Album Reviews : Requiem Of The Damned – Type I

I honestly can’t even recall how I managed to come across Requiem Of The Damned but it was certainly a fortuitous thing when I found a link to their modest Myspace page. After a couple of listens I was sufficiently intrigued by what I heard there that I just felt compelled to purchase their debut release ‘Type I’.

As someone who has always loved his metal with shades of gothic it seems that there are not a lot of bands here in Australia who have chosen to pursue that (dark) path. Why that is I am not too sure but I would not hesitate to describe Requiem Of The Damned as being in that mould given the darkly melodic metal they create.

Each of the songs combine an aggressive metal side with moments of subtlety where there are shades of pure gothic rock, tasteful keyboards lending a suitably eerie atmosphere that never sounds forced or clichéd and vocals that range from a clear to rough singing style and even the odd growls at certain opportune moments.

It is the constant ebb and flow between each of these elements that makes ‘Type I’ such an enjoyable listen and the manner in which the music succeeds in balancing a dark feeling, subtle melodic threads and memorable songs reflects well on what they band appear to be striving to achieve.

Being a first attempt there are a couple of minor areas that could be refined such as the clipping between songs that begin to meld into each other but instead are cut short or the slight fluctuations in sound over the course of the CD. To be fair this could have something to do with the fact that these songs were recorded mixed and mastered over a two year period so it’s not completely surprising that some degree of continuity would be lost.

Putting that aside, the music contains all the fundamental elements you would hope to see in this style and the talent is certainly apparent so it is of little concern and doesn’t really mar the overall result. If you like your metal with a dark melodic edge then I would proffer that Requiem Of The Damned could very well be worth the investment and I hope that they can build on this precursor of things to come as ‘Type I’ is an intriguing starting point full of sinister possibilities.

8/10

Band: Requiem Of The Damned
Album: Type I
Year: 2009
Genre: Gothic Metal
Label: Independent
Origin: Newcastle, Australia
www.myspace.com/requiemofthedamned

Track Listing:
1. Plague
2. Her Nightmare
3. Infect Me (Reviewers Choice)
4. Infected
5. The Room
6. Cold
7. De-Railed
8. Descend
9. Ghosts