Band:	Deathspell Omega
Album:	The Furnaces Of Palingenesia
Style:	Avantgarde metal, Black metal
Release date:	May 24, 2019
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Neither Meaning Nor Justice
02. The Fires Of Frustration
03. Ad Arma! Ad Arma!
04. Splinters From Your Mother's Spine
05. Imitatio Dei
06. 1523
07. Sacrificial Theopathy
08. Standing On The Work Of Slaves
09. Renegade Ashes
10. Absolutist Regeneration
11. You Cannot Even Find The Ruins...

It has now been about four months since the legendary Deathspell Omega dropped their newest full length album. Having had a good time for digesting both the album itself as well as overall reception to it, allow me to offer my thoughts.

After my first listen to The Furnaces Of Palingenesia, back at the tail end of May, I remember my first impression almost being one of relief at the fact that this album isn't as crowded with relentless, uptempo blasting as was the band's last. Indeed, being one who believes Deathspell Omega are at their best during their slower, more experimental passages, this was quite the treat. The Furnaces Of Palingenesia, much to my delight, is chock full of midtempo, rhythmic, and somewhat hypnotizing tracks (such as the opening "Neither Meaning Nor Justice" or "Standing On The Work Of Slaves"), which also tend to feature a pleasantly audible bass as well as that trademark dissonant guitar tone that many other black metal bands have long since exploited, but which Deathspell Omega were a pioneer of. This is not to say, however, that DsO's uptempo aggression has been compromised here; it's merely better spaced out with the more relaxed slower sections, resulting in an album that is quite well paced in its composition and allows for a greater range of emotions than did its predecessor.

A review of a Deathspell Omega album would be almost lacking without an address of the lyrical topics at hand, a dimension of the band that has often drawn just as much attention as their music, if not perhaps more. Here DsO have drawn a good bit of controversy this time around for the perceived fascist leaning of the lyrics on The Furnaces (or at the very least of vocalist Mikko Aspa). With lyrics such as:

"The hand dispensing salvific murder is absolved of responsibility, for it is the expression of a common will, the sacrosanct will of the Just. The Just, those righteous few that rose from the catacombs, view the world in Manichean terms: there is only the purity of love and the purity of hate. That which lies in between is a mud made of the ashes of yesterday's humanity and the fetid fluids of compromise."

as well as others of a similar nature, it is understandably easy (and perhaps even a tad lazy) to throw out the "racist" or "fascist" tags as proverbial red flags to others and take the morally righteous high road by refusing to interact with or support the material of Deathspell Omega in any way. It is my belief, however, that this is ultimately an issue upon which one may wish to read the word of the band themselves before formulating any final judgments.

The Furnaces Of Palingenesia is, in my book, probably the best and most dynamic Deathspell Omega album since Fas. While that may seem like a big statement, neither Paracletus, the Drought EP, nor The Synarchy Of Molten Bones quite grabbed me as much as it currently does. I think the feeling of greater memorability and attachment with this album does indeed very much come down to it lightening the burden a little bit with less of the ferocious, dadadadadada approach while also managing to better space out that approach with more of the hypnotizing, plodding sections. The result? A highlight of the Deathspell Omega discography that once again shows they can stand on high and smoke the rest of their contemporary emulators, and an album that will likely top many year end lists for 2019. Certainly not without reason.

The King hath returned to the throne. All hail.