I was about to write my personal thoughts on REQUIEM LAUS's promo CD and conclude whether this band deserves the offer of a record deal. As you probably have read (or should have) on Metal Temple's news section,the guys have already put their signatures on a contract with Strictly Heavy Management (cool name). It seems that the promo in question has finally convinced the company's mastermind without even waiting the result of my review (what a shame). Nevertheless, I will try to give you a written image of this promo or what you'll hear as soon as the play button is pressed on your CD player.
The band was formed in Portugal somewhere in the early 90s under the name Requiem inspired by the classic composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Later they added the word Laus just for trademark reasons. The band suffered some line-up changes and have released two demos Life Fading Existence and For the Ones Who Died and the mini CD Trough Aeons that helped them to built a strong reputation among the Portuguese Underground Metal scene.
REQUIEM LAUS play melodic Death Metal with some Black Metal finishing touches here and there. The Doom Metal atmosphere creates an almost personal sound and adds some more points concerning music diversity.The four tracks (there is a short instrumental) of the promo features the wide performance range of the Portuguese quartet. Slow and ton-heavy guitars shift places with almost Black Metal blast beats and shredding riffs that fit perfectly the snarling vocals. The slow and depressive tempo of Christ Above with the double pedaling, comes first to catch the listener off-guard. The atmospheric track Final Function brings some Eastern melodies reminding something from TIAMAT's work during the Wild Honey forgotten era. Perfect World's main riff pays respect to Jeff Waters's performing finger-burning style with the almighty ANNIHILATOR. Somewhere in the middle of the track the bass guitar makes a glorious appearance courtesy of the very good sound production. The guitar arpeggios of the instrumental track Maledictis opens for the CD closer entitled Reflection Of God.  The guitars on this song's reveals some influences from the good days of PARADISE LOST's historical album Draconian Times and soon after breaks into a real killer with fast pace drums and a solid rhythm  supported by the wonderful sound of the bass guitar. The fade-out  ending of the song leaves the listener with the feeling of incomplete, but after all, this is a promo release. The vocals need additional work because sometimes sound a little bit monotonous and "shallow and actually don't fit the tempo changes. The promo package is literally impressive; it comprises a multimedia section that offers the band's biography, some pics and two video clips. Eternal Plague is one of them that is ultra-fast with a solid Black Metal rhythm section and Death Metal growling vocals. The second clip, I Am What I Am, features the other REQUIEM LAUS side with distinct Doom Metal direction. Slow tempo and low tuned ton-heavy rhythm guitars merge with fast leads. Here, the sound production fails completely when it comes to the drums that sound like someone is banging on empty barrels.
The band is currently working on the full-length album with renewed forces by the support of SHM records. You can find and download Promo 2006 for free from the band's official site and wonder with me why the hell took them so long to sign a record deal.