FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM

For the life of me I can't understand the big deal around this band, and especially not this release. For all the talk of this being "revolutionary" and "progressive", its definition of being interesting seems to be LOUD then soft then LOUD then soft then ridiculously basic sounding black metal then LOUD again then soft for a little while but oh no wait a minute here comes the LOUD. If it wasn't for the jump-scare moments when it switches from creepy organ stuff to growly blast-beats at the drop of a hat I would've fallen asleep in the middle of it.

That's its main problem, I think-it's so emotionally removed that it's difficult to invest emotions in. You can only listen to the same pummeling riff repeated ad nauseum above croaky lyrics about the Devil before you start to wonder what exactly it is you're supposed to be placing into this album. Is it intense? Not really. Are the compositions interesting? Maybe from a purely technical level, but they're tough to identify if you aren't trained in music theory. Is it profound? They could be, but does it really matter if such profundity is buried under such a dull, homogeneous morass of re-heated black metal riffs and semi-intelligible lyrics?

I love a lot of metal, but I found nothing special whatsoever in what is supposedly Deathspell Omega's magnum opus. It's a dry, stuffy work that neither illuminates its heady subject matter or provides reward for anyone but the most dedicated of aficionados. I'd give a casual recommendation to black metal fans and a warning to steer clear for everyone else.