Requiem Aeternam was formed 1995 in Uruguay. Jose Romero is the only original member remaining. I like his name, it puts me in mind of horror movies (I'm a big fan of George Romero), which I think is a good thing for a metal-musician's name to do. The band name also catches my eye, it is dark and classy.
Requiem Aeternam are a musically ambitious band, no doubt about that. In this CD each song is about the teachings of a different philosopher. I take my hat off to them for even trying, concept albums are hard to pull off. However, I cannot understand the singer well enough to tell you if they did. His clean voice is interesting, reminding me of traditional South American bands, however, his Death Metal voice is grating and somewhat jarring. I do like it some of the time, but for most of the album it just doesn't click with me.
The quality of the music is slightly less varied than the vocals. I like the guitar-work when the guitarist restrains himself but he likes to do these rapid fire riffs that do not feel finished to me. They leave me with a feeling of incompletion that I don't like. Even most of the good songs have these moments in them. I think his lead-work is nice and can be quite eye-catching and fast as lightening.
Wisdom is my favorite track from Philosopher because of the guitar-work. It is fast, and fairly heavy with mixed clean and death vocals. The music is the part that attracts me the most. It sounds like evil, melodic bumblebees!
Desperation, Liberty and Philosopher also catch my eye. Desperation is super-fast, maybe too fast. Liberty is a mid-tempo song and, for Requiem Aeternam, soft. Liberty is very melodic and the singer shines on it. Philosopher is a ballad, melodic and cool. I really like the guitar-work on it.
All in all, I would say that Requiem Aeternam have promise and could turn into a Metal band to watch if the guitarist keeps his need for speed in check and if the singer uses his clean voice more often.