Woah! Room spinning! Must gain stability! Grab something! Here goes....Wait! A riff, no it's gone. Well, this has been a tribute to my experience with the new disc by Uruguay's own REQUIEM AETERNAM. South America has given us some pretty cool metal over the years, like SEPULTURA, SARCOFAGO, and CRIMINAL to name a few, but this new opus really takes the cake. No, I mean literally, it takes the cake. Let me explain. Suppose you took all those things that taste good to you, like chocolate, beer, bananas, popcorn, etc. and baked them all into a cake. Sounds pretty disgusting, right? Well, suppose all these flavors just built and complimented one another to come up with an almost perfect conglomeration of goodness, so much that they had to call this new flavor by another name. Still with me? That name would be REQUIEM AETERNAM. This slab of musical experience has created something new, and while it might not be for everyone, it strikes a chord with me.

When I first put this thing on, I was thinking that it was just going to be another death metal kind of record. I heard the drums operating at the speed of light, and the raspy vocals, and then it was like someone went from 5th gear down to 1st at about 70mph! The vocals went from a Cavalera cough, to a Serj Tankian narration in the blink of an eye. I was just grabbing onto this sudden change of pace when WHAM! They did it again! This musicianship is outstanding. How can a band mimic a cheetah on speed, then break it down into a very meaningful acoustic jam? Good stuff. Songs to listen for are "Wisdom" with drumming so intense, it is almost a relief when they finally slow down. The guitar falls from an all-out heavy assault to an easy, trippy interlude. The contrast here is what makes the song work, not just "sounding like everyone else". "Desperation" shows that the band could be a great death metal band if they were so inclined, but the depth here is astounding, the layers of sound and the use of multiple languages and narrative parts are sure to set this trio above the rest.

RA describe their music as "Dialectical Metal" because of its contrasts, oppositions, and inequalities (their words, not mine). I had a hard time describing it to myself, except it is a cross between later SEPULTURA and SYSTEM OF A DOWN (but not as quirky). There are more changes here than the diaper table at the under-two chili-eating contest! If bands of yore like LAST CRACK and PSYCHOTIC WALTZ were your bag, track this one down; it's a great listen. Also, to fit into the "thinking man's metal" category, each song's lyrics are based on the works of a famous philosopher (hence the album's title) like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. So for highway driving tunes, choose something else. But if you want a new musical experience, pick this thing up at the link below and drop the boys a line to tell them what you think. Maybe on the next record, they'll write a song about your sorry ass. Hey! Your chocolate is in my peanut butter.

- Murtaugh

OFFICIAL SITE: www.requiem-aeternam.com

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.