Disc 1: Lyrics

Crushing the Holy Trinity - 3 x CD (Northern Heritage, 2005)

Disc 2: Son
Musta Surma
1. Kalpeina Helvetin Tulessa 4:46
2. Ruton Ruhtinas 3:53
3. Hän on Pimeys 4:01
4. Valkeuden Hauras Tuhka 4:09
Clandestine Blaze
5. Intro 0:57
6. Destroyer of the Nations 6:17
7. Trophy 3:26
8. Behind the Faith 5:44
Total Running Time: 33:17

Disc 3: Holy Spirit
Mgla
1. Power and Will (Part I) 5:55
2. Power and Will (Part II) 4:02
3. Power and Will (Part III) 4:16
4. Power and Will (Part IV) 4:42
Exordium
5. Ei Toivottu Vieras (Intro)/Tyrannia Martyrum 6:23
6. Craving Vehemence 3:18
7. Unevangel 9:34
Total Running Time: 38:13

The paragraph you are about to read will be deleted as soon as I review both “Kénôse” and the “Malicious Secrets/Deathspell Omega Split.” I have decided to abruptly review this work instead of deeply interpreting the lyrical premises for this album, because I feel I can sufficiently attack and dissect this work without such research. Normally for something like Deathspell Omega I take a solid few months to look over the work and work out what precisely they are attempting to say, but as “Crushing the Holy Trinity” features a track that seems to be somewhat outside the Deathspell Omega concept series, less interpretation is as needed, in comparison to something like “Kénôse.” I hope that this explains why this is reviewed before the other two magnificent works.

As is typical of me, as soon as I heard this was out I bought it immediately. What exactly is the “Crushing the Holy Trinity 3CD Split.” Here’s the deal, I’ll talk about this split and packaging before I dissect Deathspell Omega’s participation on this, this way I can split up this review more coherently and I must explain what is going on with the split design before I can convey how Deathspell Omega was involved.

“Crushing the Holy Trinity” is basically a series of split albums in one “box.” I say “box,” in quotes, because truly, it is more of a folder. Basically the overall conceptualization of this split series took four years. One would think that after a solid four years of work a digi-book would have possibly been comprised in the design function. Something like Behemoth’s “Historica” box set would have been a beautiful rendition for such a momentous series such as this. What you get when you purchase this set is basically a cardboard “sleeve”, it’s not really a sleeve by literal standards, but it is the best analogy I can make. Inside this “sleeve” is a large booklet inside. Within the booklet you can find the lyrics to all the works on this split set, and in the middle of the booklet we find the actual CDs. They are in little plastic sleeves that are, literally, completely separate from the booklet itself, they are loose inside the booklet, so be careful when opening things up, if you do indeed decide to procure a copy of this. Everything is professionally pressed and rendered, which surprises me even further as to why they chose to present their product in this fashion. I’m not sure how much money they actually saved by using this method of packaging, but I think in the end they will lose more sales because of the packaging rather than gaining them. I think Northern Heritage on some levels is banking on Deathspell Omega’s popularity to sell this disc set. Which is a damn shame, because there are other good bands on here like Exordium and Mgla, so one would think Northern Heritage wouldn’t cut corners. Maybe this is the new business outlook to try and turn people away from your products so no one will want them because the functionality of the product is too annoying for a listener to open up. I mean Deathspell Omega originally strictly limited the pressings of their albums; Northern Heritage is apparently just taking that to the next level with this packaging concept. I say that it’s functionally annoying with all accuracy; this is not the easiest packaging to get to your CDs and listen to them if you want to, and it’s not simply opening up a jewel case like most of the world is accustomed with. Maybe this was a collaborative work between Northern Heritage and one of those puzzle companies.

Deathspell Omega enters the sequence on the “Father” disc, furthering my assumptions that Deathspell Omega is markedly one of the selling points of this split set. The real unfortunate part here is that with a Deathspell Omega song this good, it clearly will be one of the major selling points, despite how good Exordium or the others are. I don’t feel that I would be alone in stating that this is by far the strangest Deathspell Omega track I’ve heard to date. This is even further removed than the works on “Kénôse.” I’ve heard rumors and hearsay about how this was the last in the trilogy work for Deathspell Omega, with their Malicious Secrets split being the second work. Honestly, I don’t see how that makes any sense, first off Deathspell Omega never announced that these tracks were part of the trilogy, maybe they play into the overall concept as merely touching upon similar concepts, but they don’t really close this song with any sort of great revelation to me. Furthermore in the interview on Ajna, which I might have to link again because the world is not fucking listening to me, they say THE SECOND AND THIRD WILL BE OF SIMILAR LENGTH TO THE FIRST. There, it’s in caps lock, maybe now people can hear, or see, as it were. Anyway, the lyrical work on this particular concept is very interesting, but in comparison to the mind boggling and eye opening works of “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice,” this is merely a small contender. Not to mention this is just one song, and I highly doubt Deathspell Omega were going to finish their religious works off with two more songs, regardless of how long, seeing as how the appendix is three songs unto itself. If I am ever wrong about this, I’ll put a big sign up about how I was wrong about something.

The track opens with this ominous sample with a French spoken word part by a woman. I presume this is a sample as the words are not written on the lyrics sheet. Then we are all brought into Deathspell Omega’s ominous and haunting world as they break into a very dissonant picked chord for quite a duration. It lends to the haunting feeling and ominous world of the song. Mikko A. kicks in with his vocal performance; I think this is the one occasion where his lack of meter really provided a great listen. The lyrics are written in more of a paragraph format and are not broken up into verses. So right from the start the need to break things into different sections is thrown out the window. It’s more of a tale regaling the thoughts of a madman in his perceptions of God, so that lends to the feeling that the song should sound insane and should lack a decent amount of format. Mikko A. does sound far more sinister than he did on previous works, but I think this could’ve sounded far more maddening. As a vocalist, I would have presented the vocal performance into a far more methodical, yet far more maddening performance. These are brought forth as more of a methodical work as are the other works of Deathspell Omega. While we do experience a slight difference in range here and there, I felt that too really drive the point home, some different approaches could have taken place. This by no means is me saying the vocal performance is bad; it certainly is excellent for the hypnotic effect Black Metal Deathspell Omega was going for.

On this track the listeners don’t really hit a full fledged Black Metal riff until a solid seven minutes into the song. Everything prior to that is dissonant and haunting structures. Mikko’s vocal performance for the haunting parts is perfect, but he maintained the same approach through the more traditional Black Metal parts of the song, I think a tonal shift would’ve lent more to the songs structuring. It really astounds me how often Deathspell Omega can completely rework their sound. This track sounds unlike anything Deathspell Omega has ever released before. Granted it has the traditional Deathspell Omega approach written all over it, but in the middle of the song around 10:40 we are presented with something Deathspell Omega have never done before, an acoustic interlude. This isn’t just any acoustic interlude mind you, such as what we hear in the more traditional works of Black Metal, it is haunting, in-depth, and brings the listener into this apprehensive state wondering what is coming next. The part that comes to the fore for the first time that I have really noticed is the bass work. The bass work was very instrumental in making this a more beautiful rendition than anything else. Eventually it transitions into another acoustic passage this time with Mikko whispering over it, however, the vocals do not take the forefront, they stay in the background. As if the reader of the lyrics is experiencing a soliloquy on what has transpired before. After the first sequence of spoken verse is complete I am shocked to hear something wondrous happen. Overlaid to the acoustic part is a backwards acoustic guitar line played in perfect time with the main guitar line. I honestly never saw this coming, I assumed that the haunting acoustic works would continue, yet I never expected something this maddening to play into the game. It’s not even a long interval that this performance is played, merely a few seconds, yet it speaks volumes to the listener. It truly is a wondrous effect in the song structuring. However, after the acoustic passage is finished the full force of Deathspell Omega’s Black Metal renderings play forth through the rest of the song making this one of the best Black Metal epics I have ever heard in my entire life. The guitar lines appear to be more complex in the Black Metal elements, similar to what they brought forth on “Kénôse,” but they have more of the atmosphere of “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice,” which is an aspect I love.

Now, I may not do the lyrics justice in saying that I will not do an in depth interpretation of them this time. I mostly do this out of respect, I do not know who G. Bataille is and the lyrics seem to be heavily influenced by this writer. Or, rather, as they put it “credit for tremendous revelation goes, in all humility, to G. Bataille.” I can only assume that “revelation” refers to lyrical influence. It would seem that the overall prospectus of this lyrical work is based on one who has attained full spiritual enlightenment and it has driven the person mad. It is not a foreign concept to me, for one to think on a level such as God, then that could drive the man mad, especially in the context of the man not being ready or sufficiently prepared to receive this ultimate knowledge. One could also look at this in a sense that the lyrics present the point of: if you are able to think on God’s true level then you also inherit the madness within God, for truly God is mad to make a world such as this. However, I do see references to the Kabbalistic interpretation of spirituality. This may come as an obtuse transliteration, but if one inspects this verse you see all you need to see:

“She was seated, she held one leg stuck up in the air, to open her crack
Yet wider she used her fingers to draw the folds of skin apart
And so her ‘old rag and ruin’ loured at me, hairy and pink,
Just as full of life as some loathsome squid
‘Why’, I stammered in a subdued tone, ‘Why are you doing that?’
‘You can see for yourself’, she said, ‘I’m God’”

It is no secret to me that in The Zohar the concept of communing with God is present in a sexual metaphor. In this perception the Wisdom (or Penis) is inserted into the spirit (or Vagina) and knowledge (or sperm) is ejaculated into the waiting recipient of wisdom. Sexual Intercourse is a concept any species on this planet can understand, so speaking of ultimate enlightenment in this medium, while easily related, does seem to pervert the message as a whole. I think that the above verse provides an excellent example of man’s complete and utter corruption. For in the references of God being a great whore seems to lose the luster of wisdom. It is a curious subject to broach of course, such as if mankind seems so vein as to debase the concept of God with sexual promiscuity, then what does that say of God. After all, we are created in its image. Is this a physical image, or is it a mental photograph as well? Is God folly to all the wondrous and jaded sexual desires of mankind? If you see through the rest of the lyrical base the writer is brought full front to a state of madness upon seeing God in this fashion. And with that juncture in the mental point of view has driven the writer purely mad and it just progresses in a downward spiral. Thus the writer concludes “Diabolus Absconditus” or “The Hidden Devil.” Now I’m not entirely positive as to Deathspell Omega’s take on this subject, but I will speak on it more in my review for Glorior Belli’s “O Laudate Dominus.”

I will, however, breech the concept only briefly here, I’m not sure if Deathspell Omega is stating that the view of God in the religions of the world is a great whore and thus the The Devil is essentially God in their world. Thus, in a truly enlightened form of the world, would their Devil be our God? It may sound abhorrently confusing, but if you read between the lines, take Christianity for example, states that Satan (or Adversary in Hebrew) is the great tempter of mankind. Thus, all should follow Christ like sheep, blindly following. Thus in some cultures of the occult bring forth a projection of Satan as being equated with knowledge, for it is not a blind following. I pose the question, if the one true God spoke to mankind directly and held wisdom above all else, would it not want a free thinking society? Would God truly want a mindless flock of insipid sheep never asking questions, always doing as told? If this is God, then God is not for me, I will choose The Devil any day of the week if that is what awaits mans soul in eternity.

You have to realize that God gave the ability of free will for a purpose, a purpose that wasn’t solely rooted in our inability to resist temptation. The other side, that no religion seems to enjoy embracing, is that we have the choice to embrace wisdom. Why is it that Christians are so sought after by their dark desires and iniquities of this world? How can this be the saved peoples of God? They are not; they are merely fooled by the greatest temptation of all, the temptation of Salvation. Why no one sees this point of view is simply beyond me. However, I feel this review is at present too long and I will take God’s influence on this and pepper the secrets of wisdom through various reviews. There is more than enough Religious Black Metal for me to work with, you as the reader must be wise and seek out the answers for yourself. Wisdom is never easy to obtain, for it is the journey and search of wisdom that matters. Enjoy in your pursuit of these great works. (The Cleric)

Staff Member		Rating
Cleric		10
Sadistikal		N/A
Erus Inferi		N/A
Ionous		N/A
Loki		N/A
Sect		N/A
Anath		10
Carnage		N/A
S8306		N/A
Iago		N/A
Thaumiel		N/A
Overall Average Rating:		10

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