DEATHSPELL OMEGA — Kénôse (review)

EP · 2005 · Black Metal

5/5 · 2018-08-14
siLLy puPPy

Starting with their third album “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice,” the French black metal band DEATHSPELL OMEGA went from a rather run-of-the-mill second wave clone going through 90s Darkthrone inspired motions and undertook a major leap of sophistication with their Satanic liturgical distortionfests with hitherto unthinkable experimentalism and progressiveness that catapulted the entire black metal world to a completely new level.This was also the beginning of the trilogy of albums that tackled metaphysical theology from a Satanic perspective with lyrics inspired by the French philosopher Georges Bataille.

Sandwiched in between the three albums “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice,” “Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum” and “Paracletus” were many EPs and splits. KÉNÔSE emerged as the first “in-between” release and although technically classified as an EP, runs slightly over 36 minutes. During this period DEATHSPELL OMEGA, while black metal in menacing sonic demeanor, structured their albums more like progressive rock albums of the 70s. The official trilogy albums themselves mimicked the structure of vinyl double albums whereas some EPs such as this could count as fully fledged albums within their own right.

KÉNÔSE was intended to be supplemental material to accompany the “Si Momvmentvm” album. The term KÉNÔSE is French for “kenosis” which itself emerged from the Greek language (κένωσις, kénōsis), refers to the self-emptying of Jesus’ will and becoming receptive to the God’s divine will which refers to the Biblical passage in Philippians 2:7. This release pretty much perfectly fits between the newly adapted “Si Monvmentvm” and the even more challenging and experimental “Fas - Ite.” While similar, KÉNÔSE exists in its own universe and delivers one of the most terrifying banterfests of DOS’ avant-garde black metal career.

This EP consists of a mere three tracks simply titled “I” “II” and “III” with the opener serving as the longest and casting an ominous spell with a four minute death march that slowly ratchets up the tension before bursting into the more famous jangle black metal dissonance that DOS have made their frightening signature sound. “II” continues the indecipherable vocal litanies with ever changing mixes of guitar riffs, time signature changes and hypnotic percussive bantering until it reaches a frightening angularity of complete rhythmic breakdown by the end. “III” calms down a bit with a Gregorian chant type of vibe dressed up in a dissonant blackened doom metal wrap. The track hypnotically lollygags in a near nine minute rant that ends the EP leaving a feeling of despair and sadistic sacrifice of the soul.

KÉNÔSE ups the ante manyfold. The musicianship is off the chart with the guitar and bass mostly existing as a single super instrument and the drumming all interacting in staggering complexity like the aural specter of the entire jazz, classical and metal universe unleashing the darkest forces of the underworld in unison. The production is perfect as it allows the more subdued build-ups to hypnotically seduce complacence before the full metal fury unleashes the full Satanic theological rage about esoteric theological rants about hypostasis and philosophical quandaries. In short, this is the absolute perfect example of an authentic progressive black metal album.