Deathspell Omega - The Long Defeat

The cycle of creation and destruction.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on April 11th 2022)  

There are very few bands in the 21st century that have had a body of work as expansive and bold as that of Deathspell Omega. Their output has gone through multiple phases over the band’s 2 decades of existence, both conceptually and sonically. 2016’s The Synarchy of Molten Bones marked both the end of a chapter that began with 2004’s Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice, and the beginning of a new one, which culminates in the topic of this review, The Long Defeat. It’s a finale to an arc that has been going on for the past 6 years, and it sure feels that way.
As is tradition with Deathspell Omega, their releases don’t sound particularly alike one another, and this one is no exception, though the sound might come as a surprise to some. The Long Defeat might just be their most “traditional” release since Inquisitors of Satan, foregoing a lot of the jangly avant-garde trappings that defined their sound. There’s more than a handful of classic black metal tremolo riffs sprinkled throughout the songs, most notably on the title track and “Sie sind gerichtet!”. It’s strange to see the band partially recede back into a box they broke out of so long ago, releasing something that feels almost traditional by their standards.

I say “partially” because there’s still things that set it apart from other Deathspell Omega recordings that make it a unique experience in its own right. Most notably, the compositions are slower and more long-winded, resulting in something that’s quite reminiscent of the closer from The Furnaces of Palingenesia, which saw the band go down to almost-doom tempos. The sparseness of the guitars though is offset by how busy the drums and bass are. The Long Defeat is riddled with strange bass runs and erratic, yet coherent, drum rolls, as seen on “Enantiodromia” and “Our Life Is Your Death”, the latter of which has some honest to god hard rock influence, something I never expected to hear from these guys.
Another aspect of this record that was widely discussed upon its release was the appearance of multiple vocalists. Though uncredited, fans have deduced that Marduk/Funeral Mist’s Mortuus and Mgła’s M., who show up on “Enantiodromia” and “Our Life Is Your Death” respectively. Mortuus’ performance is solid, and his manic nature fits perfectly in the track. As for M., his voice is hard to tell apart from Mikko Aspa’s, leading to him feeling redundant in the context of the album.
The production is one of the few things that has remained for the most part the same as other releases, but you know what they say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The guitars’ distortion is light, with a healthy dose of reverb, resulting in them ringing across the soundscape, while the bass’ rumbling is more noticeable than it’s ever been, not only providing texture, but also driving the songs forward. As for the drums, they’re crisp and have plenty of volume to them, though they never overtake the mix with their presence, thanks to an excellent mixing job.
As for The Long Defeat’s themes, they appear to be a mixture of things we’ve seen in the past. Deathspell Omega brings back some of the theistic Satanism aspects of their sound, talking about the Devil ushering the world in a new age through destruction. There’s also themes more social in nature, with the band indicting false prophets and liars, as well as revolting against the status quo. It feels a bit disjointed at times, and dare I say a little disappointing, seeing as I was looking forward to them expanding on the themes touched upon in their previous album.
The Long Defeat is a classic case of “one step forward, two steps back”. Deathspell Omega tries their hand at some new things, but at the same time they seem to step back into a comfort zone that they haven’t been in for a long time now. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re running out of creative juices, seeing as there’s definitely new things being touched upon, but the album does feel a bit underwhelming for what is supposed to be the end of another chapter in their career. Hopefully they’ll take us in more exciting directions in the future, if they plan on continuing, that is.
Highlights: Enantiodromia, The Long Defeat, Sie sind gerichtet!

Rating: 78% 

 

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