Fall Of Serenity Grey Man's Requiem

Yes, we know this album has been out for many months... all we can say is, better late than never. There's something about the phrase "European death metal" that, when falling upon certain ears, has a tendency to make one, well, a little crazy. Enter Fall of Serenity: straight-up, old school death metal that gives the word 'cacophony' an audible definition. After the initial listen, it's easy to draw comparisons to a lot of Nuclear Blast and Relapse bands, but Fall of Serenity turns out to be much more than a mere copycat version of super-groups like Nile. I guess the single best adjective I could use to describe the music on "Grey Man's Requiem" would have to be haunting. Each track is captivating, falling and rising at the gestures of some imaginary conductor. But even 'haunting' does them no justice, for the music is just as barbaric and brutal as it is eerie; all elements amassing into a corybantic blast of sound. Every album has its flaws though, and I imagine that the Achilles' heel of this one is the lack of any standout licks and riffs. There's no song you flip to just so you can show your buddy and say "Hey, check this out, man. This shiznit is insane!" but this isn't a major issue in my opinion because there are, at the least, plenty of standout tracks on "Grey Man's Requiem." "...The Storms Are Gathering" unveils their propensity towards brutality with blast beats extrodonaire and glottal, inhuman vocals. Other tracks, like "Masters of Chaos," "Holy Divinity," and "The Gift of Fury" are just plain, rabid displays of chaos and anguish. The most interesting tracks on this album, however, are the last three. The title track "Grey Man's Requiem" is a lone piano ballad that captures the true essence of this disk without using any thrashing guitar solos or head-banging, hair-waving drum work. Following that are two covers, one of Dismember's "Lasket Garien" and Black Sabbaths "Electric Funeral," the latter of which probably could have been thrown out due to the fact that it sounds just like the original. But hey, Sabbath is Sabbath, right Bottom Line: Fall of Serenity is death metal, no doubt about it; old school, heavy, and most importantly, clean and well-produced. I mean, heck, you can actually hear the instruments independent from one another! The best way, though, to end this review is to recap our adjective list for today, because unless you listen to them, Fall of Serenity can only be described as haunting, barbaric, furious, brutal, inhuman, corybantic, rabid, and fucking metal!!