Eye of Aquila will be releasing their debut full-length album on March 15th, and I’m here to tell you that Diviniis Requiem is going to be an album you need to have in your collection. This Californian band creates apocalyptic stoner and heavy psychedelia, with Matt Snyder on vocals, Nicole Ridge on guitars, Joe Neves beating the skins, and bassist Bruce Fowler rounding out the group’s members.
About Diviniis Requiem
This debut full-length is the follow-up to last year’s single, “Nocticide/Suffocation,” and will be released almost exactly one year after. While they do dabble in psychedelia, the music they’ve created is definitely more on the stoner metal end of the musical spectrum. The riffs are heavy, and the guitar tone adds to that feeling, as it is definitely less fuzzy than stoner and more metal. And let’s not forget Matt’s vocal approach, which is a mix of old-school hardcore, metal, stoner, and more; at times, I even hear a Page Hamilton (Helmet) sound to what he does.
Standout Tracks
The first three songs are incredibly badass, but it’s the third one that exemplifies the greatness of all three.
“Silos” shows us everything I’ve mentioned so far, heavy metal-flavored riffs and tone, excellent vocals, and a thunderous rhythm section holding it all together perfectly. The mid-section brings in that psych influence, bringing the intensity down before smashing you in the face with the power shown in the first part of the song. Several sections remind me of how Chevelle writes their riffs, which I thought was an excellent addition to their mix of influences.
Going back to the top of the track list, we find our title track, “Diviniis Requiem,” whose intro has a familiar sound and is matched up with Matt’s vocals exceptionally. The psych influences make their presence known early in this one, which I liked as it helped create a great shift before returning to the verse. The guitar lead is extremely well done, and that whole section has a nice heavy-psych vibe.
“Tetragrammaton” starts us off with a Helmet type of riff, but more stoner than alt metal. I also detected a grunge feel to this track and a blues base within it. I love the vocal approach, which at times will remind you of the heavier end of what Layne Staley applied to Alice in Chains, yet it is also much more than just that. Honestly, the vocals throughout the album are just incredible. The guitar solo sees Eye of Aquila diving into psych territory again, extending itself till the end of the song.
The other three songs, “Compulsion,” “Animals,” and “Staring,” are all on par with the three I talked about, with “Animals” being the best of them, so make sure you dig into each of them equally.
Final Thoughts
Eye of Aquila is delivering an album of what I feel are diverse influences coming together to make one hell of a record. It’s heavy in all the right places and countered with more nuanced psychedelic aspects to keep things interesting. As of this writing, it is still marked as private on their Bandcamp page, so be patient and keep checking back there to hear any forthcoming singles and pre-order info!
Support Eye of Aquila by checking out their Bandcamp or find them on social media (Facebook, Instagram).
This review was written by Tom Hanno, who has been writing reviews for the last 7 years but has been sharing his love of music for the majority of his life. Originally starting out at the now defunct Chimera Magazine, he is currently contributing to Doomed and Stoned, The Sleeping Shaman, The Doom Charts, Tom’s Reviews, and The Third Eye. Read more of Tom’s reviews by checking out his Linktree.
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