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FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM

Deathspell Omega

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal


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Deathspell Omega Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum album cover
4.08 | 115 ratings | 11 reviews | 49% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
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Studio Album, released in 2007

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Obombration I (04:48)
2. The Shrine of Mad Laughter (10:37)
3. Bread of Bitterness (07:49)
4. The Repellent Scars of Abandon and Election (11:40)
5. A Chore for the Lost (09:15)
6. Obombration II (02:07)

Total Time 46:16

Line-up / Musicians

Note: Full credits not available at the moment

Releases information

Album name is Latin for By divine law, go, you cursed, into the eternal fire!
This is taken from a 15th century morality play called Everyman. It can also be found in Matt. 25:41

LP Norma Evangelium Diaboli ‎- NED 012 (2007, France)

CD Norma Evangelium Diaboli ‎- NED 012 (2007, France)

Thanks to Jake Kobrin for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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DEATHSPELL OMEGA Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum ratings distribution


4.08
(115 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(49%)
49%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(23%)
23%
Good, but non-essential (16%)
16%
Collectors/fans only (6%)
6%
Poor. Only for completionists (6%)
6%

DEATHSPELL OMEGA Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Jake Kobrin
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Listen to this album on Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/7cfpTjVtVELNTz2Ll0zD45

Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum (Latin for Divine law - Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire) is the second album amongst the conceptual trilogy by French black metallers Deathspell Omega. Though the albums within the trinity are linked by concept, they are all musically unique. The trilogy proclaims the relationships of God, Satan, and man. Fas' concept is focused around man. The album was released by the French underground black metal label Norma Evangelium Diaboli in Europe on July 16th, and in the US by Ajna Offensive (and distributed by Southern Lord) on the 17th. It was originally released both as a CD Digipak and on vinyl LP. The vinyl version also contains a poster of the cover and a 12 inch booklet. Despite it's large size, the booklet is identical to the Digipak version.

One who enters the domain of this 45 minute LP will certainly be left drawn and exhausted by the end. This album is harsh, brutal, and inexplicably magical. Through the use of technical insanity and subtle atmospheric details, Deathspell Omega created an experience unlike one in existence before.

Although the basis of this album is Black Metal, do not confuse it with raw black metal via Darkthrone or Mayhem and do not be misguided by the bands primitive early recordings either. They have long since progressed above the cheesy generic black metal of their early career. Since then they have utilized a much cleaner produced aesthetic and instead of pumping gnarly dissonance, they have acquired a method of utmost technicality.

Through this blazing disarray of impossible-to-play drum lines and nimble guitars are groovy post-esque segments that allow the listener a bit of time to rest. A physical rest perhaps, though these segments certainly do not lighten the atmosphere. Imagine an Isis cover band that had died and is playing in an eternal prison within hell. And I'm not alluding that these parts were ripped off of Isis, they are certainly unique.

The amount of details hidden within this album is incredible. I have listened to the album maybe 40 or 50 times now and upon each spin I unearth new layers that I was previously unaware of. For example, it was only the last time I listened to the album that I realized how prominent the use of piano is. Even in the heavy chaotic moments there is that far off layer of creepily out of tune piano that just adds to the atmosphere. Further more there are terrified screams, choral arrangements, and samples of classical music (played on cello I believe) within the mix. In my opinion it is the ability to dig and analyze and be surprised by music even after dozens of repeated listens that certifies an album as purely progressive.

In conclusion, this is probably the most accomplished piece of Black Metal to be yet released. It is my second favorite album of all time and it is one that I believe I will enjoy for years to come. I highly recommend it for fans of tech/extreme or avant-garde prog (though perhaps post-metalers will enjoy it as well). If you do not listen to this album you are doing a disservice to the entire history of metal...

- Jake Kobrin

Review by Conor Fynes
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars 'Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeturnum' - Deathspell Omega (100/100)

The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but for all their rebellious sincerity, it is rare that a black metal band comes close to delivering a substantial counter-argument against Christianity and religious hegemony. The Satan-hailing blasphemy often comes off as a gimmick, and in none but the most inspired cases does a black metal band carry the intellectual weight to back up their ideological claims. And even if someone managed to intellectually transcend the adolescent 'kvlt' and form a Satanic treatise worthy of critique, crafting the art to uplift it is a whole other matter. From Hildegaard von Bingen to Arvo Pärt and everything between and before, Man has created works to honour God. It would seem that musicians in black metal would have the odds stacked against them. The 'Satanic panic' is decades since over, and an increasingly secular society has closed many people off to the prevailing religious thought, let alone a fringe spirituality like true Satanism.

Deathspell Omega's Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum came virtually out of nowhere in that regard. Although the liturgical spiel on their previous album Si Monvmentvm Requires, Circvmspice introduced an intellectually tangible inversion of Catholic mythology, it wasn't until this album that DSO were finally making music worthy of rivalling sacred traditions, and-- dare I say it-- rivalling the greatest sacred works of Bach or Handel through sheer force of their mirror-image dissonance. There's no clear origin from which to directly trace the shape and effect of this album; arguably besides The Ruins of Beverast, none other than Deathspell Omega have managed to effectively galvanize the black metal genre into something comparable with the world's greatest erudite art. Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum stands as black metal's greatest testament, and so it shall remain for the ever-foreseeable future.

The word 'dissonance' has lost its power when speaking of Deathspell Omega; objectively speaking, it is applicable to the album's brushfire chaos, but simply calling DSO's music 'dissonant' fails to mention how masterfully they harness that power. I've even seen this album's wonton passages referred to as 'noise'-- again, this only infers a surface-level appreciation of the music. The first "Obombration" (an invented term, by the way, derived for the latin root "to overshadow") conjures a jazz-accented control over its ugliness, building ominously atop its Orthodox soundscape. It's impossible not to feel startled by the instantaneous eruption that sparks "The Shrine of Mad Laughter". The guitars frantically buzz away, the drums seem to be in an amphetamine-induced fervour of their own making, and Aspa's vocals presence enough to fill the farthest corners of a cathedral if the occasion ever called for it. If you're a fresh listener to this album, it doesn't matter how attentive or open-minded you are; the music will flurry past your ears like a [%*!#]ing sandstorm. There is not the capacity in humans to pick everything up at once. For my own experience of it, I was at once shocked-- even terrified-- but I felt myself hard-pressed to pick out memorable ideas at first. My grasp of the music was initially limited to what I understood to be movements in the music: haunted oases of churchyard atmosphere flung amidst indecipherably dense aggression. Like all but the most popular Western classical music, the brain takes a few repeated listens before you start to see how the pieces fit together.

Although I'd never presume to posit an appreciation for Fas as a measuring stick for good taste in black metal, I get the impression many of the people who dislike this album didn't get past the stage of initial confusion. This is quite understandable. Even as an ardent fan of this album for years, I find myself hesitant to return to it after going some time without listening to it. Unlike Si Monuvmentvm or its near-equally good 2010 successor Paracletus, there's no way to extract a single song from Fas to enjoy it on its own. Nor is there a way to half-attend to listen, lest the album buzz past with all but the broadest strokes having escaped you. Recently returning to listen to Fas, I am reminded how much melody and beauty (albeit subtle) is available to the listener upon deconstructing the music. Though you may not notice it when approaching the music as a whole, Hasjarl's guitarwork incorporates unlikely melodies and harmonies, and many of them are deceptively beautiful. Contrary to the word of its detractors, none of the dissonance on Fas is for its own sake. With parts like the jazz-from-hell intro to "A Chore for the Lost", I get the strange impression that Fas was originally beautiful music that was bastardized with a sense of nagging unease. There is a familiarity of classical music to DSO's craft here, but it is an aberrant mutation from that foundation at its closest. Closing the album with a faux-orchestra on the second "Obombration", that impression is compounded. It makes sense that a legitimately Satanic form of sacred music would mirror the form of its hegemonic equivalent, but achieve its ends through a very different set of means.

In an imposing sense, Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeturnum is a realization of a promise the early black metal pioneers made two decades prior to its release. If black metal is often too primitive to contest Christianity in any but a pigheaded rebellious sense, Deathspell Omega took the genre to its natural conclusion here. It's strange to think that nearly a decade has passed now since Fas was unveiled to the world; if it came out today, or a decade from now, it would still shock those who came upon it. That, in spite of the countless followers they've inspired in the years since. How many albums can be mentioned that retain their cutting-edge impression even months (let alone years) after they're available for the public's digestion? DSO created one of the boldest testaments in modern music of any genre with this album, and I think the rest of this feeble scene is still trying to catch up.

Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Interesting experimental Black Metal album, not something that I'd really call avant because the traditional black metal element is more prominent then the experimentation, but still, the extensive use of dissonant chords, the dark atmospheres and spooky theatricality make this stand apart from the pack.

"Fas. Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum" is a typical progressive black metal in maintaining the dark and harsh atmosphere of black metal and extending it with enhanced technicality, strong professional production and instrumental breaks where they allow the music to progress organically. The technical angle sets it apart from the more direct and minimal low-fi sound of 'true' black metal, while the experimentation and complexity is far above the more mainstream approach of symphonic black metal.

It is a very dense album, overwhelmingly intense and dark, with gruff low-end vocals only and persistently intricate playing where the guitars, drums and bass seem to clash more often then playing together. Think 'Trout Mask Replica' from Captain Beefheart done with a metal edge and a big load of reverb.

Challenging, dazzling and breath-taking. It's an album destined to evoke strong and opposite reactions, but I seem to end up somewhere in the middle. Impressed as I am it doesn't entirely click with me. The passing of years will tell.

Review by frippism
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The album with which started my long journey into the world of avant-garde black metal

Hello, it is here, by I "here" mean me, Frippism. Dropping a review after god knows how long...

I would like to review this here album by Deathspell Omega. They are a French avant-garde- technical-orthodox-black metal group. They have, without a doubt, released the single most terrifying album I have heard in my life.

Half a year ago I was almost completely unaware to one of the more interesting and "far- out" world of avant-garde black metal. When I saw reviews of this DsO album, with that, I was keen to try it out. Let's clear things up: I'm not a "metalhead" and never considered myself to be. I never really listened to metal until about 2 years ago, when Sleepytime Gorilla Museum blew my mind. I was completely unprepared for the challenge I had facing me. That's an understatement. I had no real idea what black metal was, neither of its origins or its infamy. So to skip a bit let me just recap my first listening to this album: all I remember is being absolutely terrified and confused. It felt like a sociopath- it was a claustrophobic and unnerving feeling. My ears could not truly understand what was going on, but with that, I knew there had to be more to this album than just noise, and that by disregarding it as just noise I would be closing myself to an absolute plethora of bands (which now with my growing affection of the genre haven't seized rewarding me with new sounds, approaches to songwriting and such).

But to the album!!! That's what matters, not my stupid rambling.

The best I can do to describe the tunes is this: it is pretty much black metal, only about 50 times more aggressive, abrasive, unrelenting, uncompromising, than any album I've heard from the genre, and is by far the heaviest album I've heard in my life (though DsO's 2008 EP "Chaining the Katecheon" is probably as heavy). After about 70-80 listens to the album, it's still hard for me to describe the album, beyond the term "black metal". It is obvious where the root of DsO lay, with that, I can't figure out what makes so damn unique. The absolute wall of distortion, which at first puts you in a state of bizarre dementia. The bizarre moments of ambiance, of silence. Most of all though, DsO has one of the strongest elements going for it with the drums. Dear god, I have never heard blast beats more incredible blast beats. When DsO gets fast in "Fas Ine...", the blast beats are so freaking fast. Moreover, the thing that shocks me most about these blast beats, is the weird asymmetric feel of his blast beats. It almost feels like his snare hits a tad bit off, but in such a good way. Can't really explain, you'll just have to listen. The vocals here, while of course being sung through growls and rasps- are some of the more interesting elements of DsO. A low growl which punctures your mind and scare the living crap out of you. May I also add, that the lyrics (not that you can understand most of them in the growling, but can just read them)- are by far the best lyrics I've heard out of pretty much any metal band. Mostly based on Satanic ideas, DsO does well what so many metal bands have done awfully. Their lyrics are thought provoking and address the many questions in the story of god and Satan, and instead of trying to go crazy "satan woooooooooooo", they manage to raise questions which were intriguing and powerful.

I feel like I can't really talk about the tracks. The album feels somewhat as a whole. With that, I feel as "Shrine of Mad Laughter" and a "Chore For the Lost" are absolute standpoints. With insane blast beats, some wacky time signatures and great songwriting. The two "Obombration"s are two absolutely terrifying ambient-ish pieces.

Overall, I feel that while the album isn't perfect (There are very few parts which drag a bit and could've been shortened), it is pretty essential. If you're looking for black metal, and you're not trying to ease yourself in at all, and just want to jump right into the most extreme, heavy stuff there is like I did, you can't go wrong with DsO. An absolute emotional rollercoaster, which is rewarding and thought provoking and challenging, but with that will at least curious you if you want to get into black metal.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Deathspell Omega's second concept album surrounding their philosophical contemplation of Satanic metaphysics is a real treat for those who don't mind (or positively enjoy) a little Satan in their metal and are interested in experimental black metal formats which stretch the boundaries of the genre. As well as including some intriguing quiet moments between its eruptions of black metal fury, the album is also significantly more varied than many avant-black metal albums when it comes to the actual rocking out - at points they create a chaotic wall of noise, but there's moments where almost traditional metal riffing will break out unexpectedly here and there. Initially impressive, on repeated listens this gets annoying - it feels like the traditional elements soften the avant-garde material and the avant-garde presentation covers for weaknesses in the traditional playing and songwriting.
Review by siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
5 stars It boggles the mind that a fairly nondescript black metal act named DEATHSPELL OMEGA, having only emerged in 1999 from their undisclosed crypts somewhere in France, began as an average second wave act simply regurgitating the Nordic templates that had been sewn by the likes of Mayhem and Darkthrone. After crafting two rather generic and by-the-numbers releases, this mysterious cult of undisclosed characters suddenly transmogrified from commonplace to an unabashed innovating force on the black metal scene with their 2004 release "Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice." Not only did this band introduce the progressive extreme metal music world to a hitherto unparalleled sophistication in lyrical and musical content, but struck a few nerves as the rather reactionary blasphemy of the typical black metal paradigm had shifted to a highly intellectual and philosophical stance on Satanic theology and one that required careful deconstruction and erudite scholarly effort to unpack.

After releasing the supplemental EP " Kénôse" in 2005, DEATHSPELL OMEGA unleashed their most ambitious album yet in the form of FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM in 2007. The Latinate title which translates into English as "Divine Law - Go Accursed, Into Everlasting Fire" coupled with the representative cover art of a blinded man eternally falling into the darkness away from the light alone are more than enough to portend a very darkened and intoxicating musical experience that lurks within the second chapter of their theistic Satanist's trilogy. Continuing the lyrical content of its predecessor, FAS - ITE explores the poetic prowess of post-surrealist George Bataille with selected lyrics lifted verbatim from his works "Theory Of Religion" and "The Solar Anus" with purpose of teasing out the true tenets of Satanism by espousing the theory of that Satan is not the antithesis of the Christian God but rather the purified nihilism that the darkened forces are an inextricable aspect of human nature.

FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM eschews a quickened emergence into a bantering din of black metal but rather slowly oozes in with a dark ambient apocalyptic tone that transmogrifies into a dissonant post-metal stream of consciousness that slowly ratchets up the impending dread and despair with the opening "Obombration." This prognosticator of doom and gloom delivers a deathly chilling mix of dreadful dissonance in the form of jangled and mangled guitar riffs with growly raspy vocals that don't quite sing and don't quite speak but exist somewhere in between yet in poetic prose as the triad of guitar, bass and drum patterns slowly buzz around the lyrical delivery gaining more devilish strength after each cadence until it all cedes into a quiet and pacified Christian choir after the jangly post-metal guitar sequence spooks the living daylights out of you.

After a pacifying calm before the storm, "The Shrine Of Mad Laughter" bursts out in full decibalage and suffocates the tranquility as the brutal black metal assault banters on for ten and a half minutes. Not only does FAS - ITE excel at the contrasts explored on "Si Monvmentvm" but takes them to further extremes and accentuates them at every opportune moment. The quiet parts are spookier than before with psychotic pianos tinkling around schizoid guitars and spectral voices while the aggressive outbursts develop into extreme technical workouts with buzzsaw guitars in dissonant angularity chaotically battling with the bass which in turn is at war with outlandishly jazzified drumming fills. The whole thing gives the impression of an angry swarm of locusts covering the entire atmosphere and ready for the attack of all living souls for it's redemption day and the dark forces have won the infernal battles.

This classic DEATHSPELL OMEGA tug-of-war between the creepy dark ambient and excessively brutal blackened free-for-all zigzags throughout the album while the indecipherable lyrics dictate the philosophical diatribe. While the band has remained a virtual mystery with no official website, no photo ops and no indication that they exist in our universe in any way except for the sonic slugfest that bursts out of the speakers in rumbling minor keys with subdued guitar solos and bantering math rock in the form of black metal, they have identified a few of the members under pseudonyms. Hasjari on guitars, Khaos on bass and Mikko Aspa on vocals. The percussionist remains free of identity but is clearly the most talented member of this ensemble as the percussive one runs the gamut of tortoise speed post-rock trance inducing monotony to full-fury technical jazz wizardry outbursts that last for lengthy periods .

Holy crap! FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM with its mere 46 minute run tops my list as the scariest album of all time. DEATHSPELL OMEGA scoured the deepest recesses of dark psychology and implemented every possible technique both perceivable and subliminal to create a theological assault on mind, spirit and body and the effect is staggeringly effective. With the second installment of their trilogy the band continued not only to redefine black metal but in its wake ushered in a new level of experimental extreme music that took philosophical lyrical content to new unprecedented heights of left-brained intellectualism. This by far is one of the most evil-as-[%*!#] black metal albums ever to have been recorded and despite many lower musical forms striving for such unholy perfection, DOS win the goat's head trophy without even breaking a sweat.

While nebulous in comprehension and as jittery and non-static as the quantum world of the microverse, the overall effect of perplexity, brutal bombast and post-dissonant meandering guarantees a startling fight or flight response but like microwaves from cell phone towers that leave an intangible energetic enemy with no defenses for counterattack. And this is only the second installment of the trilogy. FAS - ITE is in short, the ultimate synthesis of black metal and progressive rock as it adopts every trick in the playbook from both disparate sides of the extended rock universe and genetically alters their DNA into a sadistic musical demon like no others had done before. This is music so brutally intense and so intellectually advanced that it in effect lays to waste all the mere mortals who have posed their way into the world of evil metal. While "Paracletus" would continue the saga, FAS - ITE, MALEDICTI, IN IGNEM AETERNUM remains the most intense chapter of this deep and darkened psychoanalysis into the greatest mysteries the universe has to offer and executed perfectly.

Latest members reviews

5 stars Picture the most extreme music you have ever heard, multiply it by Gorguts and you have Deathspell Omega. I have been a fan of Deathspell Omega for almost a decade now. Until recently I was only familiar with Si Momventm Reqvires, Circvmspice, a fantastic album in its own right but altogether d ... (read more)

Report this review (#1541192) | Posted by GentleGenerator | Friday, March 18, 2016 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I have been interested in this band for a very long time, and one of the main reasons behind my interest is because of the mystery behind them. No one knows who these guys are, they don't play live, all we know is that they are French. The French metal scene over the years has become definit ... (read more)

Report this review (#1016275) | Posted by arcane-beautiful | Sunday, August 11, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum is one of the most terrifying albums that I have ever encountered. It creates a dark, fervent, unrelenting wall of noise that destroys hope; leaving naught but despair in its wake. This is not an album that most people will enjoy. In fact, it is designed ... (read more)

Report this review (#646549) | Posted by mamaloney | Monday, March 5, 2012 | Review Permanlink

2 stars 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 meta ... (read more)

Report this review (#529696) | Posted by 40footwolf | Thursday, September 22, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Wow, and i mean wow, i cant say enough good things about this album, this is the forth release by this French Avant - Black metal band and its a cracker. At just over 45 minutes its like a Labyrinth of twists and turns, tunnels and allyways and theres only 6 songs on it. The use of atmosphere i ... (read more)

Report this review (#283917) | Posted by FarBeyondProg | Friday, May 28, 2010 | Review Permanlink

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