Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice

Deathspell Omega’s Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice has established itself as one of the most influential and controversial black metal albums to date. It has become the most famous and influential album in the burgeoning ‘Orthodox’ style. In my opinion, the album is a triumph, developing an incredibly evil, hypnotic atmosphere. However, the band’s references to Christianity and many listeners’ suspicions of theistic Satanism on their part have attracted a good deal of criticism. However, my understanding of the album leads me to believe that Deathspell Omega sought to satirize Christianity and develop a thoroughly secular, if potentially spiritual, worldview in Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, one that uses Satan symbolically in the service of a metaphysical and ontological argument. Furthermore, the musical composition is richly textured, varied, and effectively atmospheric. Thus, the album refines a philosophical criticism of Christianity into an art form.

As the song titles and lyrics demonstrate, the album’s structure is based on the Roman Catholic liturgical Mass. It begins with introductory hymns and prayers (First Prayer, Sola Fide, Second Prayer), moves on to the liturgy of theistic Satanist orthodoxy beginning with “Blessed are the Dead Whiche Dye in the Lorde” and finally transitions to a Eucharistic theme with “Drink the Devil’s Blood.” Throughout, the band inverts and satirizes Christian dogma. Pictures in the album booklet mock Christianity as corrosive and perverse. Using direct quotations from the Bible and Hymnals, the lyrics demonstrate that they can be used in the worship of Satan just as well as they are used in the worship of the Christian God. There doesn’t seem to be much of an ontological difference between a ‘great and terrible’ God who demands sacrifice and a powerful, supernatural Satan; Christians merely assume that their faith was established by one rather than the other. With the lyrics, the band satirizes the blindness and groupthink that Christianity demands as they “immolate on thine altar the spirit of individuality.”

The worship of Satan in Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice also functions a meditation on the inevitability of sin: Deathspell Omega claim that “there is none righteous enough to resist” Satan in the “Sola Fide.” This is an interesting choice because it implies that describing human nature as sinful necessarily implies the worship of Satan, the “Carnal Malefactor,” since the Sola Fide is, in Christian worship, the expression of faith. Emphasizing the power of sin, as Christian theology has done since Augustine, implies some form of faith in Deathspell Omega’s Satan. It seems impossible for anyone to not worship Satan if they accept that humanity is essentially carnal, acting upon appetites that include destructive, ‘evil’ impulses. Thus, Satan is tied directly to humanity’s being; it is impossible to be human without being Satanic.

Thus, for all of the album’s references to religious rituals and theology, their concept of Satan doesn’t seem theistic upon close examination of the lyrics. The band implores the listener to become “One of His million hands; One of His million eyes/ One of His million brains shining with utmost devotion/ A molecule of The One with many faces/ While of thy soul remains but ashes cold…” In this passage, Satan is (again) described as humanity itself, representing its base, carnal nature; Deathspell Omega asserts that this is its true nature. This also gives the album’s parody of religious faith the additional function of an analogy. Deathspell Omega observes that basic human impulses are self-evidently valid in human experience, which is similar to faith since faith demands the acceptance of its dogma as self-evident truths.

The crucial difference is that Christian dogma is not self-evident; it is not a necessary characteristic of human experience. Thus, there is something dishonest in denying and censuring the Satanic facets of human ontology: “Cursed is he that removeth awaye the marke of hys master to please men and not to serve in secrecy.” Instead, Deathspell Omega calls us, not only to reject the religious burden of guilt, but to glorify and accept Satan as a necessary part of our being, not as an independent being. We might object that the concept of Satan is one that only has meaning if society has maligned the impulses which the band intends to embrace, but the band seems to believe that society inevitably demonizes human impulses that do not contribute to social cohesion. Their ideal Satanist never escapes having to make “the blinde to goe oute of hys waye,” forcing him to adopt an adversarial, critical attitude consistent with the album’s tone.

The composition and texture of the music develop a pervasive atmosphere; one that manages to be relaxing, even hypnotic, without sounding any less evil, depraved, and bizarre. The album achieves this because it demonstrates two features that are not generally as well-developed in most other black metal albums. The first is that the album is almost completely continuous; tracks don’t really end but, rather, lead into the next piece with little or no interruption. The most notable exception is between the “Third Prayer” and the title track, which highlights a transition between the introductory rites and the liturgy in the album’s ongoing black mass. Generally, voices enter gradually such that the album moves naturally from one track or riff to the next. Nevertheless, each track manages to develop its own sound and identity; Deathspell Omega manages to keep the ideas and riffs fresh throughout the album. Thus, the album keeps to the plan of a ritual of thirteen stations – the thirteen pieces are all distinct stations, but are part of a coherent, fluid whole. Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice is, essentially, a concept album, which is certainly a novel project for a black metal band.

Second, the album uses polyphony more extensively and to greater effect than any other black metal that I’ve heard to date. Deathspell Omega has written distinct guitar and bass parts throughout, virtually, the entire album rather than merely keeping them in harmony with each other. While there is often a prominent lead guitar part, each instrument tends to develop its own melody and riffs in ever-changing relationships with the other voices. However, on those tracks which are more simply composed, such as “Odivm Nostrvm,” the band manages to put together riffs capable of carrying the song. The album features complexly structured uses of harmony and dissonance, alternating steadily but at varying paces throughout the album. Furthermore, atmospheric sounds, i.e., of water, wind, or voices, contribute further to the album’s richly textured, layered sound as well as supplying for more fluid transitions between tracks. This allows the album to convey a sense of an ongoing ritual and of evil simultaneously. Furthermore, it allows for the album to develop a more varied, dynamic sound. In short, the album’s polyphony is well-composed and contributes to the development of the band’s artistic vision.

Needless to say, to effectively develop the style that Deathspell Omega is pursuing on Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, the band needs some very accomplished instrumental abilities. The most obvious demonstration of the musicians’ talent is on drums, which play much more intricate parts than on most black metal albums. The drums play a lot of different beats and, even, fills, occasionally leading the sound rather than playing a merely supporting role to the guitars. Indeed, the drums often approach a melodic style, almost playing double duty as a rhythm section and independent melodic voice, which is highly unusual for metal. Despite all the different roles the drums are playing on the album, they nevertheless manage to complement the guitar riffs perfectly, highlighting their pulse and inflection. As complex as they are, they are so carefully put together that they seem almost completely intuitive; rhythmically inclined listeners should find themselves drumming along. (My style inclines more toward air-guitar, but my air-drum kit gets some use every time I listen to this album.) Last but not least, the drumming is incredibly precise, but still human; it was clearly recorded painstakingly by a very talented drummer because there are no mistakes to be found on this album. While there are several points where the drums are not present, they remain one of the most impressive features of the album.

As has been hinted at earlier, the bass also takes on a more active role on this album than in most black metal. The bass often plays parts that are not direct harmonies with the rhythm or lead guitar, acting as another voice. Also, the bass is fairly present in the mix. While there are other black metal albums that are more bass-driven, Mysticum’s Streams of Inferno for one, the bass is still audible enough. It’s not so loud that it draws your attention but it is loud enough that it contributes to the texture and that you can hear what it’s doing fairly clearly. The main obstacle to hearing it, if any, is that the texture of the album is so rich that it’s difficult to process the entire composition on the first listen, particularly because the bass keeps to the rhythm very closely throughout the majority of the album. However, this only means that the album yields more on repeated listens, when the bass parts are easier to appreciate. The only possible complaint I could make is that the bass tone is a little fuzzy; actually, the guitars are as well but they manage to remain clear whereas the exact notes the bass plays are, on occasion, difficult to make out. Generally, this is only a problem when the bass is clearly not adhering to a simple harmony with the guitars, which means that it’s really not a very significant problem with the production; it only becomes a problem when the composition’s complexity exacerbates it.

Of course, the guitars are quite prominent on the album. Their tone is simultaneously warm and biting in a delicate balance of harmony and dissonance. They’re not so dissonant as to be irritating to listen to, as on some Abigor records, but they’re also not so thick that the dissonance is lost in a sea of tone. Often, this balance is maintained by using the lead guitar (on the left in the mix) to introduce dissonance while the rhythm guitar (on the right) maintains a somewhat warmer tone. However, at other times, both guitars take on both roles. Even though there is a distinct lead guitar much of the time, the difference between lead and rhythm guitar isn’t very clear; the rhythm guitar often plays parts of equal or greater complexity and prominence as the lead guitar.

Furthermore, the guitars maintain interest throughout the album by adopting many different melodic styles and riffs. There are a handful of tracks on the album, “Blessed Are The Dead Whiche Dye In The Lorde” and “Odium Nostrum,” for example, which prominently adopt riffing styles typical of somewhat rawer styles of black metal but this only represents one of the many melodic sensibilities that the album explores. Nonetheless, the riffs are very catchy when they appear; a good comparison is late Judas Iscariot. However, the album’s primary innovation melodically, the key to its compositional success, comes in its unorthodox use of chord progressions, which would ironically inspire later orthodox black metal, such as Ofermod’s Tiamtü and Ondskapt’s Dödens Evangelium, as opposed to earlier orthodox black metal in the style of Antaeus and Katharsis.

However, I have never heard as complex a use of chord progressions as on this album. The album’s many different voices manifest themselves through their different uses of chord progressions: whether they compose a melody from the chord progression, tremolo-pick the root note in a similar fashion to the traditional black metal style, or deviate from the main chord progression to provide dissonance, the guitars never rely on chord progressions as a songwriting crutch. Instead, the guitars use the chord progressions to develop hypnotic atmospheres that are, nevertheless, jarring. In this sense, the album often feels like the offspring of a strange union between Gorguts’ Obscura and minimalistic black metal a la Burzum or early Darkthrone. The result is an album that is so compositionally rich that it transcends black metal; this isn’t just great black metal, it’s great art, in the broadest sense possible. I venture to say that this album could be compared to many classical movements in its compositional variety.

While the vocals are extremely well-done, they are, for me, just icing on the proverbial cake. The harsh vocals fit the atmosphere perfectly as they sound malevolent and deliberate. Also, they sound as though they are almost comprehensible; I felt like I could almost make out what was being said but I soon realized that my efforts were in vain. However, the sense that there is something being said by the malevolent voice, if you could only make it out, contributes greatly to the horrific atmosphere. It’s a proven technique in horror to play on the audience’s paranoia, which this album manages to do. However, the album also features some unusual, for non-orthodox black metal, clean vocals in the form of chants. They seem to have been professionally done and are well-executed. Furthermore, the clean vocals mark the progress of the album’s ritual as in “Carnal Malefactor:” the Gregorian chant gives way to a more aggressive, energetic black metal assault as though to demonstrate that the ritual is strengthening the immanent power of evil.

Finally, the production and sound on the album is excellent. The various instruments are mixed very well, such that they are clear and complementary. No instrument really overshadows the others or is overshadowed, with the occasional exception of the bass. Furthermore, the album’s sound is evocative; the drums sound full, the guitars warm for black metal, and the album often uses echoes to give the impression of space. It really feels as though there is a ceremonial chamber on the other side of my speakers as I listen to the album. In the mind’s eye, the album conjures visions of black masses, dark chapels, and bloody altars more powerfully than any other album I’ve ever heard. Despite not being the most aggressive black metal album out there, the sound is nevertheless more evil than the vast majority of black metal, let alone metal in general. For many, I think that’s the greatest endorsement I can give Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice.

Of course, I can’t know for sure exactly what ideals informed Deathspell Omega’s artistic vision for this album. Satanism can be conceptualized and practiced in many different ways, so it’s not really an impeachment of this album even if the band’s brand of Satanism is ‘spiritual.’ However, I feel that I have demonstrated that the lyrical, compositional, and sonic qualities displayed on the album make for brilliant black metal. While I believe that the album is really about confronting primal evil, Satan’s monument around us, as an aspect of our own humanity, ultimately, it is the listener’s experience and interpretation of the album that is important. I think this will tend to vindicate it as a great work of transgressive art. If you’re in the right frame of mind for some complex, evil black metal, then I can recommend this album without any hesitation whatsoever. Indeed, I feel that any listener who evaluates Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice objectively will acknowledge the album’s merits even if they are not fans of Deathspell Omega’s style at all. I’ve rated the album accordingly, as it is only held back from perfection, or as close to perfection as any work of art can come, by some very minor flaws.