Celtic metal ambiance could loosely describe this work, the fourth album from Switzerland’s one man Requiem Eternam, but at the same time arguments could be presented against it being Celtic, metal or ambient. Confused? Well, I was. To begin, we hear lapping waves, neighing horses and the angelic voice of a choir. The guitar work is patient. I anticipated something epic. It didn’t happen. Without warning the mood changes and we’re thrown mercilessly into murky psychedelic territory. Deep guitars and moaning, disharmonious vocals cast aside all sense of epic soundscapes. Atmosphere there is. A whistling sound in the background could be a bagpipe or a high-pitched keyboard. So begins ‘Stories of Another Age’. What’s the point of all this? I have no idea.
The moaning continues now to alternate with clear passages. Then there’s the dark and asthmatic whispering. We have reached ‘The Beginning’. The composer’s imagination is rife. It’s controlled in its way but it’s most certainly outside the box, whatever the box might be. I had fleeting images of early Tiamat crossing with Subway to Sally but it’s all too transient. We hear the sound of the crowd – ah, people – and of a mediaeval fayre with lutes. It changes of course. Deep and dark vocals make for a mediaeval metal song but wrapped entirely in diabolical darkness. I suppose ‘Gothic’ might cover it, if it matters. The deep breathing continues. The title is ‘Heroic’ but I don’t know what’s heroic about it.
We progress, if that’s the right word, to ‘Death from Heavens’, another ponderous and confusing dark-a-thon. It descends into yet more meaningless heavy whispering. The patient guitar work of the opening track makes a welcome and momentary return before another explosion into nastiness and horror. ‘3 Days of Darkness’ is dark, pummelling and rejoices in the sounds of suffering. This is not the place you want to be spending those 3 days. But it’s ok. The mysterious sound of footsteps opens up another door and along with it, the sound of mediaeval music and the accompaniment of a steady drum beat. Distorted and anarchic cacophony returns. From promising beginnings, the world collapses once more through musical representation. Maybe that’s the point. ‘The Ancient Crypt’ ends with the sound of lousy weather. But hang on, haven’t we heard this guitar work before? The slow and melancholic tune of ‘The Return’ gives way to the inevitable thunderstorm and whistling winds. At least this track, unlike anything before it, sticks to its course and envelops us in the gloomy atmosphere without feeling the need to deviate incongruously into something else which causes us to lose our affinity with any mood there was.
The album title is right. These are ‘Stories of Another Age’. The age could be mediaeval or it could be some fantasy land. If it is the latter, it is not one which conjures up pleasant images. This is self-confessed ‘Apocalyptic Visions of the End’. Such an atmosphere is duly created, but I found that the images here were so mixed that the only consistency was its unpleasantness. I’m sure the man from Requiem Eternam knew what he was aiming to do, but with all the changing and aural unpleasantness going on, ‘Stories of Another Age’ was for the most part lost on me and I’m struggling to say anything in its favour.
(3 / 10 Andrew Doherty)
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