Rating: 8.3

Country: USA

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli / The Ajna Offensive

Track list:

1. Obombration
2. The Shrine of Mad Laughter
3. Bread of Bitterness
4. The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election
5. A Chore for the Lost
6. Obombration

Total playing time 46:16

Band Website: Deathspell Omega

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

Hasjarl - Guitar
Mikko Aspa - Vocals
Khaos - Bass

This is the end of black metal as we know it. Deathspell Omega have found the outer boundaries of the universe and casually crossed them. Fas is not so much a metal album as a musical puzzle box; a labyrinth with moving walls and booby-trapped floors; a hallucination of alternating agony and ecstasy.

Known for their adventurousness since 2003's landmark Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice album, the French outfit have pushed the envelope of extremity past the point of no return. Fas is more arcane and unwelcoming even than Gorguts' Obscura, an extreme metal landmark in its own right. Arranged in the same linear manner as a classical piece, yet bearing the sonic traits of freeform jazz - dark, disturbing, highly abrasive freeform jazz - Fas is the ultimate study in contrasts. Moments of gentle, yet unnerving calm suddenly give way to flurries of unrestrained frenzy wherein any traditional concept of melody is discarded. This is an album that simultaneously fascinates and frustrates.

There is no semblance of convention on this record. There are no recurring passages. There are no hooks, bridges or choruses. The lyrics are entirely prosaic and read like the anguished tirade of a suffering mortal trying to reconcile the existence of a supposedly benevolent God with his own pathetic state of degradation - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The music mirrors the lyrics; it is impossible to determine whether the four pieces [these tracks definitely don't meet the criteria of 'songs'] are meticulously composed to the extent of seeming overwritten, or improvised - written from a stream of consciousness and recorded with only a modicum of rehearsal. No matter what the case, the whirlwind of dissonant chord progressions and blasting drums creates an almost impermeable wall of noise that takes a great deal of concentration [and perhaps a little luck] to comprehend. It is here that the album will lose a large chunk of potential fans.

Anything played with as much speed and with so many unorthodox progressions and rhythmic patterns [if you can call them patterns] is going to be difficult to digest in any context. Here, however, it becomes especially inaccessible because of the way the drums are performed and mixed. The blasting is simply too much. The polished, triggered drum sound clashes with the organic guitar tone, and the snare and toms cut through the mix in such a way that during the blasting sections they completely overwhelm the guitars, making it almost impossible to pick up on what the guitars are doing. In light of this, many will come away with the impression that DSO are simply trying too hard to reach some unfathomable zenith of extremity.

To put it simply, there are many things about this record that will make it difficult to enjoy, between the over-the-top speed and complexity, the absence of sustained melody, the ugly harmonics and the linear structure. But frankly, Fas does not strike me as an album that was meant to be enjoyed, but rather to be suffered, studied, dissected and get lost in. Much like climbing Mt. Everest, listening to this album is a challenge - an ordeal for many - but once the final note of the solo that ends "A Chore For the Lost" is struck and the ambient outro begins, you find yourself feeling as if you've accomplished something by surviving the trip.

Nonetheless, Fas is bound to create a stir in the black metal world, not just with the inevitable controversy over whether it's 'good' or 'bad', but by inspiring the next generation of bands in this heretofore lifeless genre to build upon the new territory it opens up. Do not be surprised if the near future brings us a throng of black metal bands striving to write compositions in a linear format, and using discordance to such unholy ends. Fas is far from a perfect album, but it has the potential to be legendary.

July 25th, 2007