Rave The Reqviem - The Gospel of Nil

Rave the Reqviem took industrial metal by the balls and made the genre their bitch back in 2014 when they released their self-titled debut album. The album scored an amazing 8.5 out of 10 and went on to get an average crew score of 8.8 out of 10 here at Brutal Resonance. Since then the band has grown into a full line-up and has hammered down their sound even more combining electronics, metal, gorgeous operatic vocals and screaming intensity alike. You could say that we were more than anticipating Rave the Reqviem's newest album out on DWA The Gospel of Nil since we heard their debut. 

Rave the Reqviem has slowly been unveiling and unravelling their sophomore effort through various teasers as well as an official music video for their track 'Mono Heart' which released back in June. The video itself is just as grand as the music the band commits themselves to and I was immediately floored by the style, imagery, and most importantly the music. Now, with just a couple of weeks standing between us and the release of the album I am proud to praise this album with all my might. 


The Gospel of Nil respectively begins and ends with an intro and an outro that sound more like cinematic openings to big budgeted Hollywood films. Just listening to these songs got my blood pumping and made me feel like a warrior. An overall flood of epic percussion and strings paired next to ancient chants prepared me for the well orchestrated industrial metal romp I was about to experience. 

'Azaela' brought forth rapid drums and guitar riffs with electronics following pace. When I heard the familiar robotic vocals coming from the equally skilled producer Seraphim System I got goosebumps. Between the constant shifts of frontman The Prophet and The Holy Mother as well as the additional work from  BL4KJ4K ensured the song stayed fresh and moving. And that's where Rave the Reqviem shines the most; the songs don't loop, they don't repeat, they are constantly annihilating your ears with melodic industrial metal whose mood switches depending on who's taking charge. It's beautiful. 

BL4KJ4K didn't end his invasion of Rave the Reqviem's works just there, however. No, his vocals would come on the tracks 'Illvsion Shaper' as well as the final track on the album. The leader of Seraphim System also found himself help shape a bunch of the songs on the album offering additional programming on seven of the eleven songs. The choice to implement Seraphim System's skills was well thought out as the main pretty much makes big bass dark electro to begin with; paired next to the fury of metal it all fits like a hand in a glove. 

That's not the only guest artist on the album, however. Alexei Zhakarov (Egosoft GmbH) - who you may remember for producing the Monoheart single's third track 'The Antedilvvian Lvllaby' - with guitarist Alexander Alpidovsky also makes an appearance as co-creator on the previously mentioned beginning and ending tracks 'Prelvdivm (Nihil Ex Nil)' and 'Postlvdivm (Nil Ex Nihil)'. That's probably why both songs came out so fucking perfect. 

The final guest musician on the album was death/black metal guitarist Thomas Nyholm (Damnation Army, Blaspheminator, Night Spawn) who provided a couple of excellent electric guitar solos on the track 'Illvsion Shaper'. The addition was well made and the track is excellent. 

With all these guest musicians, this might have one wondering, "What can Rave the Reqviem do all on their own?" Well, you silly little mother fucker, all you have to do it listen to the tracks 'Synchronized Stigma' and 'Mono Heart'. Both tracks go light on electronics and focus more on the dual vocals from The Prophet and The Holy Mother. These are the tracks that are meant for fans of technically masterful melodic metal. 

Rave the Reqviem's The Gospel of Nil is not only a testament to their skills and production values as a team, but also showcases the amount of dedication they have put forth into their project to keep getting better and better. Their fanbase is still growing, their sound is still moving and evolving, and they have some of the best vocalists I've ever heard in my life. 

Industrial metal has never sounded more Holy and epic than with The Gospel of Nil. Go get your CD before they sell out. 
Sep 23 2016