Stompcrash‘s Requiem Rosa has a very interesting provenance, originating in the online poetics of an unknown writer, being picked up by the band and turned into a full-on Gothic CD. The music is no-nonsense Gothic rock played with finesse. The sound combined with the feelings emoted by the original author of the words forms a pretty darned good CD.

The official blurb wraps up the origins of the lyrics:

A treasure is always hidden. Time ago they were buried in woods or lying in the deepest oceans. Today they hide in the mysterious ways of the Net. Surfing without direction The Stompcrash found one of them. A site called RequiemRosa.com offers some gloomy vocal lines waiting for somebody to give them new life. That’s what The Stompcrash did: their first first album Requiem Rosa is their interpretation of those awesome melodies written by an unknown and generous songwriter. It could remain a secret forever, but The Stompcrash decided to share it and let everybody know how to reach Requiem Rosa. Just to see if someone could bring new life to these lonely voices. Now it’s up to you.

Released through Nomadism Records Stompcrash’s Requiem Rosa contains 12 tracks.

The CD starts nicely with The London Fog paints a dark Gothic landscape with deep male vocals and works very well giving an image of London during the Ripper’s days there. Like a Noise is more a straight Goth rock track with strong femme vocals emphasizing the ever-present darkness in the listener’s life.

Watching Me Fall is wrapped around very deep male vocals and atmospheric background music. The sadness of the song where the singer has (emotionally) fallen and cannot be rescued by the one he loves or perhaps loved. 99 Cats is a much lighter sounding song with has an early 80′s shoe-gaze style.

Traditional Goth rock with clever vocals adorns Dorian, linked to the classic horror-novel by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Modern Slaves is another quicker-paced song driven by strong femme vocals about the dilemna of today – have we all become slaves in the modern era?

I Will Kill Myself is a heavy-hearted song with a lot of sad violins and the protagonist declaring her love to her partner, but that she will kill herself. I am not sure if this is literal or metaphorical suicide, but either way it is a very beautifully sad track. Moscow is a rock song dotted with sound bites from World War II-style bulletins of Russians reclaiming territory from the Nazi’s.

Wake up in a Grave is another track driven by femme vocals, depicting the rather scary idea of waking up in a grave. Bloody Rain is a lot bouncier and plays like an 80s Goth/Post Punk track. They do a good job too, mixing deep male and strong female vocals throughout the song.

The Wind That Moves the Flowers is probably my favorite song with the female vocals seeming to slip through the instrumentals like a wind spirit. The CD wraps up with Mountains of Madness a good Goth-rock track. It was a nice finish to the album.

I found this CD to be really enjoyable, especially The London Fog, Like a Noise, Dorian, The Wind That Moves the Flowers and Mountains of Madness. The songs were crisply made and quite clear. The only downside for me was that a few times the vocals were sometimes a little hard to catch, especially as the concept of the record was based on an online anonymous poet. Aside from that one quibble I like this CD a lot and find the sound quite addictive. You can have a listen for yourself at their MySpace location or on their homepage.

Rosa Requiem :: Track List
01. The London Fog
02. Like A Noise
03. Watching Me Fall
04. 99 Cats
05. Dorian
06. Modern Slaves
07. I Will Kill Myself
08. Moscow
09. Wake Up In A Grave
10. Bloody Rain
11. The Wind That Moves The Flowers
12. Mountains Of Madness

For more information check:
The Stompcrash (you can also purchase the CD there).
Email: thegrave [AT] thestompcrash [DOT] com
Stompcrash on MySpace
Requiem Rosa (the anonymous poet).