Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh

The third album of the Norwegian black metallers Misotheist, "Vessels by Which" the Devil Is Made Flesh", seems to be accomplished according to the templates of its predecessor from three years ago, "For the Glory of Your Redeemer": each release contains only three songs, the second of which is the shortest and fastest (relatively), while the third, on the contrary, is the longest, containing a strange melancholic part. However, duplicating the "packaging" of the material is the end of the matter, because a slightly different picture emerges inside.

"For the Glory of Your Redeemer" made it clear that modern dissonant black metal in the vein of Deathspell Omega was the obvious reference point for Misotheist at that time. Suffice it to say that both "Rope and Hammer" and "Benefactor of Wounds" began with a pretty strong Deathspell Omega vibe, right on the verge of plagiarism, seriously. Facts don't care about your feelings, after the first album "Misotheist" (2018), the material on "For the Glory of Your Redeemer" could only be interpreted as a sporadic attempt to imitate Deathspell Omega. Those works were two totally different things: the debut was marked by more familiar tremolo picked black metal tendencies, dissonances were not dominant on it, there were very few of them, so the influence of Deathspell Omega was out of the question even in the avant-garde passage of the last "Blood of Rats", which featured a slight dissonance. On the whole, the "Misotheist" album embodied a rather original way between old school and modern black metal.

On their new album, Misotheist again demonstrated a change of direction, although not as impressive as before, anyway, quite emblematic. If you want to look on "For the Glory of Your Redeemer" for an indication of how the next album will turn out, then pay attention to "Benefactor of Wounds": the song ends with an alternation between a Deathspell Omega-styled riff and a riff whose mood would dominate on "Vessels by Which" the Devil Is Made Flesh", it's a kind of melancholic melodiousness. Indeed, the new work is slower, softer and more melodic on the whole.

One of the first passages on the album is a melodic groove, to which Misotheist invariably return throughout the song, and in the finale it transforms into a melodic and rather pompous riff with the stop-start element. This passage is very reminiscent of something, and most likely reminiscent of a Mgła-esque pattern. The songs on "Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh" are not sophisticated in structure, so tracking the effects of déjà vu is not so difficult: the main riff of the title song is something between Mgła and Deathspell Omega, while the last "Whitewashed Tombs" contains the most piercing tremolo melodies in the vein of Mgła, and the album's finale is very Mgła-like.

The metamorphosis that occurred with Misotheist is most evident when comparing the last songs of the new and previous albums: "Acts of the Flesh" is much more dynamic than "Whitewashed Tombs", weird technical touches of Deathspell Omega appear in this piece more often, both at speed and during slowdowns. Despite the fact that the end of "Acts of the Flesh" is also marked by some kind of non-sane melancholy, it doesn't come to a post black metal attitude. Whereas "Whitewashed Tombs" is an anxious and gloomy song, at the same time somehow hectic, as if some fly cannot escape from the web of the spider. Its second half contains a long post black metal passage, melancholic and melodic, maybe this is some kind of post depressive, pardon us.

As for the tendency of the previous album, which has noticeably diminished now, Misotheist still have more dissonances than Mgła, and, out of old habit, Deathspell Omega appears at every step, even in some detached echoing or clattering of the strings. However, there is no obvious borrowing here, although with rare exceptions, for example, the beginning of the title song. Perhaps the influence of Deathspell Omega is now being smoothed out by the acquired poppiness, pardon us.

We don't know if B. Kråbøl, the only known member of Misotheist, is involved in songwriting, as he is listed as the vocalist. Anyway, his vocals remain the same, i. e. a middle ground between growling and screaming. B. Kråbøl roars, but at the same time manages to sing, often his voice resembles Nergal's voice. Guest vocals by Willem Niemarkt (Urfaust) undoubtedly enriched the title track, but as a side effect, they demonstrated that the main vocals lack variety.

Summary. There's nothing wrong with copying Deathspell Omega, as long as, sooner or later, the (creative) process will lead the band towards their own style: after all, many black metal bands just copied "Transilvanian Hunger" at their beginning. But from album to album, Misotheist give the impression of being tossed from side to side, trying to find what is more relevant now. And they find it. So you may rest assured that you will like "Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh".