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Deathspell Omega

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Deathspell Omega
OriginPoitiers, France
Genres
Years active1998–present
LabelsNorma Evangelium Diaboli
Northern Heritage
End All Life
Season of Mist

Deathspell Omega is a French black metal band formed in 1998 in Poitiers. The group is an anonymous collective that has never confirmed the identity of any of its members.

Their lyrical content often deals with metaphysical Satanism,[1] and the philosophies of Bataille[1][2] and Hegel.[3]

From 2004 to 2010, the band released a trilogy of concept albums — Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice, Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum and Paracletus – which focus on the theological aspects of God and Satan. With the band's seventh album The Furnaces of Palingenesia (2019), there was a shift in lyrical focus to anti-authoritarian political themes.[4]

The band's eighth and most recent album, The Long Defeat, was released on 23 March 2022. The band described the album as " the first emanation of the third era of Deathspell Omega".[5]

History

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Initially, Deathspell Omega produced raw, traditional black metal akin to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger. However, their 2004 release, Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice, marked a change to a more technical, experimental, and well-recorded sound with musical influences including Russian Orthodox chanting and choral music.[6]

The band's work after Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice was more experimental and technical, with their output in 2005—Kénôse, "Mass Grave Aesthetics" and "Diabolus absconditus"—totaling nearly eighty minutes in length, longer than Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice. The second volume of the band's trilogy, Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum, was released on 16 July 2007, outside the United States, and the following day within the United States.[7][8] The band released another EP in January 2009, entitled Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum: Chaining the Katechon. The final album in the trilogy, Paracletus, was released by Norma Evangelium Diaboli and Season of Mist on 9 November 2010.[9] The band's final work related to the trilogy,[10] an EP titled Drought, was released on 22 June 2012.

Deathspell Omega's sixth full-length album, The Synarchy of Molten Bones, was made available early to download and stream on 31 October 2016[11][12] with a full physical release on 8 November.[13][14]

The band's seventh full-length album, The Furnaces of Palingenesia, was released on 24 May 2019. It is presented as a manifesto from a dictator speaking for a political faction referred to as "the Order"; it is explicitly intended to deconstruct authoritarian regimes of both the left and the right. The band recorded the album live in a studio using analogue gear, and it was mastered more quietly than most of the band's preceding material, also reflecting a shift in production approach.[4]

Without naming any of their members directly, the band also claimed there was an ideological rift within the band, noting: "A minority of the collective's contributors – shall we say, parts of the second circle – who've been invited to partake because of their incredible talents as musicians are involved with earthly politics, but stand on completely opposite ends of the political spectrum and are therefore irreconcilable political foes. Were it not for dialogue on the grounds of transgressive art, they'd be shooting each other. That tension is what interests us." They also state that the music and lyrics were authored by the "French core of the collective".[4] This clarification was made in the wake of backlash against Deathspell Omega due to their longtime collaboration with Finnish musician Mikko Aspa, who has released National Socialist black metal music under the solo project Clandestine Blaze and has ties to RAC acts.

Band members

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There is little to no concrete public information about Deathspell Omega's lineup. They do not have any official website, social media platform or promotional photos, have never performed live and do not list credits in their releases. Early interviews were deeply critical of the black metal scene,[15][16] and the last interview they agreed to until 2019 was conducted in 2004 by their North American label The Ajna Offensive, with questions and answers sent through the band's exclusive label, Norma Evangelium Diaboli, to preserve their anonymity.[1]

Finnish musician Mikko Aspa is the band's current vocalist since 2002.[1][17] Hirilorn vocalist Shaxul (Frédéric Sescheboeuf) stated that he was Deathspell Omega's vocalist until 2002, and has gone on record as leaving due to displeasure with the band's shift in themes.[18] In a 2014 interview discussing the most underrated guitarists in metal, Gorguts vocalist Luc Lemay named Christian Bouché as Deathspell Omega's guitarist, also giving his pseudonym Hasjarl.[19]

The band contains a drummer, with a band member confirming that the only recordings to use a drum machine were the first four songs on the debut album Infernal Battles.[4]

In a 2018 interview with Loudwire, Tobias Forge, lead singer of the band Ghost, stated that the French synthwave artist Carpenter Brut (Franck Hueso) was Deathspell Omega's producer.[20]

Lineup

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  • Khaos – bass (1998–present)
  • Christian Bouché – guitar (1998–present)
  • Mikko Aspa – vocals (2002–present)

Past members

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  • Yohann Pasquier - drums (1998–1999)
  • Frédéric Sescheboeuf - vocals (1998–2002)

Discography

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Compilation albums

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EPs

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Split releases

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Demos

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Compilation appearances

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Box sets

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  • Untitled 5LP vinyl box (2009): includes Infernal Battles, Inquisitors of Satan, Manifestations 2000–2001, Manifestations 2002, and the band's side of the split with Clandestine Blaze.
  • Untitled 7LP vinyl box (2012): includes Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, Kénôse, Diabolus Absconditus, Mass Grave Aesthetics, Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum, Chaining the Katechon, Paracletus, and Drought[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Interview with Deathspell Omega". Kccricket.net. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Is Black Metal Coming of Age?". Chronicles of Chaos. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  3. ^ "An Inquiry into the History and Evolution of Metaphysical Satanism in Black Metal". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Göransson, Niklas (23 June 2019). "Deathspell Omega interview - Bardo Methodology". Bardo Methodology. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Norma Evangelium Diaboli - Deathspell Omega. Stand witness to The Long Defeat! Hearken to the first emanation of the third era of DEATHSPELL OMEGA; forty-four minutes of Black Metal enacted through five instalments. Recorded live by the French power trio in July 2021. Bile and venom distilled and added until the leaves fell. "The Long Defeat" unfolds over three parallel storylines told via three different mediums. Two in writing: the lyrics, as well as a fable. The third speaks through the artwork – two metres' worth of maniacally detailed visions depicting the same premise its written content draws from. All three are fundamentally entwined but diverging in narrative, each complementing or contradicting the others". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Deathspell Omega | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  8. ^ "No. 2 on Brandon Stosuy's Best of 2007". Show No Mercy. Pitchfork Media. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Paracletus' release date announced". Season of Mist. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Drought's release date announced". Norma Evangelium Diaboli. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ Schafer, Joseph (31 October 2016). "Deathspell Omega – 'The Synarchy of Molten Bones'". Invisible Oranges. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  12. ^ "NoEvDia". NoEvDia. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  13. ^ "The Synarchy of Molten Bones, by Deathspell Omega". Noevdia News. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  14. ^ "The Synarchy of Molten Bones, by Deathspell Omega". Deathspell Omega. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  15. ^ "northern+heritage+bm+-zine2-03.jpg (image)". 1.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  16. ^ "northern+heritage+bm+-zine2-04.jpg (image)". 4.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Outcast by Choice; an Interview with Mikko Aspa – Heathen Harvest". Heathen Harvest. 2 January 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Interesting interview with Shaxul (ex-DsO) | Reanimator". reanimatormetal.proboards.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  19. ^ Hammond, Shawn (27 March 2014). "Metal and Hardcore in 2014: Council of Steel, Blood & Bone - Premier Guitar". www.premierguitar.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  20. ^ "Tobias Forge: How Iron Maiden Influenced Ghost". Loudwire. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
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