Deathspell Omega - Kénôse review
| Band: | Deathspell Omega |
| Album: | Kénôse |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | May 2005 |
01. I
02. II
03. III
Like many others, my first encounter with the French Deathspell Omega was slightly after the release of Kénôse, their 2005 effort. Despite it not being regarded as a full-length by the bandmembers themselves, this was the release that got them out of the underground and boomed them into the spotlights of Black Metal.
With their music and lyrics they have brought a new set of aesthetics to the narrow world of Black Metal. There is none of the, currently "trendy", suicidal atmosphere, that so many Burzum copycats choose to hide themselves in. Nor is there ever the feeling of a need to worship Satan or sodomize a virgin or anything else of that ridiculous bullcrap that plagues the scene nowadays.
No. None of that. Deathspell Omega focus on a more sophisticated and mature approach and that's paying off. With their highly violent and testosterone-driven musical mayhem, they are bound to knock any listener, new or old, off his feet. Their sound is crushing, oppressive and chaotic. Guitars crawl like snarling snakes around your feet and up your body. Their dissonant melodies are cunning and taunting, luring you into madness, constantly changing pace and dazzling like a swarm of killerbees around your pestered head.
But that is not all. Both the drums and the vocals are impressive factors as well. There is an incredible powerhouse on drums, whose muscular intensity is both jaw-dropping and frightening. And last but not least there are some really strong vocals. Conjuring up the most complex lyrics my eyes have ever seen, his eyes must have witnessed pure madness. His roaring "war-speech" in the second track is so full of a thunderous power it is beyond all imagination. I've always imagined Zeus to sound like this when somebody provoked his eternal wrath.
To finish this off I can safely say that this is one of my favourite Black Metal pieces of 2005. Many others will agree with me. If you are bored out of your brains by the endless sea of "depressive", dreadfully boring bands, and want some actual spice on your plate, get this bellowing baby.
 | Written on 07.02.2008 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff. |
Comments
Comments: 24
Visited by: 222 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018 From: Italy  |
I like so much this EP, it's different from other black metal releases... A great band IMO
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894 From: Finland  |
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 From: Romania  |
good review for an amazing album. to bad they went downhill with Fas.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.  Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| VPeter Posts: 1450 From: The Netherlands  |
if you hate their first 2 albums found the 3 okay how will I view on this one?
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 From: Romania |
Written by VPeter on 08.02.2008 at 01:40 basically it's SMRC without the prayers. only better and with more technicality. not that technical as Fas.. though
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men. Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 From: Romania |
this review never appeared on the first page.. how come?
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men. Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands  |
Written by Damnated on 10.02.2008 at 22:37 I am guessing because it is already an old album really and that he bought it himself? I am not sure though, but that would be a plausible reason IMO.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 From: Romania |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.02.2008 at 22:39 i thought the same, but then i remembered that i've seen reviews of old albums appearing on the first page.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men. Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Posts: 40071 From: The Netherlands |
Written by Damnated on 10.02.2008 at 22:42 Like which ones? And what do you mean by old? Yes Penance appeared on the front page, but that album was sent to Nervel (in 2007 so 2 years later than published) by the record label for reviewing purposes
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 From: Romania |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.02.2008 at 22:50 by old i mean not new  like albums that were released 1-2.. years ago.for example, i remember seeing this on the first page when it got published.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men. Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Posts: 13427 From: The Netherlands  |
Written by Damnated on 10.02.2008 at 22:59 The cd's I got from psycheDOOMelic appeared on the frontpage, because I got them as a promo, except a bit late. And the Diapsiquir was my little fun. Perhaps it should not have appeared on the frontpage, but seeing as the frontpage wasnt really busy (because of christmas), and it stayed on top for 5 days, it didnt really matter. The others, like Black Bile, Deathspell Omega, The Ruins Of Beverast, Lilover (except Erotik) were all 'old' and done by me for fun, and therefore did not deserve to be on the frontpage.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Stuart MiseryKing Posts: 413 From: UK  |
Quote: I think you are a little confused, this is not something which is new to the BM scene, it's one of the characteristics that has been there since the beginning, in fact its one of the defining factors in BM scene coming about... I think its actualy far less in the scene now than it has ever been...
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Posts: 13427 From: The Netherlands |
Quote:Written by Stuart on 13.12.2008 at 18:40 I never said it was new thing. And percentage-wise you may be right about it being less then in the early years of Black metal, but the past year (mostly because of my reviewing duties, probably) I've come across a LOT of that stuff. I suppose it depends on what sort of Black metal you're after and what people you usually discuss metal with.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Stuart MiseryKing Posts: 413 From: UK |
Quote:Written by Lucas on 13.12.2008 at 18:46 nevertheless the sentence is misleading implying that it has increased in recent years throughout the scene, it's the use of the word "nowadays" which makes it misleading...
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Posts: 13427 From: The Netherlands |
Written by Stuart on 13.12.2008 at 18:49 disagree. in the old days (never lived em, of course), the whole thing may have been 'fresh', if you can call it that, but nowadays its pretty much copycats only.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Stuart MiseryKing Posts: 413 From: UK |
Written by Lucas on 13.12.2008 at 18:52 what does being a copycat have to do with Satan and sacrificing virgins? if someone sang it before and someone sings the same thing now it doesn't mean it's plaguing the scene more now than then, it just means someone's singing the same thing, these topics were plaguing the scene from the days of Venom and Bathory right through to now, nothings changed except alot of BM artists don't sing about Satan etc... at all now, whereas it was once the basis of the early scene... forget about percentages, perhaps a more accurate statement would have been to say "none of the that bullshit which has been plaguing the albums i've been given to review recently", not distort the entire basis of the BM scene.
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| Stuart MiseryKing Posts: 413 From: UK |
And apart from that one misleading statement, good review!
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| Ascendant187 Posts: 204 From: Australia  |
I've a random question. How long does this EP go for? I've only ever seen it for over $30 (AUS) so I'm debating whether to go hunting for it online or not.
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Posts: 13427 From: The Netherlands |
Written by Ascendant187 on 21.09.2009 at 18:03 Slightly over 36 minutes.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Posts: 18274 From: Sweden  |
And if I pay good money for Grindcore, then I can totally buy this album that it's longer that some stuff I've seen which are supposed to be full-lenghts 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Ascendant187 Posts: 204 From: Australia |
Yeah, if memory serves Arch Enemy's first album is about that long or less, which is funny. Crazy length for an EP.
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955 From: Brazil  |
Quote: Haha good comparison with Zeus provoked wrath. XD This is truly one of the finest releases of 2005.. the short duration actually makes it a little better, less stressful, which was the problem I found with the extreme lenght of Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Posts: 18274 From: Sweden |
Written by Uirapuru on 04.08.2010 at 15:49 I actually like the lenght of SMR,C because it makes me feel like I'm going to church... A creepy one.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Oaken Hipster Posts: 1322 From: Syria  |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 06.08.2010 at 00:19 The religious atmosphere on that one is priceless. That album is Black Metal+ (Chobo Joker's expression ), and the religious atmosphere makes it even better. It's definitely one of the most interesting black metal records I've ever heard. Listening to SMRC was an easier experience than listening to some boring 45 minute albums. If this is musically similar, then I'm going to check it out for sure. 
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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