Just to be clear, it isn't a factual error. Positive.

Would you link your source on this then, please? The impression I've always gotten from this band since I bought their first two albums 14-15 years ago is that they lean Catholic and are not anti-Christian.

I think it's pretty obvious from the lyrics of the debut album that they definitely aren't pro-christian.

http://metal-archives.com/review.php?id=39107

Kruel's review of Deathspell Omega's Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice is very annoying. About 15 percent of the review is a description of the music, while the rest is just a the reviewer flipping out and calling the album "Christian music." He actually uses some form of the word Christ or Christian a total of thirty-two times in his review, not counting the title. It gets old pretty quick.

However, these prayers are musically speaking better than the actual songs. Not because they are good, of course not. It is because the actual songs are utterly boring crap. The riffs are technical, at least by black metal standards. You can hear that the guitarist is pretty busy picking all those chords and tremolo notes. Add some arpeggios. But the riffs have nothing to grab your attention except for annoyance. They appear to be disjointed even within a single riff, and there seem to be a bit of toying with complex or irregular rhythmic variations, but when it does appear it just annoys the listener, rather than really achieving anything. The hazy guitar tone with little distortion is another problem - it makes the riffs less recognizable and gives the album a frustrating atmosphere.

Either there is not much of a complexity to begin with, or it is done so subtly that it is basically unrecognizable - both amount to the same thing: boringness. And even if we assume that this is a very complex work, it still does not make this a masterpiece of any sort. There were many bands that preceded and did better with complex compositions. Abigor is a prime example of this. That band actually achieved something by interesting contrast of two guitars and incorporating a variety of very progressive song structures. Lunar Aurora is another great example. Deathspell Omega does nothing interesting. The riffs are technical but technicality does not make for good music.

but be warey when purchasing this album because in the long run it's not terribly enjoyable

Earlier when Kruel's review for Deathspell Omega's Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice (2004) was originally uploaded onto the Encyclopaedia Metallum, his effort received a hefty amount of harsh criticism, incessant complaints, and a popular sense of loathing. The flak that Kruel faced seemed apparent even before the review was submitted. Kruel might have anticipated this reaction, given that Deathspell Omega's Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice has been gifted with a fair amount of praise, concerning that a majority of the reviews composed for the given effort are overwhelmingly positive. Whether or not if you personally agree with Kruel's opinions, arguments, and assertions does not matter, because to whomever permitted the review to be featured within this database, the review contains a somewhat in-depth and suitable attempt at musical analysis.

For instance, while Kruel does seem to focus his review on the notion that Deathspell Omega composed "Christian music" on that aforementioned full-length album, due to their lyrical sidings and ideological alignments, he does manage to criticize on how Deathspell Omega's tunes sound to the listener.



Furthermore, Kruel supports the previously-quoted statement through a comparison of Deathspell Omega's music with the melodies and riffs that past (and renown) black metal bands composed, such as Abigor (as Kruel briefly mentions).



Throughout the review in-question, Kruel does revert back to his argument against the lyrical content that Deathspell Omega employs throughout the album, however, he also illustrates how the music that Deathspell Omega constructed sounds through comparing and contrasting the former's efforts to those of differing, yet stylistically similar (i.e. inventing music that falls within the black metal sub-genre) outfits. If you re-read through Kruel's review you will recognize a few paragraphs that exclusively analyze and critique the music, rather than criticizing the lyrical content that the band employs.

If there are any statements that I brought up which require clarification and/or explanation, please bring those said arguments to my attention, and I will offer a suitable, reasonable explanation. Despite your concern with Kruel's obsessive attack on the content of the ideas, influences, motivations, etc. that Deathspell Omega aligns with, I suggest that you carefully read his review again, while imparting a keen awareness towards moments of musical explanation, elaboration, and analysis that Kruel manages to impart to the reader.

Would you link your source on this then, please? The impression I've always gotten from this band since I bought their first two albums 14-15 years ago is that they lean Catholic and are not anti-Christian.

I once owned a copy of "The Last Grief" but I don't remember it very well, or whether the musical style change accompanied a philosophical change as well. Thank you.

I absolutely hate deathcore, there are very few deathcore bands I can even tolerate. Despised Icon happens to be one of them that I enjoy. They aren't your typical generic deathcore band. They bring intriguing lyrics, great riffs and breakdowns that actually bring something to the music.

The lyrics on the album are not your usual "wigger" lyrics that are invading the metal scene fast. These lyrics are poetic and beautiful. Just read them yourself. I won't talk about them any longer because you can just read them yourself. The guitar work on the album is fast and aggressive. The guitarists throw huge powerful riffs at you and put a lot of emphasis on the riff being played. When they come to a breakdown it's a pretty good chug chug breakdown. Nothing special but it's special enough that I can actually listen to it and be like "wow that was pretty cool". Not many bands can pull that off without sounding dull and boring. The guitarists also can play some wicked solos. They are fast and mournfully played with precision. The drumming is fast and pummeling and hits the mark every time. Keeping up with the music and never lagging back or jumping the gun so to speak. One thing that is really well done on the album is the vocals. Despised Icon has two singers, one who shouts and one who growls. They both fit together perfectly and get the point across well. Also there are some pig squeals on this album, and they are the best pig squeals I've ever heard. They are the ONLY pig squeals I can actually listen to.

Overall this album is a really good death metal album; it strays away from deathcore and is Despised Icons best album. Get this album if you have the chance.

Just to be clear, it isn't a factual error. Positive.

the only thing separating Emergent from your typical Dave Matthews Band release is

So breaking rules 1 & 2 of writing reviews is okay, as long as the review is amusing and/or a well-known user is writing it? Gotcha.

Truth be told, I'm not terribly familiar with the band, and I might be wrong about the lyrics, that's pretty much how they jumped out at me on first read. If Tailesin was in error on this point, it might be worthwhile to contact him, assuming that he still visits this website. If it is a factual error, it should only be grounds for nuking if it can't be corrected.

P.S. - All this talk about this band is making me want to check them out now.

On a sidenote, if you've ever heard Eisregen you'll know that the vocals with the ridiculously exaggerated German are at the forefront of the music, they are the elements of the music that stands out the most, and it is more than legitimate to devote more than one paragraph to them and their hokey faux-"teutonic" pronounciation.

Cleaned from NG's last post down to this point.

mentalendoscopy, if you're reading this, I nuked your Dio review, which had some Engrish problems and was light on the musical description. You used "cheesy" a bunch, but that can mean a lot of things. It's not good description. However, I did keep your In Flames review, which was actually pretty good. You just need to invest in a spellchecker.

Enter The House 418 Of The 21st Century - 90%
Written by ThaBrutalestGutterol on June 7th, 2009

Ballsy… damn ballsy of Nuclear Holocausto to steer the flagship Beherit into such uncharted waters (as of 1994) for a black metal musician. With their previous album, “Drawing Down the Moon”, Finnish black metal trailblazers Beherit had already crossed unspoken black metal boundaries by including effect-ladened, Transformersesque vocals. However, by the time “H418ov21.C” was recorded, all in Beherit aside from Holocausto had departed and apparently decided not to leave any semblance of METAL in their wake.

Result: Under the Beherit moniker, Holocausto produces a gem of a dark electronic/ambient album.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking: “Not metal!!! Why am I wasting my ‘too kvlt’ time reading about some pansy-ass electro crap?!”. My response: “Quit being such a closed-minded assbag!”. I like strolling down Blaze in the Northern Sky Boulevard as much as the next guy, but every once in a while you’ve got to take a detour to catch a look at some different (yet equally ghastly) scenery. “H418ov21.C” is about as far away from Beherit’s roots as a pioneering primitive black metal band as you can get (well, maybe Britney Spears is, but you get the point), but the album is no less haunting in atmosphere than their prior work (in fact, I would say it is more so).

This album is cold, minimalist, and downright creepy. Effect-ladened vocals are sparsely dispersed and are usually spoken (although some growled black metal vocals pop up here and there). Repetitive, mind-numbing programmed drumming is featured prominently in some songs and is completely absent from others. Ambient-yet-eerie electronic sounds provide the ominous and sterile atmosphere which dominates the entire album. Sound pretty badass? Damn straight it does, because it is pretty-fucking-badass!

So what sucks about the album? Not much, but one significant detractor from the overall excellence of the album is the occasional occurrence of comically nasal, trying-way-too-hard-to-sound-evil spoken passages. This vocal delivery ruins the first song, which is a new version of an older Beherit song (“The Gate of Inanna”). This unfortunate choice of vocal delivery also occurs briefly in “Paradise (Part II)”, but thankfully does not sully the rest of the album.

“H418ov21.C” is a bold, forward-looking progression from a black metal foundation. Keep in mind that this album was released years before Garm led Ulver in a monumental leap from black metal to electronically-based aural explorations. Open-minded metal fans and those partial to dark experimental music of all varieties, take note of “H418ov21.C”!

9 ominous futuristic murmurings out of 10.

Ambient-yet-eerie electronic sounds provide the ominous and sterile atmosphere which dominates the entire album.