Requiem - Fortissimo

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Virgin Black. I promise to keep this review unbiased.

For those familiar with Virgin Black's previous material, this may sound like a completely different band. For this album, Rowan London has opted out of his signature clean vocals for some really deep, doomish gutturals. The vocals are still amazing, as you would expect. Now, I know Virgin Black have never been speed demons, but this album is significantly slower than their previous work. However, you have to keep in mind the bigger picture when listening to this album. First, it is the second album in a trio of albums, and it is a requiem. Keep that in mind if you wish to understand why they made this album the way they did. The album itself is like one 44 minute song, each track flowing into the next. It has been composed just like a real requiem.

Musically, just like the vocals, the entire album has a droney kind of feel to it. There are less leads here, but the leads that do exist are very slow, sad melodies. The music is extremely heavy here. Don't worry though, you can still tell it is Virgin Black.

I'm almost afraid other fans won't understand, and probably would rate this album poorly. However, after hearing "Requiem - Mezzo Forte," and this album, I am eagerly anticipating the next album in this trio, "Requiem - Pianissimo". Once all three are out, I'm sure they will make more sense, when listened to in succession.