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Review: Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum
Deathspell Omega
Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum

Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Year released: 2007
Duration: 46:16
Tracks: 6
Genre: Black Metal

Rating:
4/5


Review online: January 12, 2009
Reviewed by: Risser
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 3.92/5 (78.42%) (38 Votes)
Review

From the blackest pits of snail and wine country comes Deathspell Omega, the forerunners of a new wave of Theistic-Satanic Black Metal (or whatever you want to call it). Now, obviously somebody who shares their strange ideology would probably rate this album higher, but I'll just be talkin' bout the music here folks, and what's there musically and lyrically is sick, crazed, and very esoteric.

Fas... is supposed to be a continuation of the ideas presented in their last two albums, but it ends up sounding like something completely different from anything else to grace (or curse?) mankind. First up is the atmosphere: it's top notch! These guys know exactly when to throw in quiet parts, and they definitely know how to make the quiet bits actually fit the music and foreshadow a bit; rather than just throwing in quiet bits here and there in the absence of other musical ideas. Check out the bass riff in the quiet interlude in "Bread of Bitterness" and compare it with guitar parts to come; it's a pretty neat yet simple effect that most bands neglect to use nowadays. DSO's production is also a bit cleaner than most other BM bands and that actually helps with the atmosphere as well as the digestion of their very incoherent riffs.

And that right there is the basic problem with the fast, blast-beaty parts of this album: it's really hard to hear the guitars over the vocals and drums, and even then the guitar riffs are so odd, dissonant, and intertwining that they sort of start sounding like the stereotypical "wall of sound" that so many bands fight against becoming part of. I'm sure there is a lot of talent underneath it all; they display such talent in the more mid-paced and quiet parts of the album; it just is sometimes completely incomprehensible and it frustrates me to have to mark down an album so much for one thing, but it really does detract from the experience.

The lyrics/vocals are another beast altogether; although they share similar qualities with the riffage by being incoherent...woo hoo! Actually, they are pretty understandable if you take the time to read them outside of just listening to the album, and to be honest they are very intelligent, articulate, and...evil. And I'm not talking about your grandma's run-of-the-mill BM evil, these guys are very, very sick in the head and it shows in their lyrics. Euronymous would definitely approve. The vocals are done out of rhythm, like some sort of twisted Black Metal coffee shop poetry reading; and it works for the kind of prose they write. I also personally like his vocal delivery, although I know that many have quibbles with it.

So basically, this is an amazingly cool album if you're really into Black Metal and/or musical experimentation but buyer beware: Fas... is not for the casual listener.

More about Deathspell Omega...
Review: Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: The Furnaces of Palingenesia (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Long Defeat (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Long Defeat (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon (reviewed by Pagan Shadow)
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