ALL MEN UNTO ME – Requiem

RELEASE YEAR: 2025
BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/allmenuntome

Once in a while one encounters and experiences an album that transcends genres and conventions while also being transcendental. All Men Unto Me, which is a swirling mass of pitch-black musical brilliance spawned by the man known as Rylan Gleave, is unarguably one of the most unique and moving outputs we will see this year, and the word ‘immersive’ certainly applies to this fully formed record.

Imagine a cross between avantgarde music and doom metal and then add funereal post-black metal to the mix but know that that actually only gets us halfway there. Then again, it might be the best way for this scribe to sum up where we are at musically, but like I said, there is so much more to the opus than that. It plays out like a liturgy and possesses a deeply ritualistic vibe, and what amazes me is how it manages to sound profane and unholy on the one hand yet ethereal and spiritually elevating on the other. Church organs, crushing chords, dirge-like riffs, and stacked choral vocals are effortlessly combined and conjure up a soundscape that is both harrowing and beautiful. This is the kind of all-consuming and utterly engrossing affair that needs to be listened to in one focused and uninterrupted sitting and preferably back-to-back. Sometimes vulnerable and introspective, sometimes epic and punishing, but consistently phenomenal from beginning to end.

Requiem is music as art and a glorious piece of work that mere words cannot fully describe, which is why I urge you to check it out for yourself with an open mind and pretty much forget what you have just read. Utterly mesmerizing, remarkably mournful, and completely unforgettable, really.