DEATHSPELL OMEGA - KÉNÔSE (listening guide)

With the release of Kenose in 2005, Deathspell Omega confirmed the trend they had started with SMRC. Dissonance as the basis of extremely complex and extensive compositions, the likes of which had never been seen before on the scene, made all eyes turn to them. Here begins a true revolution in Extreme Metal with a band that composed with unparalleled mastery and whose legion of imitators and followers has only grown since then.

Hyper-riffs, speculative melodies, polymorphic rhythms, rhizomatic structures, hyper-complex narrative architecture...

A sound and aesthetic discourse that will know no limits...

Kenose I

A drum pattern serves as the basis for an arpeggiated guitar riff that is repeated 4 times in a vast formal structure. The repetitions add variations to the guitar, which adds details to its harmonic skeleton, complex but subtle. In the percussion, the changes are more noticeable and evident with an excellent handling in the development of the resources used: the drummer builds a complex and elaborate narrative plot that makes the composition embark on a slow but continuous ascent until the drastic break of the discourse at 4:15.

In our previous guide on SMRC, we pointed out as one of the most distinctive elements of Deathspell Omega's style the construction of different drum patterns and arrangements on a riff that remains stable and without variations. This intro to Kenose I is an example of how this compositional technique continues to be worked on and refined, already reaching masterful levels.

It should be added that the elaborate architectural framework is what provides the extensive and irregular internal structure of the guitar riff (19 bars that take almost a minute to complete) which allows the drums and bass to add one after another the necessary ornaments to raise the cover of this sound temple that is Kenose. The extension of the riff is one of the most characteristic features of Hasjarl's style.

And now it is time to cross the threshold and enter the labyrinth.

The bridge after the intro (4:15-4:53) is long enough for us to understand the importance that the band wants to give it within the composition. This fragment is taken from Bernd Zimmermann's “Requiem für einen jungen Dichter”. We hear a choir linking several dissonant and ominous chords until a long brass note breaks in, succumbing to a dull cluster on the piano.

This section serves as a warning to the listener, since once we surpass that threshold, we will be subjected to the splendorous and blinding revelation of what will be the style of the new Deathspell Omega, which will make them famous in the extreme metal scene worldwide. A style based on the use of dissonance as a basis to compose a hyper-complex and nuanced narrative architecture but at the same time very musical that establishes a hyper-Faustian aesthetic discourse that will not recognize horizons.

This central part of the song includes up to 8 riffs, bridges, cells or motifs, already showing the new aesthetic approach in the guitar riffs where dissonance will gain weight. It is also worth highlighting the variety of techniques used, since that is one of the elements that differentiate Deathspell Omega from other bands: not only is there a large number of riffs, but the heterogeneity of compositional strategies is very wide between them. The last element is the asymmetry or irregularity that adds complexity to the plot as it avoids predictable cadences and maintains the tension in the listener continuously.

With these 8 different sections the first block of riffs is built after the intro (4:53). The riffs are presented one after the other the first time and when they are repeated they begin to mix together grouped into sub-blocks. As we said, the variety is maximum: arpeggiated bursts, tremolos displaying chromatic scales, tritones, augmented fifths, dissonant chords with open strings, asymmetrical bars and even some power-chords.

A short bridge serves as a transition to the second block of riffs (5:46), where the harmony becomes denser and more expansive, mixing chords with arpeggiated sections that expand the harmony of the chord and are an example of hyper-cadence, the technique by which Hasjarl delays the natural resting point of the riff by extending its internal structure: in this case the riff is therefore asymmetrical and consists of 7 bars. The drums here once again show several different arrangements for the same riff that allow the tension to be constantly increased using irregular accentuations.

The band responds to this calmer and more contemplative riff with a more frenetic section, another block made up of three riffs (6:44). Their main characteristic is that they are asymmetrical and use the tritone to return to a more aggressive dissonance. It is also worth highlighting how Hasjarl uses silences that increase the feeling of instability and tension by interrupting the narrative discourse constantly and irregularly.

A new section opens at 7:48, consisting of two excellent riffs that lower the speed level with a more marked and heavy interpretation, displaying a complicated internal harmonic architecture, where the power-chords and tonal chords are exposed in an open, arpeggiated way, with open strings in the first riff and in a more closed and marked way in the second. In both riffs, Hasjarl displays different ways of introducing irregularity into the internal form through asymmetries and hyper cadences that disorient the listener.

At 9:12, the speed returns to the song with an excellent asymmetrical and dissonant riff based on the tritone, which clearly indicates the new style that Hasjarl is developing as a guitarist and that will reach its peak in Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum. The function of this riff is to connect back to material already presented at the beginning of the song, although now presented in an altered order that formally enriches the composition and makes it less predictable.

After this thematic re-exposition that seemed to lead us to the end of the song, Deathspell Omega break with the ternary form (ABA) by introducing two new riffs (11:57). What is surprising is the variety of techniques and styles of riffs that are added to those already performed (we have already commented that this stylistic variety is typical of Hasjarl and there are few composers at his level within metal). The first riff alternates fast dissonant arpeggios but it is the second riff (12:26) that stands out especially: with a regular internal structure, what makes this riff stand out is that it is a hyper-riff, that is, a riff that constantly mutates and does not repeat a discernible pattern, in this case at a melodic and harmonic level, constantly varying in an absolutely brilliant way.

And, after a small bridge, we reach the song's outro (13:05), where the distortion disappears and the clean guitars return, connecting with the beginning of the song. Once again we are faced with an arpeggiated riff that displays a harmony with dissonances and chromaticisms alternating with consonant and tonal moments and that has connections with the introduction of the composition. Here the internal structure of the riff is compressed by exposing more ideas in a smaller number of bars (which is again asymmetrical: 13 bars). The riff is repeated four times but it is the drums that once again take center stage as they display a very interesting deconstruction of the rhythmic pattern, advancing through the disappearance of elements and playing brilliantly with silences.

The compositional maturity that Deathspell Omega shows in this first song leaves us with our mouths open as all the resources have been used with great complexity, variety and originality.

Kenose II

A mid-tempo, regular and tonal riff opens Kenose II. And soon the construction of this introduction is dismantled with a surprising decision to include a riff with slow and widely spaced chords (0:42) where the voice takes center stage before a bridge riff takes us to the breaking of the speech through unleashed speed (1:38).

The section that begins contains some very interesting riffs since its internal structure varies constantly with additions and new motifs with great complexity and is accentuated by a drum that uses stop and go in a really impressive way. The percussion varies at the same time as the riff adds changes with a very high level of composition that shows how the band uses irregularity and asymmetry.

The unleashed aggressiveness continues with blinding density (2:36-4:28). The variety of techniques and resources is continuously displayed with inexhaustible creativity in a block of ultra-fast riffs whose only relief is the repetition of the slow riff at the beginning of the song.

In all the previous riffs, although dissonance is present, its use is not the main resource, with power chords and 4th chords standing out more. This makes us assume that Kenose II is a composition prior to Kenose I, and that resources from Deathspell Omega from the “Si monumentum…” stage are still present here.

A drastic change comes at 5:16-7:30 with a new block of riffs that serves as the basis for one of the most fascinating drum passages on the EP: the technique of varying patterns and arrangements for the same riff is shown here with enormous brilliance. The riffs that make up this block are variations and share common elements while it is the drums that provide the main narrative role: slow and primitive parts, complex and denser patterns adding timpani and cymbals, primitive blast beats or incorporating irregular accent patterns, etc.

Until everything explodes with the guitar taking control again at 7:30. The speed appears again with a set of riffs more complex and dissonant than the previous ones under unleashed drums in a section that works as a bridge.

A bridge that takes us to the final stretch of the song. The outro opens at 8:12, where an arpeggiated and asymmetrical riff appears (4+6) over which the drums once again show their variable patterns in a truly inspired and spectacular way. From here, the guitar arpeggios open up even more (9:08) letting the strings sound between notes providing an enormous feeling of space while the drums complement with tireless and highly original variations the mist left by the pedal note of the arpeggio that acts as a basso continuo while the high notes draw a slow and distant melody over an intermediate texture that really gives this passage a baroque music sound. This section heightens its drama with a semitone rise in the pedal note that modifies the discourse adding even more darkness and tension.

And finally everything concludes with a final blinding attack (9:59) where guitar, bass, drums and vocals join forces in a passage where the riffs are repeated at a very high speed, unleashing a demented whirlwind of linked chords and displaying a vanishing point that ascends the scale while increasing the tension in an almost unbearable way until everything dissolves.

Kenose III

The song begins with a very fast drum blast beat that accompanies the first block of tremolo riffs, symmetrical and where power chords and minor chords predominate. This connects with the style of Deathspell Omega in some SMRC songs.

But at 1:52 a radical change occurs. The music suddenly stops and Aspa sings “No man can see me and live!”. From here we face an exceptional abstract passage so far and which the band will develop in the next album. Dissonant pianos sound over abstract textures of noise in an ominous and threatening environment. This central section of the song works as a bridge that transports us to the last part of the composition (3:52).

A (hyper)slow riff introduces the section that evolves little by little accompanied by a spectacular drum that in its simplicity impacts by the contrast with everything heard before. Aspa's voice is doubled to fill all the space left free by the instruments. The accumulated tension is released with the pair of riffs that serve as an antithesis to the previous ones (6:59), more dynamic although equally primitive. With this ending, Deathspell Omega once again show the variety of resources they can deploy, revealing that they are not afraid of the lack of speed in order to display all their evocative power that conveys the abandonment expressed in the final section of the lyrics and summarized in the phrase that the voice tirelessly repeats, emulating Christ in his crucifixion: "Lamma Sabacthani" ("Why have you forsaken me?").