Requiem – Mezzo Forte is the centerpiece of Virgin Black

Virgin Black

Virgin Black is an Australian band that combines gothic-doom and symphonic metal influences. Signed to The End Records and Germany's Massacre Records , the band has released 4 albums and 1 EP...

's Requiem trilogy. The album was released on April 3, 2007 in North America on The End Records

The End Records

The End Records is an independent record label, founded in 1998 in San Diego. Founder Andreas Katsambas initially wanted to bring attention to some underground bands he admired. In 2002, The End moved to Salt Lake City, when his wife took a job at the University of Utah. The label moved...

 and April 13, 2007 in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 on Massacre Records

Massacre Records

Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany.The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. The label is specialized on bands of the harder varieties of metal...

. The Massacre release includes a special 2-disc version.

The album builds on the styles Virgin Black used in their previous albums, with the band and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra was founded as a 17 player radio ensemble in 1936, in Adelaide, South Australia. The orchestra reformed in 1949 as the 55 member South Australian Symphony Orchestra. It reverted to its original and present title, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in late 1974, and...

 complimenting one another's sound and given roughly equal prominence.

Track listing

1. "Requiem, Kyrie" – 7:42
2. "In Death" – 8:00
3. "Midnight's Hymn" – 4:57
4. "...and I Am Suffering" – 10:55
5. "Domine" – 8:06
6. "Lacrimosa (I Am Blind with Weeping)" – 9:59
7. "Rest Eternal" – 2:29

Bonus retrospective CD + video (on Massacre special edition only)

1. "Mother of Cripples" (Virgin Black demo)
2. "Whispers of Dead Sisters" (Trance)
3. "Museum of Iscariot" (Sombre Romantic)
4. "Our Wings Are Burning" (Elegant... and Dying)
5. "Our Wings Are Burning" (video clip)

Personnel

• Rowan London – keyboard
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Samantha Escarbe – cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
  , guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
  
• Grayh – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Luk Faz – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....