Never crossed paths with Swiss death metal band Requiem before but there again they have been silent for about seven years. Well I guess the predictable joke is they certainly aren’t silent now. Downright noisy in fact. They play a straightforward, clean but not technical kind of death metal; punishing in rhythm but with the occasional line if melody coming through. From first song ‘For The Blind To See’, probably the most melodic song here with even a touch of that Amon Amarth twang to the guitar, Requiem charge full pace into the war and batter their way to the heart of the matter.

It’s a pretty bright production here too, lots of separation of the instruments and a pretty in your teeth sound. True, the drums do have that slightly clicky, triggered sound (note though I am not saying they are, just they have that sound) which grates on me if I concentrate on it but there’s enough racket going on elsewhere for me not to dwell I guess. The guitars and riffs have a good, solid weight to them, the gruff vocals insistent. It’s relentless stuff too, predominantly full tilt pace that gets your arms flailing and your head banging, but with all the breakdowns in the right places. Lyrically this is pretty much socially aware stuff which is cool for a change; lots of concern with the misuse of wealth, political resistance and civil disobedience. ‘Resistance Rising’ being the best example and the best track to display it here.

I guess the place i have the problem with is that the lyrics are the main place i find the real Requiem identity pushing through. Yeah I guess it’s is a bit modern clean for my usual tastes but even putting that aside I find myself slipping between thoughts of it being towards the generic and perhaps lacking a little variation in the pacing. Funny get me wrong this is strong in spirit and intent and it sounds as tight as any Swiss mechanism but just doesn’t shake me enough I’m afraid. Sorry. If you’re a death metal die hard though, you may well find more to enjoy here than i did.

(6/10 Gizmo)

https://facebook.com/pages/REQUIEM/28204982085

https://fda-records.bandcamp.com/album/global-resistance-rising