Review Summary: A timely warning for those with eyes to see and ears to hear
Deathspell Omega, despite its popularity, is easily the most misunderstood band in all of metal. This is to be expected, since the greater part of contemporary "scientific" humanity cannot even begin to comprehend metaphysical truths, no matter how they are presented. Presentation of such subtle things has been the band's main occupation since
Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice, but the majority of its "fans" do not even begin to really perceive this, let alone to understand it.
Most, having only a superficial notion of this depth, are satisfied with the mere sonic sensuality of the music, and the true implications are ignored. Whether one agrees with the implicit postulates of Deathspell's lyrics or not, one must first recognize their significance and understand their mode of presentation.
The typical person's lack of comprehension is illustrated well by the reception of the previous album,
The Furnaces of Palingenesia. It is truly astonishing to me that so many westerners are so scandalized by the political associations of the band's presumed vocalist, Mikko Aspa.
Have none of you people ever actually read any of Deathspell Omega's lyrics? The band that wrote the following is supposed to be tainted because of an association with Nazism? Ridiculous! If anything, a nazi would be tainted by his association with Deathspell Omega.
Quote:
O Satan, I acknowledge you as the Great Destroyer of the Universe.
All that has been created you will corrupt and destroy.
Exercise upon me all your rights.
I spit on Christ's redemption and to it I shall renounce.
My life is yours Lord, let me be your herald and executioner.
My actions shall lead other hearts away from salvation
All shall acknowledge Your sacred royalty and crawl in terrified devotion.
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The Long Defeat continues the trajectory of
Furnaces, not just sonically, but also conceptually; though only to an extent. Where that album sought to give voice to what we might call the
Demon of Ideological Faction, this album gives voices to different entities. Indeed, it explicitly speaks from multiple perspectives, referring to I and He separately in different stanzas. Conceptually, this album is related, in particular, to
You Cannot Even Find the Ruins.
Quote:
You will be made to remember the time when mountains were your cathedrals…
You will be made to remember the time when the ocean was your womb…
You will be made to remember the time when fertile soil was holy ground…
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Like
Furnaces, the music here, while still being dissonant, is much less harsh and chaotic than
Paracletus or
Fas. It seems Deathspell's sharpest days are behind them, and they are increasingly moving toward a more organic, vintage, wizened aesthetic with more rock influences. This is even more true of
The Long Defeat, as many of the complex time signatures are foregone in favor of straightforward 4/4 beats. Though, there are moments that remind one of the soundtrack to
2001: A Space Odyssey such as the end of Enantiodromia.
The fundamental question in regards to this album is: what is the Long Defeat? There are many subordinate questions that follow this one such as: who is the one with carrion beetles pouring from his mouth that "devised the new light that burns brighter above all others;" the one raising the towers that make mountains "pale with envy" of their magnitude? Who is the other voice that chastises him? This album has not been out long enough for me to thoroughly follow up on the references and secondary reading that is necessary to comprehend Deathspell's albums, but I would like to direct the readers' attention toward some of the potential implications and themes.
This album, in my current interpretation, is about the end of the aeon; the end of the current age of humanity and, more broadly, of the current form of life on this planet as it has existed throughout known history. There are clear themes of the natural environment, human artifice, the metaphysical unity of creation and destruction, the hubris of humanity, and the coming of the Great Destroyer.
Quote:
Carrion beetles pouring from his mouth:
But isn’t strife the core of existence?
and progress the arkhè of our lives?
I won this world with sword and fire
and carved it to my image!
My claim to the throne is just!
You have devised a new light and your eyes will see no further.
You have risen towers for a one long fall downwards…
You made a desert and called it peace…
So, rest assured – your claim will be processed justly
and the greatness of your deeds bestowed upon you!
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How can one fail to hear the chastisement of Lady Nemesis for all of humanity in this? How can one fail to smell the stench of death pouring out of the mouths of all those who unironically speak of humanity's
Progress in uncritical terms? As technological development accelerates and destabilizes every facet of life, how can one not recognize the truth of this judgement? The voice chastises us further:
Quote:
Your civilisations stand as monuments to perpetual discord:
a boundless will to power over the infinite…
culture, civilisation, culture…
The forever-festering wound
would have it no other way.
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I don't care to speculate about how exactly the current age will end, and neither does Deathspell Omega. This is the power of metaphysics: it can illustrate principles through symbolism that are difficult to articulate in plain language. I will go no further in analyzing the lyrical content of
The Long Defeat. I have made my general framing plain, and my general implications should be obvious to anyone who cares to read
The Long Defeat's lyrics.
It is up to the reader to look deeper into the contents of all of Deathspell Omega's albums if he truly desires to understand. No one else will be able to give you a straightforward interpretation of all facets of them, as this is not how esoteric truths are learned. It is always a mistake to take words merely at face value. You must meditate on these works with a clear, unbiased mind. Only then will the truths they express become clear to you.
If the rampant, ignorant speculation about Deathspell Omega's political affiliations disturbs you enough to discourage you from digesting its works, you are not yet prepared to receive any wisdom, ancient or contemporary, that transcends the insipid fanaticism so characteristic of modern peoples who have been traumatized by an increasingly perfected technique of propaganda. Deathspell Omega's albums transcend such mundane, terrestrial concerns.
