Mass Grave Aesthetics

The shortest of the three monolithic Deathspell tracks was also bound to become their most terrifying work up to date. Originally released as the closing track of 'From the Entrails to the Dirt' four way split, Mass Grave Aesthetics offers nothing less than 19 minutes of pure sonic horror. I'm still not sure if the atmosphere is created by the instrumental work, the ambient breaks or the lyrics but why should that be significant? The atmosphere is constantly there abd that's what counts the most for me.

The song is on a constant climax. The music intensifies as the track proceeds until it's over and you are free to recover from this experience through a sample of a classical concert. The ambience is extensively used in the first half whereas in the second half it is completely absent.

The music is always shifting towards new directions. The buzzing sound of Hasjarl's guitar is even more murky than before, heavily distorted and intentionally sloppy at times. Khaos doesn't take the lead oftenly but when he does it sounds amazing. Shortly after the tenth minute mark he introduces a bassline that never fades from your memory, it just stays there to remind you that Khaos is one of the world's best bassists in the black metal genre. The drums would just stick to the basics back then thus the song has the classic bass drum - snare backbone and only in few moments the drums digress from the norm. Thankfully Deathspell are really creative when it comes to outros and here they hit the nail right in the head. The yet unidentified classical piece that ends the track provides the perfect release for all this tension that has been built in the first 18 minutes.

As it is with most Deathspell Omega's works, the real deal here are the lyrics. The text is not as dense as in FAS but the lack of density is replaced by the eerie atmosphere that they create. Using quotes of famous philosophers has always been something that Deathspell like to do and their kinship to that addiction is satisfied from the very beginning here. As for the ending, while Mikko runs out of words really quickly their effect remains for quite some time. Also the way they are delivered by the Finnish vocalist is phenomenal. His agonized screams are truthfully one of a kind.

At the end of the day, Mass Grave Aesthetics is one more masterfully composed work, one that only those Frenchmen could craft and release into the world. It's not even remotely their best but that means absolutely nothing. The quality of their work has always been top class and so it is here. Mass Grave Aesthetics proves that Deathspell Omega never released a bad record after 2004. Once they were done with their juvenile early works, it was time for serious black metal and this song is just that. Top notch black metal.

Favorite tracks: Oh come on...

88/100.