Deathspell Omega - Paracletus review
Band: | Deathspell Omega |
Album: | Paracletus |
Style: | Avantgarde metal, Black metal |
Release date: | November 09, 2010 |
A review by: | Lucas |
01. Epiklesis I
02. Wings Of Predation
03. Abscission
04. Dearth
05. Phosphene
06. Epiklesis II
07. Malconfort
08. Have You Beheld The Fevers?
09. Devouring Famine
10. Apokatastasis Pantôn
Deathspell Omega's Paracletus was certainly one of the most anticipated Black metal releases of 2010. With a history such as theirs come high expectations. Expectations they do not live up to.
Whoops. Did I just spoil the ending for you?
No, Paracletus does not live up to the expectations, but that's no surprise really, when the expectations are so unbelievably high. There's no shame in that. Unfortunately, in my opinion Deathspell Omega also disappoints in terms of delivered insanity and intensity.
The cover art promises a lot - a raging ball of hissing snakes spawning from a fiery mouth. A very accurate depiction of their sound (later era) - a chaotic noise fest of dissonance guitar lashings, spiteful roars and thunder like drums. The music is quite different though - while there's still more chaos and dissonance than in many other Black metal bands, there's also a touch of... I don't know... softness? Paracletus sounds much... nicer than their previous work. As if they fused with Pelican or Mono... what the fuck? Yeah, while you'd be wrong to classify this as Post-Rock, there's definitely much, much more melody and feeling in this new album. And I'm not going to make it a secret that I miss the vicious brutality of Kénôse.
However, judged on its own merit - a chaotic, sonic Black metal assault, Paracletus is definitely a very good and fun album. The riffs are still mind-boggling (though less than before), the chaos is still overwhelming (though less than before), the vocals are still thundering and emotive (though less than before), the complexity of the songs/album is still something to marvel at (though less than before), the overall product is still very impressive and worthwhile (though less than before)... you know where I'm going with this, don't you?
Bottomline: a new direction for Deathspell Omega (maybe not the most desired one, but remember, that is not our decision to make) and a good and enjoyable album, with plenty of great stuff going on.
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 9 |
Songwriting: | 8 |
Originality: | 9 |
Production: | 8 |
| Written on 11.11.2010 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. |
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