10 tracks of old school death metal from Virginia Beach, including a cover of Grave's "I Need You". The entire affair was recorded during one 10-hour session and actually sounds quite competent considering. Yes, it does come off as a strong demo more than a proper full-length, but being a self-released effort I can let that slide. There's a lot of room for improvement in the production, but it's clear and even, so that's good. I also like that the basslines are just behind the guitars, so they play an important role. The guitar tone is definitely too thin for death metal, though (it kind of works for the leads, but definitely not the rhythm playing). The drums are a little flat and rigid as well, but their placement in the mix works out, so beefing up the guitars should be the key focus. I kind of like the dryness of everything, so the overall feel gets them by for the most part, and the vocals sound pretty damn good as is. The songwriting isn't blowing me away, however. Expect a good blend of tempos with plenty of tremolo picking and midpaced power chords, with a few riffs hitting on subtly technical runs, while the vocals are a hoarse growl that I find to be rather effective. Overall it kind of comes off as a blend of both the early American and European death metal scenes, musically and vocally, with some quirkier rhythms at times bringing in a more contemporary sound (see "Deceiver" especially). A truly powerful recording would significantly benefit these songs as they stand, but addressing the larger issue the riffs just aren't that memorable in most cases. The song lengths are usually a tasteful four to five minutes or so, and the structures are linear and well laid out, I just think the actual riffs are often boring. Some of the light dissonance that seeps in can be cool, and in general the slower to midpaced playing is kid of nice, but many of the more jagged rhythms don't fit, and the tremolo picking runs usually get stale. "Stir No Echo" is slower and has some melodic lead lines that lend a doomy sort of vibe to the intro, and then things roll into a Cannibal Corpse-esque hammer-on/pull-off riff before hitting a more rhythmic groove, which is almost a shame as carrying on in that doomy vein would've been nice. This is still one of the better songs though, in my opinion. "Hell is for Those Who Sleep" is among the more discordant pieces, and even though I dislike the verse riff quite a bit, it is unique, and the other chords are more fluid and intriguing than most of this material. The layout is pretty minimal, with a statue on the cover and elsewhere mainly clean, simple text over black backgrounds. It's not very exciting and it does come off as a self-released effort, but I've seen far worse. The lyrics are abstract but definitely convey distinct atmospheres and ideas, so I'm not at all opposed to how they've handled that aspect of the work. "For the god that I have promised, may the gravity and chains of what you've done weight you to the bottom, A tide of lust and indignity flood your soul, Swept off in the current." I don't know, I'm all for classic death metal, and I can appreciate where this band is coming from with their influences, but despite the presence of some strong riffs and competent arrangements, I think the overall songwriting needs to harness more power to really be effective.
[self-released]
Running time - 47:06, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Stir No Echo, Hell is for Those Who Sleep]
Solace of Requiem - http://www.solreq.com
