every Hope
2.  Into the Blind World
3.  The Third Circle
4.  The Suffering City
5.  Angel Guide
6.  The Terrible Wait
7.  Prisoner of Love
8.  The Eternal Bliss
9.  Divine Union

Total playing time:  38:30

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*Comments:

Swiss one-man show Requiem Eternam describes his music as “ambient/Celtic/heavy metal”, which sounds about right for what I’m hearing on his third full-length effort titled Visions of Eternity. The first thing I’m hit with is the guitar tone, which sounds like an old Burzum song not so much in style but it casual tone. I remember Varg once commenting that he used a very cheap Peavy amp to go for that “necro” sound, and while I’m hopeful that wasn’t mastermind Phil’s total intention here it does seem to scream it.

The album opens with the all-too obligatory bells chiming ala Black Sabbath and a million other bands in the current era and kicks into a pretty basic guitar riff that is more slow black metal than ambient upon first listen. The whispered vocals are different; not necessarily positive, but different nonetheless. To be honest, the album sounds very much phoned in and pieced together haphazardly; the abrupt cut at the end of the first track shows suspect editing if nothing else. There are also female vocals throughout that do much more talking than singing, and when the singing does manage to occur over the same riffs throughout each song it does little to help the effort. I’m not precisely sure how ambient music fits into this album, but what does ring out louder than the initial bells at the album’s start is that it’s a very bare, basic, even boring experience. The guitars are trite and listless, providing nothing memorable or even close. Again, I’m not sure what the intended goal of this album was, nor do I care to explore it any further than necessary, but what is evident is just how much can be done on seemingly little or no budget. Curse ye all men who created ProTools! How many damn bells can you put into an album, for Mother Nature’s sake?

“The Third Circle” is more a narrative that borders more on comical banter than sincere informative musical piece. The music is pure Norwegian black metal watered down to literally nothing; Varg Vikernes should honestly sue for stealing both the tone and style of his first album so egregiously and turning it into this bland, pedestrian effort. I can’t even comment on the talent aspect of this album; sure, Phil has some talents, obviously, but to what degree he is able to implement them remains a mystery since this album is about as opaque as it gets without crossing over into complete parody. Someone truly needs to teach Phil how to better edit his tracks so the sudden stops at each track’s end don’t rile up more anger and eye-rolling.

I wish I could find the true nature and spirit of what was intended here, but I suppose I missed it completely. What I find annoying is how this album was put out and not edited properly or even cared for with any sense of design or reason. In short, it is a boring album that should only be heard by those among the populous that are venturing away from Justin Bieber and wanting to hear some heavy metal for the first time. If that’s the case, it’s a sure bet Bieber will be keeping those disillusioned fans, and oh, how rightfully so.