ENIAC REQUIEM - "SPACE ETERNAL VOID" (SHARPNEL)

 

Sometimes I buy an album just because it got a ravingly good review in a magazine. Previous time that happened was with Ritual Carnage, and it was a bit of a letdown. I didn't learn from that mistake, and did it again. This time it was an album not available in Europe so I had to go through lengths to order it abroad. That made the pill a little bit more bitter to swallow.

Let's start by saying that the musicians who make up Eniac Requiem are an extremely talented bunch. Especially keyboard player Brett Stine and guitarist Scott Stine (I think it's him who does the solos, they have another guitarist/vocalist called Derek Taylor) really let rip. In fact, Scott brings to mind Rob Johnson's totally insane guitar solos in Magnitude 9's debut, "Chaos to Control".

"Space Eternal Void" is not a bad album, far from it, it's just that I'd expected more after reading that review. Maybe I should quit reading reviews, I don't know. Anyway, the songs on the album in general do not stand out very much, generally being a mixture of neoclassical rock with a bit of grunge, and a scintilla of stoner rock thrown in. In "Endless Cosmos", the vocals and keyboards generate an atmosphere I'd sooner expect in a long-haired hippy band, but then the band proves they can actually make some awesome neoclassical prog by doing tracks like "Lost in the Void" and "Sad Clown in Europe" (weird title, huh?). And the "Guenhwyvar" track is a little bit grungy, though grungy in a good way (a bit of a contradiction in terms, I grant you that). Sadly, the album didn't cause the much-anticipated spark of magic.

We have here a fine album with excellent musicians, turned a bit sour because perhaps I'd expected too much.

RK

 

Written May 1999

 

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