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SOLACE OF REQUIEM
Casting Ruin

ViciSolum Productions (2014)
Rating: 8.5/10

Well, it’s about that time of year again when one feels the need to be lacerated, shredded, battered, bruised and bedazzled by another tech-fest, and on this occasion it’s the new death / black metal hybrid created by Virginia crushers Solace Of Requiem.

Casting Ruin is apocalypse number four for this act; the band was formed in 2001 by vocalist / bassist Jeff Sumrell who in 2006 enlisted the help of drummer Dave Tedesco, and they are both joined by axeman Richard Gulczynski who completes the line-up.

Over the years numerous session musicians have come and gone, but with this new record there is a sense of stability within the ranks and so hopefully Solace Of Requiem will become more of a prolific beast over the next few years.

Casting Ruin offers us nine tracks which delve deep into the mystical realms of technical black / death metal. As one would expect from an album of contemporary design, Solace Of Requiem’s latest composition is one well produced and jarring throughout. Blazing blast-beat drums work in epileptic tandem with those fidgeting solos and inaccessible bass-lines, all coated in a hoarse vocal lap which has a tendency to drift into more bruising, growling outbursts which I tend to prefer as the combo edges its way through some mightily impressive and punishing numbers.

As a slower beast, Solace Of Requiem – in spite of that bloody clicking drum sound – is a true wonder within the genre, but even with those frequent speedier passages it’s all very much a scathing, angular attack harbouring a juggernaut of a guitar sound. As I said previously though, the issues do arise with that irritable drum click, and while I cannot fault Tedesco’s talent these infuriating nuances seem to litter so many modern day releases of this ilk. But anyway, it’s still a mind-boggling and ferocious workout showing marked improvements from 2010’s The Great Awakening.

There are some deeply atmospheric turning points throughout this album which add extra dimensions of technicality to tracks such as ‘Wading Into Mire’, the foreboding pulverisations of ‘Heaving Bile And Ash’, and the storming complexity of ‘Pools Of Ablation’.

Solace Of Requiem is the sort of act capable of anything, as long as it remains within that blackened death metal framework. This is the sort of relentless yet unpredictable that can drift off into classical segments and then effortlessly veer back into brutality via way of countless tempo changes and double kicks which will send your head into a spin. Indeed, there are times when I’m so enthralled by this opus that I’d even go as far to say that this posse is one of innovation, and with those incredible atmospheric moments injected – particularly the closing instrumental ‘Bio-Alchemy’ – I am happy to report that modern technology does have its benefits within heavy metal, and that this sort of stuff most probably would not have existed several decades ago.

So, with its continued references to space and all things intricately cosmic, Solace Of Requiem’s fourth release is one that should transport you to some otherworldly realm via its unorthodox chambers of brutality.

Neil Arnold

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