Of the hundreds of black metal hordes France has vomited upon the world scene in the last five years, Deathspell Omega stand alone. Originally a more traditional black metal act that followed in the hate path blazed by Darkthrone, Deathspell Omega began to emerge with a sound of their own right around 2004 with the release of their full-length Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice. Since that time there have been a pair of split releases, the critically experimental Kenose EP, and 2007's classic Fas -- Ite, Maledicti, in ...
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Of the hundreds of black metal hordes France has vomited upon the world scene in the last five years, Deathspell Omega stand alone. Originally a more traditional black metal act that followed in the hate path blazed by Darkthrone, Deathspell Omega began to emerge with a sound of their own right around 2004 with the release of their full-length Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice. Since that time there have been a pair of split releases, the critically experimental Kenose EP, and 2007's classic Fas -- Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum. Each recording has been more experimental and adventurous than the last. DsO also seem to follow closely the written works of French theoretician, philosopher, poet, and novelist (as well as head state librarian) Georges Bataille and his friends like Michel Leiris and Pierre Klossowski, and their intentionally blasphemous work that addresses ideas of sovereignty, excess, the links between violence and the sacred, and the immutable but impossible place of God and Satan in the cosmological order. Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon is a 22-minute EP containing a single work. The title refers to New Testament Pauline theology, referencing the "someone" (katechon) who is preventing the rise of the Antichrist and therefore also delays the arrival of the Son of Man -- Jesus -- for the final showdown at the end of days. Therefore, the Chaining the Katechon title refers to restraining the one who restrains the Antichrist so he can be set free and we can get on with it all. The topical matter is full of biblical allusion, notions of Bataillean thought, and metaphysical philosophy, but it's not necessary to know any of this to be utterly taken in by the power of the music. Deathspell Omega fall most assuredly in the "progressive" camp of black metal. They are technically proficient, even masterful; they understand the place of dynamic tension, force, and even space in their compositions. They work out every detail painstakingly: the big buzzing guitars, the terrorizing blastbeats, the stop-and-start mayhem, and the thicker-than-steaming-entrails sludge that constitutes their vocals. Single guitar lines ride atop two- and three-string vamps and riffs and tempos shift, churn, and sprint, all the while aided by thunderous, slamming drums recorded at the same volume as the guitars or perhaps just below. For the uninitiated, the evil growling vocals stand in sharp contrast with the continually changing guitar and percussion motifs in the work, which are sometimes pure slamming rock, at others minor-key variations on gothic motifs, and at others almost classically beautiful. This is a suite, but it is played as a single song without respite. Near the end, the speed picks up to breakneck pace and a synth creates some simulated brass sounds to create a kind of evil crescendo before silence ushers in a single, almost static, snare and tom-tom rhythm, as some dissonant power chords hover under the last lyrics as they are venomously and slowly spit with fury and disgust. Deathspell Omega are a mysterious band who never use credits on their sleeves (nor have they a website or MySpace, but they are true innovators remaking the genre of black metal in their own complex, intriguing, and dreadful image. This is an extremely welcome addition to their shelf. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi
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