Today (June 27), All Men Unto Me — the project led by Rylan Gleave, composer and vocalist (most notably in Ashenspire and various Paraorchestra projects) — releases their new album, Requiem, a record that reimagines ancient mourning in a real, contemporary setting.
Marrying traditional Anglican soundworlds of electro-pneumatic church organ and stacked choral vocals with extreme sounds, closer to experimental/noise rock and doom metal, Requiem invokes a great and terrible transcendence. The album brings together several collaborators, including members of Ashenspire, Maud the Moth, healthyliving, and Falloch.
About the album, Rylan says:
“It’s tough talking about traumatic themes without feeling like you’re oversharing, but there are moments of intensity brought about by what’s not being said in the lyrics. I think Scott has done a great job of making the music say what the voice isn’t saying. There’s a huge range of emotional complexity that we’ve managed to capture across the tracks, and the resounding feeling is pretty broken.
“It was incredibly cathartic to make in a lot of ways, and whilst the experiences aren’t always universal, I think there’s a lot in there to connect to, in the isolation, and the anger, and the not knowing how to feel. I hope the love and reverence cuts through too.”
Requiem has been developed via Sound and Music’s New Voices program and Paraorchestra’s Musician in Residence position, and will release on the 27th of June via Scottish Label The Larvarium, following a premiere as part of the PRS’s New Music Biennial Festival in Bradford and the Southbank Centre (London). This album was funded by: Paraorchestra, Sound and Music, create:inclusion, and the Make It Happen Fund.
Order Requiem on CD/vinyl/digital HERE on Bandcamp.
Stream/Download the album on your preferred digital platforms AT THIS LOCATION.
Watch the Music Videos for “Sequentia” [HERE] and “Lux Æterna” [HERE]
All Men Unto Me is the moniker of musical artist Rylan Gleave, and the most personal side of his multifaceted and rich artistic universe. Already a critically acclaimed and award-winning composer, well known in contemporary classical and alternative musical circles alike for his work with Paraorchestra, class-work ensemble and avant-garde metal outfit Ashenspire, Rylan kickstarted All Men Unto Me in 2023 with debut album In Chemical Transit.
On the debut, In Chemical Transit, Rylan wove together recordings of his voice from over a decade, pre- and during transition, interpreting Cherubino’s aria from Le Nozze di Figaro, critiquing the trouser role and his relationship with his former mezzo-soprano voice. Setting the tone for an uncompromising, complex, and empathetic artistic path reaching beyond personal experience, In Chemical Transit was reviewed as ‘breath-taking’ by Veil of Sound, and ‘a brave, fascinating, and triumphant view of transition’ in The Wire.
Requiem is All Men Unto Me’s second release, re-imagining an ancient mourning in a real, contemporary setting. Taking the broad emotional arcs of the Missa pro Defunctis, these structures pave way for new songs, ruminating on patriarchal power systems and the conditions of transmasculinity within these, through the haze of Queer reverence and forgiveness.
A through line from debut album In Chemical Transit to Requiem is Rylan Gleave’s late-breaking voice, the imperfections that transition has left audible within it. Now 7 years on testosterone, Gleave’s vocal delivery spans the avant-metal shrieks as heard in live performances for Ashenspire, through to agonisingly-faltering falsetto learned for Paraorchestra’s version of Scott Walker’s The Drift for Sky Arts.
Gleave’s venture further away from contemporary classical music is audible on this record, the rotating All Men Unto Me lineup closer to a band than an ensemble, with Scott McLean’s production drawing out moments of both incredible tenderness and hostility.
Requiem is not an album about one person or experience, but a journey through the emotional core of survivorship, Disability, and dignity.
Track Listing:
1. Introit
2. Sanctus
3. Kyrie Eleison
4. Pie Jesu
5. Sequentia [Video | Audio]
6. Agnus Dei
7. Lux Æterna [Video | Audio]
8. In Paradisum
Album Collaborators and Credits:
Music: Rylan Gleave, and additional songwriting by Scott McLean
Lyrics: Rylan Gleave
Vocals and organ: Rylan Gleave
Guitars, bass, additional organ, sound design: Scott McLean
Drums: Alasdair Dunn
Violoncello: Simone Seales
Additional organ: Amaya López-Carromero
Drum technician: Stefan Pötzsch
Produced by: Scott McLean and Rylan Gleave
Recorded by: Scott McLean at Neon Fable Studios & St Brides Church, Glasgow
Mixed by: Scott McLean
Mastered by: Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios
Artwork and art direction: Joscha Bauer
Videography, video editing, and color: Tobias Holmbeck
Wardrobe, styling and make-up: Frankie Mulholland
Upcoming Live Performance:
4th July – Southbank Centre
For More Info:
https://linktr.ee/allmenuntome
https://allmenuntome.com
https://www.instagram.com/allmenuntome
https://allmenuntome.bandcamp.com
https://linktr.ee/thelarvarium
https://www.thelarvarium.com
https://www.instagram.com/thelarvarium
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