Deathspell Omega – Chaining the Katechon
Once again, Deathspell Omega take the current day black metal listener to a realm far beyond jazz, far beyond the scales and “rules” of traditional BM or even rock guitar on the 1 track, 22 minute MCD, “Chaining the Katechon”. Very often, it sounds like the guitar is melting as atypical bends, finger taps, and a just plain bizarre playing style corrupts and augments this material into a unique breed of demon in the black metal world. Mikko Aspa from Clandestine Blaze fame still helms this misshapen and awkward vessel of sound with his burnt out gravel vocals and interesting placement of lyrics. The bends and pulling at the strings unleashes nauseous riffs that meld and twist between barren rhythmic ideas and full on precision blast beats that stop on a dime. Such a chaotic, but somehow sensibly unique style of creating a song, is fully engrossing. When the final note and beat ends, I find myself hitting play again just to see if there’s something new for me to pick out of this body of work. And as usual…. There is! It doesn’t matter if you prefer this bands older, more traditional black metal, or the artistic disheveling of the boundaries of metal, Deathspell Omega are one of the most creative and essential entities currently making music. You cannot deny their bold experimentation and obvious obsession for breaking all the rules. As always…. Excellent! –Marty
Ajna/Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Worm Gear 