From the title alone, one can discern that Deathspell Omega’s “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice” is not a typical black metal album. Not that the album is anything less than traditional in spreading a blackened message of evil – the band can be counted amongst a legion of high-quality acts preaching the gospel of “orthodox black metal” that could be said to include bands such as Antaeus, Watain, and Ondskapt – but from a musical and presentational perspective, “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice” is a unique, chaotic masterpiece of 21st century black metal that should be examined by any fan of the genre.
The unconventional start to this album in the form of “First Prayer” - a five minute expression of surreal experimentation – signals many things to come, and once the hymn ends, we are treated to the powerful combination of “Sola Fide I” and “Sola Fide II”, both of whom contain some of the album’s strongest moments. “Sola Fide I” in particular contains an excellent tremolo-picked passage that gives off the effect of a perverted version of Immortal’s “The Sun No Longer Rises”, albeit in a much more majestic manner. This is traditional black metal turned upside down, keeping true to the ideological concepts originally espoused by the genre’s pioneers, but delivered in an avant-garde-influenced way, with plenty of dissonant chord progressions (some of whom recall Austin’s Averse Sefira), strange and winding riffs, and bizarre song structures that guarantee that “Si Monvmentvm…” is an album that will polarize – either you will find this album to be a captivating piece of dark praise, or you will despise it as pretentious and devoid of any memorable song structure. This writer easily errs on the side of the former, as the lack of songwriting limitations only highlights “Si Monvmentvm…” as a highly intriguing piece of black metal.
The vocals on this album typically occupy a croaking tone that could be compared to Funeral Mist’s Arioch or even Beer Reebs of San Antonio’s very own Hod, bellowing out inscriptions of liturgical merit while occasionally yielding to sampled spoken parts and choral hymns that enhance the message of Deathspell Omega. The intelligently crafted patterns feature much more subtlety than one would expect, with a sophistication that many bands lack (i.e., no overly blunt “HAIL BLACK GOAT EVIL WITCHCRAFT” style declarations here : not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you). The guitar tone is low and muddy, although the production is clear enough that each instrument is still discernible, and the murkiness greatly benefits to the sickening atmosphere as opposed to detracting from it. The drum patterns are technically complex and utilize blasts when necessary, although the percussion remains interesting throughout this album’s duration, mixing beats up when apropos in order to provide a cohesive structure to the chaos of the guitar riffing.
The album is definitely a long-player, with “Carnal Malefactor” standing out as a 12-minute opus of obdurate fury, although most of the tracks exceed at least the five minute mark, even the interludes. The aforementioned “Carnal Malefactor” washes over the listener with mournful fuzzy guitar that forces introspection over the themes and motifs present on the album, starting off at a depressive tempo before ascending into a triumphant blast to great effect before beautifully haunting chanting enters to take the song to another level entirely. The album ends on “Malign Paradigm”, which was apparently intended as a tribute to Sweden’s Malign, and it brings the album to close on a somewhat simpler note, although the song is still an excellent conclusion to the work.
For those who are looking for some black metal that still maintains classic ideals yet uses atypical means to present them, “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice” is an album that comes highly recommended, especially to fans of bands on the legendary Norma Evangelium Diaboli label – Antaeus, Funeral Mist, Katharsis, etc. It certainly is not an album for everyone, but those who latch onto the album will find it a rewarding listen. Also recommended is the similarly-monikered “Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeturnum”, which will most likely be reviewed for this column in the near future.
For more info: Deathspell Omega does not perform live, but you can acquire their records locally at Hogwild Records. Make sure to support local music stores as well as quality extreme metal, and purchasing this album would accomplish both.
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